Deploying the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend

The Migrate for Compute Engine On-Premises Backend virtual appliance connects to VM disks in your on-premises data center and streams or migrates them to Google Cloud using Cloud Extensions.

The Migrate for Compute Engine Backend is distributed as an Open Virtualization Format (OVF) package.

Note: You may be prompted to install the VMware Client Integration Plug-in. The plug-in is required to use Migrate for Compute Engine's vSphere integration.

Sizing a VM for the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend

The Migrate for Compute Engine Backend requires the following, based on the number of VMs to be migrated concurrently:

Migration Size	Resources
<=100 concurrent migrating VMs	2 vCPU, 4GB RAM
>100 concurrent migrating VMs	4 vCPU, 8GB RAM

Deploying and configuring the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend

1. Download the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend. You can verify the integrity of the files using the SHA256 checksum.

2. Sign in to vSphere via the Flash Web Client.

   Note: The Migrate for Compute Engine plugin is only supported in the vSphere Web Client (Flash-based). Currently, it does not support the vSphere Client (HTML5-based).

3. Right-click a parent object of one of the VMs to be migrated (such as a datacenter) and select Deploy OVF Template.

4. Select the Migrate for Compute Engine OVA file.

5. Choose the Host/ Cluster in your vSphere datacenter where you want to run the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend.

6. Select a Disk Format, and click Next.

7. Select the Network information that will host the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend. Click Next.

8. Expand the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend Configuration section.

   

9. Paste the token you copied from the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager on Google Cloud into Migrate for Compute Engine Backend Token.

10. Enter and confirm a Password for the admin user on the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend. After installation, the password should be changed by connecting to the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend using SSH as admin and using the passwd command.

11. Add the Private IP address of the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager (for example 10.1.1.123) running on Google Cloud.

12. Expand the Networking Properties section. Enter the Hostname for the Virtual Appliance. Enter a static IP Address, Netmask, Default Gateway, and DNS server for the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend. You can change these properties at any time later, but you must reboot the Virtual Appliance afterward in order for the changes to take effect.

    Note: If you are using a DHCP server, the address reservation must be persistent. If the address isn't persistent, the plug-in must be unregistered and re-registered every time the IP address changes.

13. If you want to use an HTTP proxy for metrics and log uploads to Google Cloud's operations suite, fill in the HTTP Proxy parameter.

    Note: Proxy authentication is not supported.

14. If your VPN to Google Cloud is not configured with dynamic routing, you can enter the Static network route to reach subnets on Google Cloud. The address is in the form x.x.x.x/x y.y.y.y, where x.x.x.x/x is the Google Cloud VPC network address in CIDR format and y.y.y.y is the on-premises VPN Gateway IP address.

    Note: You may have to configure a static route on your vCenter instance.

15. Click Next and review the Ready to complete page.

16. Click Finish. The Deploy OVF template task appears.

Configuring the Migrate for Compute Engine Service Role and Permissions in vCenter

This procedure describes how to manually add a service role to the vCenter Server for Migrate for Compute Engine. A PowerShell script is also available for creating this Role.

Configuring the Migrate for Compute Engine service role and permissions in vCenter

1. Log in to the vCenter Web Client.
2. Select Home > Administration > Roles.

   

   Role dialog box (click to enlarge)

3. Click + to create a new role.
4. Check the boxes for the following privileges:
   • Alarms
     • Create alarm
     • Modify alarm
     • Remove alarm
     • Set alarm status
   • Datastore
     • Low level file operations
   • Extension
     • Register extension
     • Unregister extension
     • Update extension
   • Global
     • Cancel task
     • Enable methods
     • Disable methods
     • Licenses
     • Log event
   • Task
     • Create task
     • Update task
   • Virtual Machine
     • Provisioning > Allow disk access
     • Provisioning > Allow disk read-only access
     • Provisioning > Allow virtual machine download
     • Snapshot management > Create snapshot
     • Snapshot management > Remove snapshot
     • Snapshot management > Revert to Snapshot
     • Snapshot management > Rename Snapshot
     • Configuration > Configure managedBy
     • Interaction > Power On
     • Interaction > Power Off

To configure permissions for the Migrate for Compute Engine Service user in vCenter:

1. Select Home > Global Inventory Lists > vCenter Servers.
2. Right-click on the required vCenter server, and select Add Permission.

   

   Add Permission dialog box (click to enlarge)

3. Select a user in the left pane, and assign the Velostrata Service Role (in the right pane) to the user.
4. Select Propagate to Child Objects, and click OK.

Deploying the Migrate for Compute Engine VMware vCenter Plugin

Once the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend has successfully connected and registered with the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager on Google Cloud, you need to register and deploy the Migrate for Compute Engine VMware vCenter Web Client Plugin. This enables Migrate for Compute Engine management operations and monitoring in the vCenter UI.

Important: Each Migrate for Compute Engine vCenter plugin can communicate with only one Migrate for Compute Engine Manager per vCenter server. When administering multiple vCenter servers in Linked Mode, deploy one Migrate for Compute Engine Manager per cluster. Then register the Migrate for Compute Engine vCenter Plugin with each vCenter server from the corresponding Migrate for Compute Engine Manager.

1. Make sure that a Migrate for Compute Engine vCenter Service Account (user) and Role have been created before proceeding.
2. Sign in to your Migrate for Compute Engine Manager.
3. Click the System Settings icon.
4. If the Migrate for Compute Engine Backend is able to connect to the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager, the IP for the backend appears with a status of Registered and Connected.

   

   Screenshot of a registered and connected appliance (click to enlarge)

5. On the top bar of the page, click vCenter Plugin and then click Register vCenter Plugin.

   

   Registering a plugin (click to enlarge)

6. Enter the vCenter address or DNS name, user, password
7. The vCenter plugin requires network connectivity to the Migrate for Compute Engine Manager. If this is not open by default, you can either create a direct route on your vCenter server or use a proxy. If using a proxy, add the Proxy IP and the Proxy Port.

   

   Registration parameters for a plugin (click to enlarge)

8. Click Register to register the plugin.

   Note: You may be prompted to verify the vCenter certificate fingerprint. If so, confirm that the value presented matches the SSL certificate on your vCenter host and click Connect. Canceling certificate verification will stop the plugin registration.

   

   A registered plugin (click to enlarge)

9. To confirm that Velostrata Operations is present in the context menu, log out of the vSphere Web Client, log in, then right-click Datacenter.

Finding your vCenter server's fingerprint.

The manager registration process displays the SHA-1 SSL fingerprint of the vCenter server used for HTTPS connections. You can find the fingerprint from your browser. The following instructions explain the process using Google Chrome.

1. Open the vCenter vSphere URL in Chrome
2. Click on either the Lock icon or Not Secure to the left of the URL bar. Your HTTPS connection status is displayed.
3. Click Certificate
4. Expand the Details section.
5. Scroll down to the SHA-1 fingerprint.