4.3.18.4 MIGRATE GUEST

This command moves an Oracle Linux KVM guest to another KVM host.

Prerequisites

  • The Exadata system must use 2-socket Oracle Exadata system hardware with RoCE Network Fabric (X8M-2 or later).

  • The Exadata system must use Oracle Exadata System Software release 25.1.0 or later.

  • You must have an OEDA-generated Engineered System XML configuration file (es.xml) that accurately reflects the current state of the Exadata system.

  • The Exadata system must be configured to use Exascale storage to host the guest image files.

  • The environment must be configured with SSH equivalency, so that the OS user and the server running OEDACLI can perform actions as the root user on both the source and target KVM hosts.

  • The source and target KVM hosts must reside in the same Exadata system configuration and have the same network visibility.

  • The source and target KVM hosts must have access to the same Oracle Exadata storage servers.

  • The source and target KVM hosts must not have any outstanding work from a previous Exadata Live Update.

  • The target KVM host must use Oracle Exadata System Software packages that are the same version as, or newer than, those on the source KVM host.

  • The target KVM host must have sufficient free CPU and memory resources to accommodate the guest.

    • It is possible to over-commit virtual CPUs such that the total number of virtual CPUs assigned to all guests exceeds the number of physical CPUs on the system. Over-committing CPUs can be done only when the competing workloads for over-subscribed resources are well understood and the concurrent demand does not exceed physical capacity.

    • It is not possible to over-commit memory.

  • The guest being migrated must not have any outstanding work from a previous Exadata Live Update operation that could be applied when the guest restarts during the migration process. Either clear all outstanding work before migration, or reconfigure the guest so that no outstanding work occurs during the migration process.

  • The guest name must not already be in use on the target KVM host.

Syntax

MIGRATE GUEST
     HOSTNAME=guest_name
     MODE={OFFLINE|OFFLINEFORCE|LIVE}
     SRCHOST=source_host
     TGTHOST=target_host
[ WHERE
     STEPNAME=stepname ]

Arguments

  • HOSTNAME: Specifies the hostname of the guest being migrated.

  • MODE: Specifies the migration mode.

    • OFFLINE: Performs an automated migration process where the guest is gracefully shut down, moved to the target KVM host, and then restarted.

      Use this option in most offline migration situations to gracefully migrate a working guest.

    • OFFLINEFORCE: Performs a forced offline migration process without gracefully shutting down the guest.

      Use this option only in situations where the guest or source KVM host are not accessible. For example, to resurrect a guest from a failed KVM host.

    • LIVE: This mode is currently not supported.

  • SRCHOST: Specifies the hostname or IP address of the source KVM host where the guest resides before the migration operation.

  • TGTHOST: Specifies the hostname or IP address of the target KVM host that the guest is being moved to.

  • STEPNAME: Specifies the migration step to perform.

    The following list shows the migration steps in order for an offline migration.

    1. STOP_GUEST
    2. CREATE_BRIDGES
    3. DETACH_INTERFACES
    4. DETACH_VOLUMES
    5. ATTACH_VOLUMES
    6. MIGRATE_GUEST
    7. ATTACH_INTERFACES
    8. STARTUP_GUEST

Example 4-29 Migrating a Guest VM Using Offline Migration

This example shows the command sequence to migrate a guest using offline migration.

In this example, the guest being moved is named exa01vm01.example.com, the KVM host where the guest resides before the migration operation is exa01adm02.example.com, and the target KVM host is exa01adm06.example.com. 

oedacli> LOAD FILE NAME=exa01.xml
oedacli> MIGRATE GUEST HOSTNAME=exa01vm01.example.com MODE=offline SRCHOST=exa01adm02.example.com TGTHOST=exa01adm06.example.com
oedacli> SAVE ACTION
oedacli> MERGE ACTIONS
...
Merging MIGRATE GUEST
Action Validated and Merged OK
oedacli> SAVE FILE NAME=exa01.migration-merged.xml
File : exa01.migration-merged.xml saved OK
oedacli> DEPLOY ACTIONS
Deploying Action ID : 28 MIGRATE GUEST HOSTNAME=exa01vm01.example.com MODE=offline SRCHOST=exa01adm02.example.com TGTHOST=exa01adm06.example.com
Deploying MIGRATE GUEST
...
Done...
Done [Elapsed = 193346 mS [3.0 minutes] Wed Jul 30 16:14:59 PDT 2025]]
oedacli> SAVE FILE NAME=exa01.migration-deployed.xml
File : exa01.migration-deployed.xml saved OK

Related Topics

Parent topic: GUEST