Move-SCVirtualMachine

Syntax

Move-SCVirtualMachine
    [-VM] <VM>
    [-VMHost <Host>]
    [-ReplicationGroup <ReplicationGroup>]
    [-BlockLiveMigrationIfHostBusy]
    [-UseDiffDiskOptimization]
    [-StartVMOnTarget]
    [-DiscardSavedState]
    [-UseLAN]
    [-UseCluster]
    [-HighlyAvailable <Boolean>]
    [-Path <String>]
    [-JobGroup <Guid>]
    [-RunAsynchronously]
    [-PROTipID <Guid>]
    [-JobVariable <String>]
    [-OnBehalfOfUser <String>]
    [-OnBehalfOfUserRole <UserRole>]
    [<CommonParameters>]

Description

The Move-SCVirtualMachine cmdlet moves a virtual machine stored in the Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) library or deployed on a host to a new location on a host.

In System Center 2019 and later, you can take advantage of new migration capabilities included in Windows Server 2016. These capabilities include live migration of virtual machines between two stand-alone computers and live migration between stand-alone computers and a cluster node. Additionally, multiple concurrent live migrations are supported. For more information about how to migrate virtual machines in System Center, see Migrating Virtual Machines and Storage in VMMhttps://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt710321(v=sc.16).aspx (https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt710321(v=sc.16).aspx) in the TechNet Library.

If you move a virtual machine deployed on a host running Windows Server 2008 R2 to a host running Windows Server 2016, you cannot move the virtual machine back to a host running Windows Server 2008 R2.

VMM includes storage migration features that let you move one or more virtual hard disks of a running virtual machine to a different location. You can use the current cmdlet and the Move-SCVirtualHardDisk cmdlet to move Windows-based virtual hard disk (.vhd) files and VMware-based virtual hard disk (.vmdk) files to a location on a different host. You can also use the Move-SCVirtualHardDisk cmdlet to move a .vhd file or a .vmdk file from one location to another on the same host.

To move a virtual machine from a host and store it in the library, you must use the Save-SCVirtualMachine cmdlet.

VMM can use any of the following transfer methods, listed in the order in which VMM tries to use them:

• Hyper-V live migration. If a virtual machine is running and is deployed on a Hyper-V host that is a node of a Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2016 host cluster, by default, VMM uses Hyper-V live migration to move the virtual machine to another node in the cluster without any disruption of service. Moving a running virtual machine does not disconnect it from the network. The virtual machine retains its high availability attribute. You do not have to specify a path. You can start live migration of multiple virtual machines at the same time.
• Windows Server 2008 Cluster Migration. System Center continues to support Windows 2008 Cluster Migration, which is sometimes called Quick Migration. Cluster Migration moves a running virtual machine on a Hyper-V node of a host cluster. It also lets you move a virtual machine that is in a stopped or saved state, and that is deployed to another node in the cluster. You can use Cluster Migration to move a virtual machine in a stopped or saved state if the virtual machine is deployed on either of the following nodes:

----A node in a Windows Server 2008 cluster ----A node in a Windows Server 2008 R2 cluster

You do not have to specify a path. Windows Server 2008 Cluster Migration puts the virtual machine in a saved state during migration. This operation causes a temporary loss of service to any users of that virtual machine.

• VMware live migration. If a virtual machine deployed on a VMware ESX host uses shared storage, VMM can use the VMware live migration feature to move the virtual machine to a new host. This feature is called VMware VMotion. You do not have to specify a path. The current cmdlet can use VMware VMotion to move a virtual machine from one ESX host to another only if both ESX hosts are in the same Datacenter container on the vCenter Server.
• Citrix XenServer XenMotion. If a virtual machine deployed on a Citrix XenServer host uses shared storage and is part of the same Resource Pool, VMM can use the XenServer live migration feature to move the virtual machine to a different XenServer host. The live migration feature is called Citrix XenMotion.
• SAN migration (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, or NPIV). If the virtual machine is on a host that is connected to a SAN and the virtual machine is on a SAN LUN, VMM can move that virtual machine to another host if that host has access to the same SAN. In a SAN transfer, the target LUNs are redirected from the source host to the destination host. This migration does not move files. A SAN transfer is much faster than moving virtual machine files from one host to another over a local area network (LAN). VMM supports SAN migration of virtual machines into and out of a cluster. You must specify a path. VMM can use an NPIV SAN transfer if a host bus adapter (HBA) with NPIV support is available.
• Network Migration. If no faster method is available, VMM uses a network transfer to move the virtual machine files from one host to another over the LAN that connects the two hosts. You can decide to use this transfer type even if the SAN transfer type is available. You must specify a path.

