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Before migrating a VMware virtual machine, create a recoverable backup, verify that it completed successfully, and confirm you can restore it. A vSphere snapshot is not a backup: it depends on the VM’s original virtual disks. The right migration procedure also depends on whether the VM is powered off, whether it will stay running, whether its storage is moving, and whether you are relocating vCenter or an entire cluster.
First, identify what you are migrating
“Migration” can mean several different operations in VMware. Their power-state requirements and what they move are not interchangeable. Broadcom distinguishes cold migration, vMotion, and Storage vMotion as follows:
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| Operation | VM power state | What moves | Snapshot consideration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cold migration | Powered off | VM files are relocated and the VM is registered at the destination. | For Broadcom’s manual-move workflow, commit snapshots before moving files. [Broadcom guidance] |
| vMotion | Powered on | Running state moves to another host; VM files are not relocated in the vMotion case Broadcom describes. | Broadcom says snapshots are retained in that case. [Broadcom guidance] |
| Storage vMotion | Can remain powered on | VM files move to different storage. | Broadcom’s article says powered-on VMs with snapshots are supported in ESXi 5.0 and later. That is a historical threshold, not a guarantee for every current product, storage, or configuration; verify compatibility for your installed release. [Broadcom guidance] |
Before choosing a procedure, note the source and destination VMware versions, whether the datastore changes, whether snapshots exist, and whether vCenter or a whole cluster is moving. Confirm compatibility for the VM’s storage and hardware configuration, including any special disk mappings or sharing requirements.
Why a snapshot is not a backup
Broadcom’s guidance is explicit: “Do not use VMware snapshots as backups.” A snapshot records changes relative to the original virtual disk; it does not stand alone as a complete VM copy. If the base disk is deleted, snapshot files alone cannot restore the VM. [Broadcom, “Best practices for using VMware snapshots in the vSphere environment,” Article 318825]
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Broadcom states that a snapshot chain can contain up to 32 snapshots, but recommends 2 to 3 for better performance and says not to retain a single snapshot for more than 72 hours. These are Broadcom product guidelines, not independent performance measurements. Long-lived or deep chains can consume datastore capacity and affect performance. [Broadcom snapshot guidance]
Snapshot files and virtual disks can form interdependent chains. Avoid manually moving individual VMDK or delta files: an incomplete or inconsistent move can leave the VM unusable. Use a supported VMware migration feature or an appropriate VMware tool instead. Broadcom warns against using scp, cp, or mv for ESXi storage operations in the manual-move context. [Broadcom file-movement guidance]
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Pre-migration checklist for vSphere
1. Record the VM and its dependencies
As a practical preparation step, document the VM’s configuration, guest and application dependencies, virtual disks and their locations, network settings, storage mappings, and exact source and destination versions. Broadcom’s manual-move guidance calls for identifying the VM configuration and disk locations; the broader inventory helps you check that the destination can support the workload. [Broadcom manual-move guidance]
2. Choose and validate the migration method
Decide whether you need to move a powered-off VM, its running state, its files, or a combination. Check product-version, storage, and hardware compatibility before proceeding, and account for any existing snapshot chain. Prefer supported migration features or tools when appropriate instead of improvised file movement.
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3. Make a separate, recoverable backup
Use a backup system that supports your VMware environment and workload. For a physical relocation of an ESXi cluster and vCenter, Broadcom calls for full image-level VM backups and integrity verification before shutdown. A finished job is not enough on its own: confirm its integrity and, where your operational process permits, test that the backup can be restored. [Broadcom physical-relocation guidance]
4. Back up vCenter separately when it is moving
If the management appliance is part of the relocation, back up the vCenter Server Appliance separately from the VMs. Broadcom’s vSphere 7.x relocation example uses the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) at https://<vCenter FQDN>:5480 and lists SFTP, NFS, SMB, and HTTP/S as destination protocols. The cited workflow is scoped to vSphere 7.x, so check the procedure for your installed release before relying on it. [Broadcom physical-relocation guidance]
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5. Move, register, and validate the destination
If you are following a manual cold-move workflow, Broadcom’s high-level sequence is to commit snapshots, power off the VM, identify its working directory and virtual disks, move the configuration and disks carefully, register the VM at the destination, power it on, and test it. Do not remove the original until the destination has been validated and your recovery path is acceptable. [Broadcom manual-move guidance]
Check snapshot cleanup and consistency
Backup software may create snapshots while protecting a VM. Broadcom advises checking that snapshots created for a successful backup are deleted afterward. Some snapshots created through APIs may not appear in Snapshot Manager, so a GUI-only check might not show every snapshot. Follow the applicable vendor procedure to inspect and clean up the environment. Do not cancel an active snapshot deletion or consolidation task: Broadcom warns that interrupting it can cause data corruption. [Broadcom snapshot guidance]
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Do not assume that a snapshot is application-consistent. Broadcom describes quiescing as using VMware Tools to quiesce the guest file system when taking a powered-on snapshot. A snapshot without memory and without quiescing is crash-consistent; including memory captures internal VM state and can take longer. Application consistency depends on the workload and the backup process, so verify that the method meets the application’s recovery requirements rather than inferring it from the word “snapshot.” [Broadcom snapshot-consistency guidance]
Workstation and Player: copying a powered-off VM folder
For the narrower desktop case, Broadcom documents a folder-copy procedure for the legacy Workstation and Player releases listed on its support page: power off the VM, locate its folder, and copy the folder to the backup destination. An external USB flash drive or USB hard drive is an acceptable destination in that procedure. Do not copy a VM while it is running or suspended. Check current documentation for your release; this desktop workflow is not a substitute for image-level protection of vSphere production workloads. [Broadcom Workstation/Player folder-copy guidance]
A portable external hard drive can serve as the copy destination for this powered-off desktop VM procedure. A single copy to a drive, however, does not by itself provide offsite protection, immutability, retention, encryption, or enterprise recovery.
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After migration or recovery, test the destination VM before deleting the original. Broadcom’s manual-move sequence explicitly includes testing the new VM. Check that the guest starts, its expected disks and network connections are available, and the applications and services the VM supports behave as intended. [Broadcom manual-move guidance]
Keep the source and its recovery options until the destination has passed those checks and you have accepted the backup and rollback plan. This final validation is what turns a completed transfer into an operationally usable migration.
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