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Server Migration Center:Configure a migration test

Last Updated:Mar 06, 2024

A migration test is a process of simulating and verifying a migration solution before you perform an actual migration. This process helps you fully understand the feasibility and risks of a migration solution before the actual migration is performed. By performing a test, you can also obtain the information about the migration, such as the size of data to be migrated, data transfer speed, and total migration duration. If issues are identified, the migration test provides you with solutions. This reduces the issues and losses that may occur during the actual migration. This topic describes how to perform a migration test on a server and an operating system.

Prerequisites

Usage note

You can perform a migration test only if you migrate the source server to an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) image or you migrate a Linux operating system.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the Server Migration Center (SMC) console.

  2. In the left-side navigation pane, click Migration Sources.

  3. On the Migration Sources page, find the migration source for which you want to create a migration job and click Create Migration Job in the Actions column.

  4. In the Create Migration Job dialog box, configure the parameters.

    Server migration

    The following table describes the key parameters for a server migration job. You can use the default values for other parameters. For more information, see Create a server migration job.

    Parameter

    Description

    Migration Job Type

    The type of the migration job. After you select Server Migration, read the migration instructions.

    Destination Type

    The type of the destination on Alibaba Cloud to which you want to migrate the source server. If you set this parameter to ECS Image, you can migrate the source server to an ECS image and then create an ECS instance by using the image.

    If you set the Destination Type parameter to ECS Image, the following parameters are displayed:

    • Destination Region: the Alibaba Cloud region to which you want to migrate your source server. This parameter is required. For more information about regions, see Regions and zones.

    • Image Name: the name of the destination ECS image generated by SMC for the migration source.

    Migration Test

    Specifies whether to enable the migration test feature. A migration test is a process of simulating and verifying a migration solution before you perform an actual migration. A migration test helps you fully understand the feasibility and risks of a migration solution before you perform an actual migration. This reduces the issues and losses that may occur during the actual migration.

    A migration test helps you identify issues that may occur during the migration, provides solutions to the issues, and improves the migration success rate.

    By default, this feature is enabled.

    Execution Method

    The mode in which the migration test is to perform and the server migration job is to run. By default, Test and Migrate is selected. In this example, Test Only is selected.

    • Test Only: The system performs only the migration test. After the migration test is complete, you must manually start the server migration job.

    • Test and Migrate: The system performs the migration test, and, after the migration test is complete, if no test items are in the Critical state, the system automatically starts the server migration job.

    Operating system migration

    The following table describes the key parameters for an operating system migration job. You can use the default values for other parameters. For more information, see Create a server migration job.

    Parameter

    Description

    Migration Job Type

    The type of the migration job. Select Operating System Migration.

    Current Operating System

    By default, the current operating system is displayed and cannot be modified. In this example, CentOS 7 is displayed.

    Destination Operating System

    Select the operating system to which you want to migrate the source operating system from the drop-down list. In this example, Alibaba Cloud Linux 3 is selected.

    Migration Test

    Specifies whether to enable the migration test feature. A migration test is a process of simulating and verifying a migration solution before you perform an actual migration. A migration test helps you fully understand the feasibility and risks of a migration solution before you perform an actual migration. This reduces the issues and losses that may occur during the actual migration.

    A migration test helps you identify issues that may occur during the migration, provides solutions to the issues, and improves the migration success rate.

    By default, this feature is enabled.

    Warning

    If the migration test feature is enabled, a basic disk snapshot is created for the ECS instance during the migration test. If the Execution Method parameter is not set to Test and Migrate or the migration test is abnormal, the snapshot is automatically rolled back to the point in time at which the snapshot was created after the migration test is complete. The point in time at which the snapshot was created is the point in time at which the migration test starts. The data generated during the migration test is lost.

    Execution Method

    The mode in which the migration test is to perform and the server migration job is to run. By default, Test and Migrate is selected. In this example, Test Only is selected.

    • Test Only: The system performs only the migration test. After the migration test is complete, you must manually start the server migration job.

    • Test and Migrate: The system performs the migration test, and, after the migration test is complete, if no test items are in the Critical state, the system automatically starts the operating system migration job.

  5. Click Create. In the Migrate Operating System dialog box, read the message and click Got It.

  6. Click Go to the Migration Jobs page to view the migration test results.

    The migration test takes about 5 minutes. Migration test states:

    • image.png: The migration test is in process.

    • image.png: No abnormal test items are detected.

    • 189173c8624dec7dfcb00f12fbe6fbce.png: Test items in the Warning state are detected, and no test items in the Critical state are detected.

    • f03b9e1fd94b9f1d5d94711516a09fd8.png: Test items in the Critical state are detected, or the test report is incomplete.

    The following figure shows the migration test results of a server migration job.

    image.png

  7. Start the migration job or perform a migration test again based on the migration test results.

    Warning

    When you perform a migration test for an operating system migration job, the disk snapshot of the ECS instance is rolled back and the ECS instance is stopped. In this case, the SMC client is offline. After the snapshot is rolled back, the SMC client is automatically started by Cloud Assistant. If the SMC client is not automatically started by Cloud Assistant, the migration source is in the Offline state. You cannot start the migration job or perform a migration test again. In this case, you must log on to the ECS instance and manually start the SMC client. For more information, see View and run the SMC client

    • If the migration test is in the image.png or image.png state, you can click Run in the Actions column to start the migration job.

    • If the migration test is in the image.png state, you need to view the migration test report and fix test items in the Critical state. Then, perform a migration test again. For more information, see Step 8 to Step 11 in this topic.

  8. View the migration test report.

    The following list describes how to view the migration test report if you set the Execution Method parameter to Test Only in Step 4. Alternatively, you can click the migration job ID to go to the details page of the migration job. On the details page, click View Report in the Migration Drill section.

    1. On the Migration Jobs page, find the migration job that you want to view and click View Report in the Status column.

    2. In the Migration Drill Report panel, view the details of the migration test report.

      A migration test item can be in one of the following states:

      • Critical: Issues that may cause migration failures occur. We recommend that you fix the issues.

      • Warning: Issues that may affect the migration occur. We recommend that you determine whether to fix the issues based on the issue details.

      • Passed: No issues occur.

      • Not Tested: The test item does not need to be tested or does not meet the requirements for the test.

        Note

        The following table describes the requirements that the Windows server must meet. If the Windows server fails to meet the requirements, all test items in the source environment are in the Not Tested state.

        Operating system architecture

        Operating system version

        Operating system configuration

        x86_64-bit

        Windows Server 2008 or later

        PowerShell 3.0 or later

      You can perform the following operations based on the descriptions and recommended solutions of the test items:

      The following figure shows the migration test report of a server migration job.

      image.png

  9. Required. If the migration test report contains test items in the Critical or Warning state, fix the test items based on the descriptions and recommended solutions of the test items. For more information, see Migration test items.

  10. Optional. In the Actions column of the migration job, click Modify Job to modify the parameters of the job based on your business requirements.

    Note

    You cannot modify the parameters of an operating system migration job.

  11. Required. After the test items in the Critical or Warning state are fixed, click Retry Test in the Actions column of the migration job.

    Note

    You can click Retry Test only if the migration source is in the Migrating state and the migration job is in the Not Started state.