When more than one transfer type is available, this cmdlet automatically uses the fastest available transfer type to move a virtual machine. If a method is not appropriate or available for the virtual machine that you want to move, VMM tries to use the next method in the list. If you want to force the use of a network transfer, specify the UseLAN parameter.

Examples

Example 1: Move a virtual machine from the library to a host

PS C:\> $VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine | Where-Object { $_.Name -Eq "VM01" -And $_.LibraryServer -Eq "LibServer01.Contoso.com" }
PS C:\> $VMHost = Get-SCVMHost -ComputerName "VMHost01.Contoso.com"
PS C:\> Move-SCVirtualMachine -VMHost $VMHost -VM $VM -Path "D:\VirtualMachinePath"

The first command command gets the virtual machine object named VM01, and then stores that object in the $VM variable. In this example, the virtual machine stored in the VMM library on the library server named LibServer01. This example assumes that only one virtual machine named VM01 is currently stored on LibServer01.

The second command gets the host object named VMHost01, and then stores that object in the $VMHost variable.

The last command moves the virtual machine from its current location in the library to the location D:\VirtualMachinePath on the host stored in $VMHost. The command automatically uses the fastest available transfer type. When the command finishes, it returns information about the moved virtual machine.

Example 2: Move a virtual machine from the library to a host asynchronously

PS C:\> $VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine | Where-Object { $_.Name -Eq "VM01" -And $_.LibraryServer -Eq "LibServer01.Contoso.com" }
PS C:\> $VMHost = Get-SCVMHost -ComputerName "VMHost02.Contoso.com"
PS C:\> Move-SCVirtualMachine -VMHost $VMHost -VM $VM -Path "D:\VirtualMachinePath" -RunAsynchronously -JobVariable "MoveVMJob"
PS C:\> $MoveVMJob

The first two commands in this example are identical to the commands in the first example, except for the name of the virtual machine host.

The third command moves the virtual machine from its current location to D:\VirtualMachinePath on VMHost02. The command specifies the RunAsynchronously parameter to return control to the command shell immediately. The command specifies the JobVariable parameter to track the progress of the job. The command stores a record of the job progress in the $MoveVMJob variable. For the JobVariable parameter, you do not specify the dollar sign ($) to create the variable.

The last command displays the contents of $MoveVMJob, which includes a description of the move job, its status, its progress, and other information.

Example 3: Move a virtual machine from the library to a host by forcing a LAN transfer

PS C:\> $VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine | Where-Object { $_.Name -Eq "VM03" -And $_.LibraryServer -Eq "LibServer01.Contoso.com" }
PS C:\> $VMHost = Get-SCVMHost -ComputerName "VMHost03.Contoso.com"
PS C:\> Move-SCVirtualMachine -VMHost $VMHost -VM $VM -Path "D:\VirtualMachinePath" -UseLAN

The first command gets the virtual machine object named VM03 on library server LibServer01, and then stores that object in the $VM variable.

The second command gets the host object named VMHost03, and then stores that object in the $VMHost variable.

The last command moves the virtual machine VM03 from its current location in the library to D:\VirtualMachinePath on VMHost03. The command specifies the UseLAN parameter to specify that the transfer use a network transfer, even if faster transfer mechanisms are available.

Example 4: Move a virtual machine between hosts by using VMware VMotion

PS C:\> $VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine -Name "VM04" | Where-Object {$_.VMHost.Name -Eq "ESXHost01"}
PS C:\> $VMHost = Get-SCVMHost | Where-Object {$_.Name -Eq "ESXHost02"}
PS C:\> Move-SCVirtualMachine -VM $VM -VMHost $VMHost -Path "[Storage2]"

The first command gets the virtual machine object named VM04 on ESXHost01, and then stores that object in the $VM variable.

The second command gets the ESX host object named ESXHost02, and then stores that object in the $VMHost variable.

