NSX-T Migration Made Easy
Simple, Cost-effective Automated Migrations
Are you ready for the transition to NSX-T ? While the ReSTNSX platform provides an exceptional experience for NSX automation and day 2 operations for both NSX-v and NSX-T, customers still require a way to snapshot their -v environment and build the equivalent in NSX-T. This is where the Migration Assistance Tool (MAT) comes in. MAT is a standalone virtual appliance that can migrate your -v configuration to -T within a few clicks and without an outage. From Security to Network Virtualization configurations, MAT has you covered.
Say Hi To MAT!
ReSTNSX's Migration Assistance Tool (M.A.T.) is here to help with your transition to NSX-T. No longer do you need to focus on how you are going to get the job done but rather the outcome. MAT is your easy button for your journey to -T.
Get to NSX-T in 4 Easy Steps
MAT will perform the data collection, analysis and migration with minimal user intervention. Forget scripting or long analysis of the -v data, let MAT do the work for you! MAT is a feature-rich platform that was built from the ground up to provide the simplest, yet most flexible and impactful user experience possible. Features of MAT include:
- Automated Migration
- Selective object/policy migration
- Non-disruptive migration to NSX-T
- Many:1 Support (Multiple NSX-v:NSX-T)
- NSX-v analysis for auto detection and transformation of incompatible objects
- Pre and Post Migration Summary Reports
- Roll-back option during and after migration
- Verbose logging to understand what tasks are being carried out
- Offline Collection Mode for exporting NSX-v production data to the lab for mock migrations
Watch the following video for an introduction of the process MAT uses for a typical migration from NSX-v to NSX-T
Lifecycle Approach
NSX-v to T migrations are simplified and more effective leveraging the ReSTNSX lifecycle approach of providing tools and features for both the pre and post migration effort while minimizing the operational disruptions of migrating to a new platform.
NSX-v Operations
One of ReSTNSX's biggest use cases is to make NSX as easy as possible to implement, operate and troubleshoot. For customers migrating to NSX-T, ReSTNSX provides a single, unified web interface for all the NSX-v and T instances. Regardless of the NSX version, operating NSX is simplified and consistent. As NSX/vCenter pairs migrate to NSX-T, the same management platform can be leveraged. This approach reduces staff re-training; operational hurdles by providing a consistent user experience and accelerating the realized value of the NSX-T fabric.
Pre Migration
Prior to any migration, customers and partners can leverage capabilities of the ReSTNSX platform to analyze and optimize the current NSX-v implementation. From stale object detection to firewall rule analysis, ReSTNSX enables the most effective migrations. Some NSX-v implementations have been running for years. In that time, firewall rules have become stale (no longer used) and objects sprawl occurs. This not only impacts the performance of NSX but also the effectiveness within the SDDC.
The ReSTNSX methodology is to enable tools, such as Object and Rule Analyzer, to thoroughly review the NSX-v environment to identify and enable remediation of ineffective policies or unused objects.
Object Analyzer showing stale objects that can be cleaned up with a single click prior to migration
Rule Analyzer - showing hit count history and trends
Migration
In 4 easy steps, customers can migrate from NSX-v to NSX-T with minimal user intervention. For partners, the ReSTNSX MAT solution offers a consistent and repeatable process that can be applied across every customer base without the need for custom scripting while delivering the safest and most predictive migration possible. The 4 steps are highlighted below.
Post Migration
Once migrated, the NSX-v and NSX-T environments are mirrored. Clusters, hosts and VMs can be moved at your pace to start enjoying the benefits of NSX-T. During this transition, the same tools used in the pre migration for analyzing the environment can be re-used to provide insight into the NSX-T
NSX-T Operations
Once migrated to NSX-T, the same ReSTNSX instance that managed the NSX-v environment can be leveraged for managing NSX-T. Users, groups, reporting and overall system manageability remains consistent with minimal impact to the users of the system. Simply stated, if a user knows how to create an IP Set, for example, in NSX-v using ReSTNSX, it is the exact same look and feel when creating that same object in the ReSTNSX NSX-T user interface.
Additionally, with a single click the NSX-T as-built documentation can be generated for a complete runbook of the new environment.
Step 1: Define Data Sources
The first step of the migration is to define which NSX-v Managers will be migrated to which NSX-T Manager. At any given time, MAT supports up to (12) NSX-v data sources on a single appliance to be migrated. In this configuration, MAT supports a many-to-one migration where multiple NSX-v Managers can be migrated to a single NSX-T destination.
