VM Conversion extension in Windows Admin Center (Preview)

The VM Conversion extension for Windows Admin Center enables you to migrate VMware virtual machines from vCenter to Hyper-V. This lightweight tool provides online replication with minimal downtime for both Windows and Linux virtual machines. The extension is easy to set up and available at no extra cost.

Key features

The VM Conversion extension provides the following capabilities:

• Bulk migration: Supports batch migration of up to 10 virtual machines at a time. This feature enables administrators to group virtual machines based on:

  • Application dependency: Virtual machines that are part of the same application stack or service.
  • Cluster dependency: Virtual machines that need to be distributed on nodes within the same cluster.
  • Business boundaries: Virtual machines servicing different businesses within a company, such as test machines and preproduction machines.
  • Rack dependency: Virtual machines running on hosts on a rack.

• Cluster-aware migration: Supports migration of virtual machines from ESXi hosts to Windows Server Failover clusters.

• Static IP configurations: Preserves static IP configurations of virtual machines from source to destination Hyper-V hosts. This functionality reduces post-migration tasks and enables seamless network continuity.

• Secure Boot and UEFI template configuration: Provides enhanced security and compliance.

  • Integrated OS type across the migration flow for accurate Secure Boot and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) setup.
  • Secure Boot settings are dynamically configured based on OS, either Windows or Linux.
  • Added error handling for unsupported OS types.

• Localization support: Improves user experience when using this tool in different languages.

• Multiple vCenter connections: Users can add multiple vCenter endpoints to switch between vCenters.

• Multi-disk support: Ensures all attached virtual disks are migrated and synchronized for virtual machines running complex workloads.

• Prechecks: Catches failures early in synchronization and migration phases.

• Cleanup: Removes VMware Tools from Windows VMs post-migration.

How it works

The VM Conversion extension uses a synchronization and migration workflow to move virtual machines from VMware to Hyper-V with minimal downtime. The conversion process has two main phases:

1. Synchronization: The extension does an initial full copy of the virtual machine's disks while the source VM keeps running. This phase minimizes downtime by letting you schedule the final migration at a convenient time.

2. Migration: The extension uses Change Block Tracking (CBT) to find and replicate only the changed blocks since the last synchronization. During cutover, the source VM is powered off, and a final delta sync captures any remaining changes before importing the VM into Hyper-V.

The following diagram shows the supported scenario topology for VM migration from VMware vCenter to Hyper-V through Windows Admin Center:

Synchronization

During synchronization, the extension connects to your vCenter environment and does an initial full copy of the virtual machine's disks while the source VM keeps running. During this phase, the extension does the following actions:

• Creates a snapshot on the source VM to track changes.
• Copies the virtual disk data to the destination Hyper-V host.
• Creates a Hyper-V Virtual Hard Disk (VHDX) file at the specified location.

Migration

During migration, the extension uses Change Block Tracking (CBT) to identify and replicate only the changed blocks since the last synchronization. This approach offers the following benefits:

• Minimizes the amount of data transferred during the final migration.
• Reduces the cutover window significantly.
• Enables you to schedule the final migration at a convenient time.

When you're ready to complete the migration, the extension takes the following steps:

• Performs a delta sync to capture any remaining changes since the last synchronization.
• Powers off the source VM to ensure data consistency.
• Performs a final delta sync to capture any remaining changes during the cutover window.
• Imports the VM into Hyper-V with the correct configuration, including CPU, memory, and network settings.

After the migration finishes, you can use the migrated VM on Hyper-V.

Scenarios

The VM Conversion extension supports the following migration scenarios:

• Datacenter modernization: Use the VM Conversion extension to migrate workloads from VMware to Hyper-V when modernizing your datacenter infrastructure. This scenario is common for organizations that want to:

  • Consolidate their virtualization platform to reduce licensing costs.
  • Simplify management by using a single hypervisor technology.
  • Prepare for hybrid cloud deployments with Azure integration.

• Test and development environments: Quickly migrate test and development environments from VMware to Hyper-V to validate workloads before production migration or to leverage Hyper-V-specific features.

• Disaster recovery planning: Use the VM Conversion extension as part of your disaster recovery strategy to create Hyper-V-based replicas of VMware workloads.

vCenter versions and guest operating systems

You can use the extension with VMware vCenter versions 6.x, 7.x, and 8.x.

The VM Conversion extension can migrate virtual machines running the following operating systems:

• Windows operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2025, 2022, 2022 Azure Edition, 2019, 2016, 2012 R2

  • Windows 10 and Windows 11

• Debian-based operating systems:

  • Ubuntu Linux
  • Ubuntu 20.04, 24.04
  • Debian 11, 12

• RHEL-based operating systems:

  • Alma Linux
  • CentOS
  • Red Hat Linux 9.0

Related content

• Migrate VMware VMs to Hyper-V in Windows Admin Center
• Troubleshoot VM Conversion Extension
• What's new in VM Conversion Extension
• VMware to Hyper-V migration FAQ