The final command uses VMware VMotion to move the virtual machine from its current ESX host to the other ESX host.

NOTE: The Move-SCVirtualMachine cmdlet can use the VMware VMotion feature to move a virtual machine from one ESX host to another only if both ESX servers are in the same Datacenter container on the vCenter Server.

Example 5: Move a highly available virtual machine between nodes in a host cluster by using Hyper-V live migration

PS C:\> $VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine -Name "HAVM05" | Where-Object {$_.VMHost.Name -Eq "VMHVHostNode05A.Contoso.com"}
PS C:\> $VMHost = Get-SCVMHost | Where-Object {$_.Name -Eq "VMHVHostNode05B.Contoso.com"}
PS C:\> Move-SCVirtualMachine -VM $VM -VMHost $VMHost -Path "D:\VMs\"

The first command gets the virtual machine object named HAVM05 on VMHVHostNode05A, and then stores that object in the $VM variable. In this example, HAVM05 is a highly available virtual machine. VMHVHostNode05A and VMHVHostNode05B are nodes in a Hyper-V host cluster.

The second command gets the host object named VMHVHostNode05B, and then stores that object in the $VMHost variable.

The final command uses live migration to move the virtual machine from VMHVHostNode05A to VMHVHostNode05B.

Example 6: Move a running virtual machine on a Hyper-V host to a new location on the same host

PS C:\> $MoveVhdPath = "E:\VHDs"
PS C:\> $VM = Get-SCVirtualMachine "VM06"
PS C:\> $VMHost = Get-SCVMHost "VMHost06"
PS C:\> $HostPath = "E:\VirtualMachinePath"
PS C:\> $JobGroupID = [System.Guid]::NewGuid().ToString()
PS C:\> Move-SCVirtualHardDisk -IDE -Bus 1 -Lun 1 -Path $MoveVhdPath -JobGroup $JobGroupID
PS C:\> Move-SCVirtualMachine -VM $VM -VMHost $VMHost -Path $HostPath -JobGroup $JobGroupID

The first command stores the string E:\VHDs in $MoveVhdPath. This is the path of which to move the virtual hard disk of the virtual machine.

The second command gets the virtual machine object named VM06, and then stores that object the $VM variable.

The third command gets the host object named VMHost06, and then stores that object in the $VMHost variable. In this example, VMHost06 is a Hyper-V host.

The fourth command stores the string E:\VirtualMachinePath in the $HostPath variable. This is the path of which to move VM06.

The fifth command creates a new GUID string and stores it in the $JobGroupID variable. This GUID is a job group ID that functions as an identifier that groups subsequent commands that include this identifier into a single job group.

The sixth command sets the virtual hard disk path of the value stored in $MoveVhdPath and it connects the virtual hard disk to Bus 1 and LUN 1 on the virtual IDE controller on the virtual machine. This command specifies the JobGroup parameter so that it does not actually run until Move-SCVirtualMachine triggers the running of any commands in the job group list.

The last command moves VM06 to E:\VirtualMachinePath on the same host. The cmdlet runs Move-SCVirtualHardDisk as part of $JobGroupID. The command moves the virtual hard disk of the virtual machine to E:\VHDs.

Parameters

-BlockLiveMigrationIfHostBusy

-DiscardSavedState

-HighlyAvailable

-JobGroup

-JobVariable

-OnBehalfOfUser

-OnBehalfOfUserRole

-Path

-PROTipID

-ReplicationGroup

-RunAsynchronously

-StartVMOnTarget

-UseCluster

-UseDiffDiskOptimization

-UseLAN

-VM

-VMHost

Outputs

VirtualMachine

This cmdlet returns a VirtualMachine object.

Related Links

• Add-SCVMHost
• Get-SCUserRole
• Get-SCVirtualMachine
• Get-SCVMHost
• Move-SCVirtualHardDisk
• New-SCVirtualMachine
• Read-SCVirtualMachine
• Register-SCVirtualMachine
• Repair-SCVirtualMachine
• Reset-SCVirtualMachine
• Resume-SCVirtualMachine
• Save-SCVirtualMachine
• Set-SCVirtualMachine
• Start-SCVirtualMachine
• Suspend-SCVirtualMachine
• Stop-SCVirtualMachine