Tutorial -- Azure Migrate for VMware to Azure IaaS¶

Step-by-step tutorial: deploy the Azure Migrate appliance in a VMware environment, discover VMs, run assessment, replicate VMs to Azure IaaS, test migration, and perform cutover.

Prerequisites¶

Before starting this tutorial, ensure:

• Azure subscription with Contributor access
• On-premises VMware vCenter Server 5.5 or later
• On-premises ESXi 5.5 or later
• Network connectivity from on-premises to Azure (ExpressRoute or VPN recommended)
• vCenter account with read-only access (for discovery) and additional permissions for agentless replication
• Azure VNet and subnet ready for migrated VMs
• DNS configured to resolve Azure resources from on-premises

vCenter permissions for agentless replication¶

The vCenter account used by Azure Migrate needs these privileges beyond read-only:

Step 1: Create Azure Migrate project¶

1.1 Create the project¶

# Create resource group for migration
az group create \
  --name rg-migration \
  --location eastus2

# Create Azure Migrate project
az migrate project create \
  --name migrate-vmware-prod \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --location eastus2

1.2 Create target infrastructure¶

Prepare the Azure landing zone for migrated VMs:

# Create target VNet
az network vnet create \
  --name vnet-migrated-workloads \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --location eastus2 \
  --address-prefix 10.20.0.0/16

# Create subnets for different workload tiers
az network vnet subnet create \
  --vnet-name vnet-migrated-workloads \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --name subnet-web \
  --address-prefix 10.20.1.0/24

az network vnet subnet create \
  --vnet-name vnet-migrated-workloads \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --name subnet-app \
  --address-prefix 10.20.2.0/24

az network vnet subnet create \
  --vnet-name vnet-migrated-workloads \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --name subnet-db \
  --address-prefix 10.20.3.0/24

# Create NSG for each subnet
az network nsg create \
  --name nsg-web \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --location eastus2

az network nsg create \
  --name nsg-app \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --location eastus2

az network nsg create \
  --name nsg-db \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --location eastus2

Step 2: Deploy the Azure Migrate appliance¶

2.1 Download the appliance OVA¶

1. Navigate to Azure Portal > Azure Migrate > Servers, databases and web apps
2. Click Discover under the Assessment tools section
3. Select Yes, with VMware vSphere for virtualization type
4. Select Download for the OVA appliance file

2.2 Deploy in VMware¶

1. In vSphere Client, select File > Deploy OVF Template
2. Select the downloaded Azure Migrate appliance OVA
3. Configure:
   • Name: azure-migrate-appliance-01
   • Folder: choose a management folder
   • Cluster/host: select your management cluster
   • Datastore: select a datastore with 80 GB free
   • Network: select your management network
4. Power on the appliance VM

2.3 Configure the appliance¶

1. Open a browser to https://<appliance-ip>:44368
2. Accept the license terms
3. Set up the appliance:
   • Register with Azure: sign in with Azure credentials, select subscription, select Migrate project
   • Add vCenter Server: enter vCenter FQDN/IP, port (443), and credentials
   • Enable discovery of installed applications (optional but recommended)
   • Enable agentless dependency analysis (optional, requires Service Map agent)
4. Click Start Discovery

Initial discovery takes 15--30 minutes for metadata. Performance data collection requires a minimum of one day for accurate sizing recommendations. For best results, let discovery run for at least one week before creating assessments.

Step 3: Review discovered inventory¶

3.1 View discovered VMs¶

After discovery completes, review the inventory in Azure Portal:

1. Navigate to Azure Migrate > Servers, databases and web apps
2. Click Discovered servers to see all discovered VMs
3. Review VM details: OS, CPU, memory, disks, network adapters, installed applications

3.2 Enable dependency analysis (recommended)¶

Dependency analysis shows which VMs communicate with each other, helping you plan migration groups:

Agentless dependency analysis (recommended):

1. In Azure Migrate > Servers > discovered servers, select VMs
2. Click Start dependency analysis
3. Analysis runs automatically using connection data from the VMware environment

Agent-based dependency analysis (for deeper visibility):

# Install Dependency Agent on Windows VM
# Download from Azure Portal > Azure Migrate > Dependency analysis
MicrosoftDependencyAgentWindows.exe /S

# Install Dependency Agent on Linux VM
sh InstallDependencyAgent-Linux64.bin -s

3.3 Group VMs by application¶

Create groups of related VMs for assessment and migration:

1. Navigate to Azure Migrate > Servers > Assessment tools > Groups
2. Click Create group
3. Add VMs to the group based on application dependencies
4. Example groups:
   • group-webapp-prod: web-01, web-02, app-01, app-02, db-01
   • group-erp: erp-web-01, erp-app-01, erp-db-01, erp-db-02
   • group-fileservers: fs-01, fs-02, fs-03

Step 4: Run assessment¶

4.1 Create assessment¶

1. Navigate to Azure Migrate > Servers > Assessment tools
2. Click Assess > Azure VM
3. Configure assessment:
   • Assessment name: assessment-prod-vms
   • Target location: East US 2
   • Pricing tier: Standard
   • Sizing criterion: Performance-based (recommended)
   • Performance history: 1 month
   • Percentile utilization: 95^th percentile
   • VM series: Dsv5, Esv5, Fsv2, Bsv2 (exclude GPU unless needed)
   • Comfort factor: 1.3 (30% buffer for growth)
   • Offer/License: EA or Pay-as-you-go
   • Azure Hybrid Benefit: Yes (if you have existing Windows Server/SQL licenses)
4. Select the group(s) to assess
5. Click Create Assessment

