Introducing the VM Conversion tool in Windows Admin Center – Public Preview
As organizations update their infrastructure, a growing number are seeking adaptable, Microsoft-supported solutions that address current requirements while laying the path for future cloud and AI adoption. Azure provides an agile, scalable, cost-effective platform for infrastructure and innovation. Whether by modernizing to cloud technologies like Windows or Linux VMs, containers, Azure VMware Solution or PaaS services, Azure offers a world-class cloud experience. However, we recognize that some organizations must retain workloads on-premises due to data compliance, governance, or other regulatory requirements. For customers wanting to adopt Windows Server and Hyper-V for this use case, we are excited to provide a new option within Windows Admin Center, the VM Conversion tool, in public preview now. This agentless, cost-free tool streamlines the conversion of virtual machines from VMware to Windows Server with Hyper-V, providing customers flexibility with their on-premises virtualization environments while enabling a seamless transition path to Azure when desired. With minimal infrastructure requirements, the tool is particularly beneficial for small and medium-sized organizations. Additionally, with minimal setup time you can download the new VM Conversion tool extension in Windows Admin Center and begin converting virtual machines in under five minutes. Figure 1- VM Conversion tool in Windows Admin Center 🔑Key Features : Agentless, appliance-free discovery After establishing a connection to the virtualization environment, the tool conducts discovery of all virtual machines without requiring agents or appliances and does so in a non-intrusive manner. Minimal downtime The VM Conversion tool enables initial data replication while the source virtual machine remains operational, thereby preventing any interruptions to ongoing applications. After completing this initial replication, on user consent, the source VM is powered down so a subsequent replication pass can capture any data changes made during the first phase. This two-step process ensures that the cutover time from the source to the target VM is minimized. Group servers You can select and migrate up to 10 virtual machines at a time. This reduces manual effort and accelerates the transition to Windows Server. Boot configuration The tool automatically maps BIOS-based virtual machines to Generation 1 and UEFI-based machines to Generation 2, preserving boot configurations and ensuring compatibility. OS agnostic The tool supports conversion of both Linux and Windows guest OS VMs to Windows Server host. Multi-disk VM support Virtual machines that use several virtual hard disks—common in production environments—are fully supported. The operating system, data, and application disks all migrated together, so manual setup is not needed. ⚙️How It Works To ensure a smooth and reliable transition, the tool performs a comprehensive set of built-in prechecks. These checks validate critical VM attributes such as disk types, boot configuration (BIOS or UEFI), destination disk, memory requirements, and several more. By identifying potential issues early, administrators can proactively address them—minimizing the risk of migration failures and reducing downtime during the final cutover. The VM Conversion tool uses change block tracking (CBT) to efficiently replicate data from one virtual disk format to another. During the initial seeding phase, a full copy of the virtual machine is created while it remains online. This minimizes downtime and ensures data integrity. Before the final cutover, a delta replication captures all changes made since the initial copy, ensuring the destination VM is fully up-to-date post conversion to Hyper-V hosts. 🚀Ready to Take the Next Step? The VM Conversion tool is available now in the public feed of Windows Admin Center. You can install it directly from the Extensions settings in Windows Admin Center. To get started, ensure you're running the Windows Admin Center v2 GA release. 📘 For detailed setup instructions and prerequisites, refer to the Public Preview Documentation. 📍 Summary The VM Conversion tool offers a simple, supported path for organizations to streamline VM conversion to Hyper-V virtualization environments. With no added cost and minimal setup, it empowers customers to streamline VM migration and prepare for the cloud at their own pace. Support for Azure Arc-enabled servers is also planned for future releases, further enhancing hybrid management capabilities. We’re continuously evolving the VM Conversion tool based on user feedback. Please continue to share your feedback here and help us prioritize our efforts for future releases. Happy converting!Feature Request: Enhanced system restore UI like virtualization software
Hi Microsoft dev community, I insist implementing functionality to take snapshot/restore actual hard drive system restore restores pc back in time in case of issues but not as user friendly as any virtualization software like vmware Just as virtualization software there can be a more advanced version of system restore application where there will be UI for: 1. taking snapshot of current state 2. option to list snapshots 3. restore any snapshot back in time Maybe based on Hyper-V, Maybe this feature already there but I have not found it originally posted here: https://superuser.com/q/1855140/86839Digital event: The Future of VMware Is in Azure – July 16th, 2024
