Set up Migrate to Containers

Before you begin migrating, set up Migrate to Containers by creating the processing cluster that you use to perform migrations, and then install Migrate to Containers on the cluster.

Choose the type of processing cluster

The type of processing cluster depends on the source platform and the type of workload that you are migrating, as shown in the following table.

Source platform Workload type Processing cluster type
Compute Engine Linux
  • GKE or GKE clusters on Google Cloud
Windows
  • GKE or GKE clusters on Google Cloud
VMware Linux
  • GKE or GKE clusters on Google Cloud*
  • Google Distributed Cloud Virtual for Bare Metal
* Requires Migrate to Virtual Machines version 5.0.

For example:

  • If you are migrating a Linux or Windows workload currently deployed on Compute Engine, you can use either a GKE cluster or an GKE cluster on Google Cloud as your processing cluster.

  • If you are migrating a Linux workload from VMware, you can use an Google Distributed Cloud Virtual for Bare Metal, or you can use a GKE cluster or an GKE cluster on Google Cloud as your processing cluster. However, to use a GKE cluster or an GKE cluster on Google Cloud, you must also set up Migrate to Virtual Machines.

While choosing your processing cluster, take into consideration the type of workload that you are migrating.

  • If you are migrating a stateless workload to a container, then you can easily use any of the supported processing clusters to perform the migration. You can then use the generated migration artifacts to deploy your workloads on the target environment.

  • If you are migrating a stateful workload, where data is extracted to a persistent volume, you might find it easier to create a processing cluster in the eventual deployment environment. That setup can simplify the migration of stateful workloads.

For more information about stateless and stateful workloads, see Setting the migration intent.

Setup steps

  1. Read the prerequisites for your migration environment.

    The migration prerequisites are dependent on your specific migration environment. Confirm that your workloads' OS and source platform are compatible for migration by reviewing the prerequisites for your specific migration environment:

  2. Enable required Google services and configure service accounts.

  3. If you are using GKE or GKE clusters on Google Cloud to migrate from VMware, set up Migrate to Virtual Machines. Migrate to Virtual Machines works with your source platform to facilitate the replication of migration data from your source VMs.

  4. Set up a GKE or GKE Enterprise cluster for processing the migration. You do the migration by using this cluster before deploying to a production cluster. The GKE processing clusters can be located in the Cloud or on-premises:

  5. Install and configure Migrate to Containers on your processing cluster.

What's next