4.2 Review assessment results¶

The assessment provides:

4.3 Address readiness issues¶

Common readiness issues and resolutions:

Step 5: Replicate VMs¶

5.1 Enable replication¶

1. Navigate to Azure Migrate > Servers > Migration tools
2. Click Replicate
3. Configure replication settings:
   • Source: VMware (agentless)
   • Appliance: select your Azure Migrate appliance
   • VMs: select VMs from your assessed groups
   • Target subscription: select Azure subscription
   • Target resource group: rg-migrated-vms
   • Target VNet/subnet: vnet-migrated-workloads / subnet-app
   • Availability option: Availability Zone or Availability Set
   • OS disk type: Premium SSD (production) or Standard SSD (dev/test)
   • Azure Hybrid Benefit: Enable if you have existing licenses

5.2 Monitor replication¶

# Check replication status via CLI
az migrate replication list \
  --project-name migrate-vmware-prod \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --query "[].{Name:machineName, Status:replicationStatus, Health:replicationHealth}"

Initial replication copies the entire disk. For a 500 GB disk over a 1 Gbps link, expect approximately 1 hour. For large environments, stagger initial replication to avoid saturating your WAN link.

Step 6: Test migration¶

6.1 Create test network¶

Create an isolated VNet for test migration to avoid IP conflicts:

# Create isolated test VNet (no peering to production)
az network vnet create \
  --name vnet-migration-test \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --location eastus2 \
  --address-prefix 10.99.0.0/16

az network vnet subnet create \
  --vnet-name vnet-migration-test \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --name subnet-test \
  --address-prefix 10.99.1.0/24

6.2 Run test migration¶

1. Navigate to Azure Migrate > Servers > Migration tools > Replicated servers
2. Select a VM
3. Click Test Migration
4. Select the test VNet (vnet-migration-test)
5. Click Test Migration

Azure Migrate creates a test VM in Azure from the replicated data. The source VM is unaffected.

6.3 Validate test VM¶

Connect to the test VM and validate:

# Get test VM public IP (or use Azure Bastion)
az vm show \
  --name migrated-vm-01-test \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --show-details \
  --query "publicIps"

# Verify VM is responding
az vm run-command invoke \
  --name migrated-vm-01-test \
  --resource-group rg-migration \
  --command-id RunPowerShellScript \
  --scripts "Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq 'Running'} | Select-Object Name, Status"

Test migration validation checklist:

• VM boots successfully
• OS login works (RDP/SSH)
• Application processes are running
• Application health check endpoint responds
• Database connectivity works (if applicable)
• File system integrity verified
• Performance is acceptable (CPU, memory, disk)

6.4 Clean up test migration¶

# Clean up test migration (removes test VM)
# Azure Portal > Azure Migrate > Replicated servers > [VM] > Clean up test migration

Step 7: Cutover (production migration)¶

7.1 Plan the cutover window¶

• Coordinate with application owners for maintenance window
• Notify users of planned downtime
• Prepare rollback plan (keep source VM available for 30 days)
• Update change management records

7.2 Execute cutover¶

1. Navigate to Azure Migrate > Servers > Migration tools > Replicated servers
2. Select the VM(s) to migrate
3. Click Migrate
4. Configure:
   • Shut down on-premises VM before migration: Yes (recommended for data consistency)
   • This performs a final delta sync, then powers off the source VM
5. Click Migrate

7.3 Post-cutover configuration¶

# Verify VM is running
az vm show \
  --name migrated-vm-01 \
  --resource-group rg-migrated-vms \
  --query "powerState"

# Enable boot diagnostics
az vm boot-diagnostics enable \
  --name migrated-vm-01 \
  --resource-group rg-migrated-vms

# Enable Azure Backup
az backup protection enable-for-vm \
  --resource-group rg-backup \
  --vault-name rsv-prod-eastus2 \
  --vm migrated-vm-01 \
  --policy-name daily-backup

# Install Azure Monitor Agent
az vm extension set \
  --name AzureMonitorWindowsAgent \
  --publisher Microsoft.Azure.Monitor \
  --vm-name migrated-vm-01 \
  --resource-group rg-migrated-vms

# Update DNS record
az network private-dns record-set a add-record \
  --resource-group rg-dns \
  --zone-name contoso.internal \
  --record-set-name migrated-vm-01 \
  --ipv4-address 10.20.2.10

Step 8: Post-migration optimization¶

8.1 Right-sizing¶

After 1--2 weeks of production operation, review Azure Advisor recommendations:

# Get VM right-sizing recommendations
az advisor recommendation list \
  --filter "Category eq 'Cost'" \
  --query "[?contains(shortDescription.problem, 'size')].{VM:resourceMetadata.resourceId, Recommendation:shortDescription.solution}"

8.2 Enable Reserved Instances¶

For VMs that will run long-term:

# Calculate reserved instance savings
# Azure Portal > Cost Management > Advisor recommendations > Reserved Instances
# Review 1-year and 3-year savings projections

8.3 Consider CSA-in-a-Box modernization¶

For database and analytics VMs migrated to Azure IaaS, evaluate modernization to PaaS:

Troubleshooting¶

Related¶

• Azure IaaS Migration Guide
• HCX Migration Tutorial
• Networking Migration
• Best Practices
• Migration Playbook

Last updated: 2026-04-30 Maintainers: CSA-in-a-Box core team