Take a deep dive into options for migrating and optimizing your workloads in a rapidly evolving VMware landscape. Join this free digital event and learn how Azure VMware Solution can support your VMware workloads while minimizing migration disruption. Register for this event with technical sessions for VMware administrators such as: Security—with topics on securing the management plane, role-based access control, patch management, and integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Azure VMware Solution. Networking—with topics on hub-and-spoke vs. mesh network design, securing network traffic, traffic and networking monitoring, and hybrid deployments. Disaster recovery and resiliency—with topics on replication and cold site setup, business continuity, and easier vSphere migration with Azure VMware Solution. VMware integration with Azure services—with topics on data warehousing and data lakes, AI and machine learning analytics, DevOps solutions, and automation and lifecycle management. Join us for talks from industry leaders, technical sessions, and live Q&A. Register now > The Future of VMware Is in Azure Tuesday, July 16, 2024 9:00 AM–10:30 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7)Digital event: The Future of VMware Is in Azure – July 16th, 2024
Take a deep dive into options for migrating and optimizing your workloads in a rapidly evolving VMware landscape. Join this free digital event and learn how Azure VMware Solution can support your VMware workloads while minimizing migration disruption. Register for this event with technical sessions for VMware administrators such as: Security—with topics on securing the management plane, role-based access control, patch management, and integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud and Azure VMware Solution. Networking—with topics on hub-and-spoke vs. mesh network design, securing network traffic, traffic and networking monitoring, and hybrid deployments. Disaster recovery and resiliency—with topics on replication and cold site setup, business continuity, and easier vSphere migration with Azure VMware Solution. VMware integration with Azure services—with topics on data warehousing and data lakes, AI and machine learning analytics, DevOps solutions, and automation and lifecycle management. Join us for talks from industry leaders, technical sessions, and live Q&A. Register now > The Future of VMware Is in Azure Tuesday, July 16, 2024 9:00 AM–10:30 AM Pacific Time (UTC-7)
Windows 11 Enterprise OS developer VMs by Microsoft when new VMs released
Windows 11 Enterprise OS developer VMs by Microsoft when new VMs released Q-1 How does it work? When are new Windows 11 Enterprise OS developer VMs by Microsoft when new VMs released, for VMware, etc. hypervisors? Q-2 They all expire in 2.5 months... correct? Microsoft Virtual Machines - Software & Web Development / Windows 11 today 01-Dec-2023 expires: Expiration date: February 13, 2024 The evaluation virtual machine includes: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/virtual-machines/ posted and here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-learn/windows-11-enterprise-os-developer-vms-by-microsoft-when-new-vms/m-p/3998499#M6295Digital event: Extend to the Cloud with Azure VMware Solution
Transform your VMware investments in the cloud Learn how to easily run your VMware workloads natively on Azure at this free digital event. Join industry experts for an inside look at the latest capabilities of Azure VMware Solution and: Hear from customers who’ve used Azure VMware Solution to optimize their workloads. Learn how to cost-effectively migrate your VMware workloads, skills, and tools to the cloud. Get modernization tips and best practices direct from Microsoft and VMware insiders. See demos and be among the first to learn about new and upcoming product features. Join technical sessions on simple deployment, migration, disaster recovery, and connecting to other Azure services. Plus, ask the experts your questions in the live chat Q&A. Delivered in partnership with VMware. Register now > Extend to the Cloud with Azure VMware Solution Wednesday, March 23, 2022 9:00 AM–11:30 AM Pacific Time https://info.microsoft.com/www-extend-to-the-cloud-with-azure-vmware-solution.html?ocid=AID3045911_QSG_579520Digital event: Extend to the Cloud with Azure VMware Solution
Transform your VMware investments in the cloud Learn how to easily run your VMware workloads natively on Azure at this free digital event. Join industry experts for an inside look at the latest capabilities of Azure VMware Solution and: Hear from customers who’ve used Azure VMware Solution to optimize their workloads. Learn how to cost-effectively migrate your VMware workloads, skills, and tools to the cloud. Get modernization tips and best practices direct from Microsoft and VMware insiders. See demos and be among the first to learn about new and upcoming product features. Join technical sessions on simple deployment, migration, disaster recovery, and connecting to other Azure services. Plus, ask the experts your questions in the live chat Q&A. Delivered in partnership with VMware. Register now > Extend to the Cloud with Azure VMware Solution Wednesday, March 23, 2022 9:00 AM–11:30 AM Pacific Time https://info.microsoft.com/www-extend-to-the-cloud-with-azure-vmware-solution.html?ocid=AID3045911_QSG_579520Azure VMware Solution (AVS) for VMware Admins Primer
It’s funny to think there was such a pushback on virtualization when it first came out versus being the norm for most of us now. As a VMware admin myself, I remember all the discussion with application teams trying to convince them we could run their application on a virtual machine. Informing people that a vMotion would not impact the uptime and could potentially optimize performance on another ESXi host with more resources free, or how HA (High Availability) being built in results in a simple reboot with minimal downtime to the virtual machine and application.
