Azure Migration without VM Shutdown

Shepcon 

When migrating your on-premises domain controller (DC) from VMware to Azure, you can indeed keep the VM running following the final replication sync. Here’s how it works:

1. Incremental Replication:
• During the migration process, Azure Migrate uses incremental replication. In this phase, data changes that have occurred since the beginning of the last completed replication cycle are replicated and written to the replica managed disks in Azure. https://www.bing.com/aclick?ld=e8vE17J4CAQoJmpMlh0wjYEzVUCUxJlN3h5D8RuTm54mnudp8HCM0q-rm_3V7ldJRkTIKxY6FhRb_ScNpJufnyYv4jMHKJNew5c_-JQSYhPI-m3QF71_eNpjrc1-vPnDRrEGoTcXP3C9ut9vXp8vcyJfBP2uCbIWYXvIBL3DYMUHP9b2xg&u=aHR0cHMlM2ElMmYlMmZhenVyZS5taWNyb3NvZnQuY29tJTJmZW4taW4lMmZyZXNvdXJjZXMlMmZjbG91ZC1jb21wdXRpbmctZGljdGlvbmFyeSUyZndoYXQtaXMtY2xvdWQtbWlncmF0aW9uJTJmJTNmZWZfaWQlM2Rfa184YWM1NWRjYzlkY2ExZDFjMzZlNDNiOTI4ZDU2ZTQ0Ml9rXyUyNk9DSUQlM2RBSURjbW0wZzBlZ2J3Ml9TRU1fX2tfOGFjNTVkY2M5ZGNhMWQxYzM2ZTQzYjkyOGQ1NmU0NDJfa18lMjZtc2Nsa2lkJTNkOGFjNTVkY2M5ZGNhMWQxYzM2ZTQzYjkyOGQ1NmU0NDI&rlid=8ac55dcc9dca1d1c36e43b928d56e442.
• Essentially, Azure Migrate captures the delta changes and keeps the Azure VM up-to-date with the latest data.
2. Postpone Final Migration:
• If there are any errors during the test migration or user acceptance testing (UAT), you have the option to postpone the final migration.
• By doing so, you can keep your source VM (the on-premises DC) running and replicating to Azure. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/common-questions-server-migration.
• This flexibility allows you to maintain your on-premises AD environment while building the Azure environment in parallel.
3. Considerations:
• As you mentioned, the two environments won’t be in sync for new domain users created during this period. However, given the small size of your company, this may not be a critical issue.
• Make sure to plan your migration carefully, especially if you have any dependencies on the DC (such as applications relying on it).

In summary, Azure’s migration process does allow you to keep the migrated VM (domain controller) running following the final replication sync. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/migrate/vmware/concepts-vmware-agentless-migration. Good luck with your migration, and feel free to reach out if you have any further questions! 😊

"If my answer was helpful, please mark it as 'Accepted' to assist others."