Preparing Linux VMs

Linux VMs migrating to Google Cloud with Migrate for Compute Engine need a prep package installed to automatically handle configuration changes.

This page describes how to install the Migrate for Compute Engine prep package on VMs you intend to run on Google Cloud.

This package makes changes at boot after detecting that the VM is running on Google Cloud. It can remain installed while the VM is running on-premises. For more information on the changes made by the package, see VM adaptations.

RHEL / CentOS

Use the following steps to prepare Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 6/7 and CentOS 6/7.

You can install the Migrate for Compute Engine RPM package in two ways:

  1. Install the velostrata-prep package using Yum. This automatically fetches and installs the required prerequisites.
  2. Download and install the prerequisites, and then install the velostrata-prep RPM package.

Installing using Yum

  1. Sign in to the workload VM.
  2. From the VM, download the latest Migrate for Compute Engine RPM package from the Downloads page.
  3. Install the prep package using yum:

    yum install velostrata-prep-<var>VERSION</var>.redhat.x86_64.rpm
    

Downloading and installing prerequisites

  1. Log in to the workload VM.
  2. From the VM, download the latest Migrate for Compute Engine RPM package from the Downloads page.
  3. Check for the list of prerequisites by running:

    rpm -qpR velostrata-prep-<var>VERSION</var>.redhat.x86_64.rpm
    

    For example:

    rpm -qpR velostrata-prep-1.8-12.redhat.x86_64.rpm
    
  4. Install the prerequisites individually.

  5. Install the velostrata-prep RPM package using Yum.

    yum install velostrata-prep-<var>VERSION</var>.redhat.x86_64.rpm
    

If the installation is unsuccessful or if there are any warnings, ensure that you address them prior to executing the run-in-cloud operation.

SuSE SLES

Use the following steps to prepare SuSE Enterprise Linux Server (SLES) 11/12 for running in GCP.

  1. Log in to the SLES virtual machine as the root user.
  2. Install the SLES xen-kmp-default package:

    zypper install xen-kmp-default
    
  3. Reboot.

  4. Install the Migrate for Compute Engine SUSE RPM package from the Downloads page using a command such as the following.

    zypper install velostrata-prep-<var>VERSION</var>.suse.x86_64.rpm
    

    For example:

    zypper install velostrata-prep-1.8-12.suse.x86_64.rpm
    

If the installation is unsuccessful or if there are warnings during installation, address them prior to migrating this VM.

Ubuntu

Use the following steps to prepare Ubuntu 14/16/18.

  1. Sign in to the Ubuntu virtual machine as a user with sudo privileged access.
  2. Install the Migrate for Compute Engine .deb package (available at the Downloads page) using a command such as the following:

    sudo dpkg -i velostrata-prep-<var>VERSION</var>.deb
    

    For example:

    sudo dpkg -i velostrata-prep-1.8-12.deb
    
  3. Install all required or missing prerequisites for the velostrata-prep package.

    sudo apt-get install -f -y
    

If the installation is unsuccessful or if there are warnings during installation, address them prior to migrating this VM using Migrate for Compute Engine.

Amazon Linux

Use the following steps to prepare Amazon Linux AMI or Amazon Linux 2.

  1. Run Offline Migration on the VM (as-is).
  2. Follow the steps described here to configure yum repositories and install the Compute Engine guest agent.