To get started, the user will enter the credentials for each NSX-v Manager, associated vCenter and the destination NSX-T Manager. At each step of data input, minimum version, API connectivity and NSX Manager <-> vCenter connectivity validation is performed. Before proceeding to the next step, the user will be presented a summary of the intended migration environments. Step 1, done.
Step 2: Collect
During this stage, MAT connects to an existing NSX-v Manager and vCenter to collection inventory. As the data is collected, the items are displayed and sorted by functional area: Infrastructure (NSX Manager settings); Security and Network Virtualization. The user may unselect entire categories or individual items from being migrated.
NOTE: At this point, the source -v and vCenter are no longer queried for data as the full inventory is stored in MAT's database.
For each item a status field is provided to indicate if the object is supported in NSX-T or not. Additionally, if an object is not supported in NSX-T but it is able to be transformed to -T compatible object, the status will be flagged as INFO. The following 3 status results are supported:
- OK - Indicates the NSX-v object maps directly to a NSX-T object. As a result, no transformation is required. An example of such an object is an IP Set as both -v and -T support objects of this type
- INFO - Indicates the NSX-v object needs to be transformed into a -T compatible object. An example of such an object is a -v Security Tag for a VM. While -T supports tags, they are not standalone objects but rather attributes of the parent object. In this case, the VM has a tag attribute and the standalone tag will be migrated to an attribute of the VM in -T. Another example of an object to be marked INFO is Security Group membership where members types (listed below) are not supported in -T. In this case, MAT will determine the effective members of the Security Group and create a corresponding -T IP Set to ensure policy remains intact upon migration.
- Cluster
- Data Center
- Directory Group
- Distributed Port Group
- Legacy Port Group
- Resource Pool
- vAPP
- vNIC
- ERR - Indicates that there is no transformation possible as NSX-T does not support an equivalent feature.
Based upon the status information, the user may choose to proceed to the next step or re-run a collection after correcting or adding items in the existing NSX-v environment.
Network Virtualization
While there are countless network topologies that could exist in a NSX-v environment, MAT provides the user with a graphical summary of the destination topology that will be created. In a post-FCS release, MAT will allow the user to select from a list of viable destination topologies. In the current release, below is one example of a network topology and how it will be created in -T on migration.
Once the user confirms the inventory, MAT is ready to present the data one more time prior to migration in the transformation phase.
Step 3: Transform
The transformation screen allows the user to review the items selected for migration prior to MAT beginning his work. Additionally, explanations for items of status INFO are provided to provide context of how the object is being transformed. This allows the user the chance to perform the following actions:
- Pause the tool to review items on screen before proceeding
- Pause the tool to review items in a Transformation Report PDF export
- Cancel and return to the collection screen to modify selections or re-run a collection
- Begin the migration to NSX-T
Sample Page from the Transformation Report Export (PDF)
Step 4: Migrate
MAT will systematically go through each category and object collected for migration, create the corresponding -T item and associations as needed. The process is all logged with every API call and result (success, failure) and the new object IDs displayed in tables in the same tree structure used during the collection and transformation steps. MAT is not deleting any NSX-v inventory during this process.
During the migration, the user may pause at any point to review data, cancel the migration or perform a partial roll-back. Optionally, if errors do occur, the system will pause for user intervention to confirm error condition before proceeding.
Sit back and let MAT do the work for you!
Post Migration: Security Tags
The NSX migration is almost complete! Once the -T environment has been validated, users can log back into MAT and complete the last step - Security Tag migration. Since NSX-T treats tags as object attributes and not standalone entities like NSX-v, the tags applied to VMs in NSX-v must be created after the vCenter inventory is visible to NSX-T. During the collection phase, we captured all the NSX-v tags and their VM associations using the VM's UUID and stored them for future migration.
Once the new NSX-T host(s) have been prepared and VMs migrated, users can go log back into MAT to create the tag associations as they originally existed in NSX-v in one easy step:
Roll-back
Success! Or was it!? MAT maintains the inventory of NSX-T created objects until the data source is deleted on the appliance. This allows MAT to roll-back everything that was created during the migration process like it never happened. Having the ability to re-run collections and roll-back the migrations within a few clicks enables organizations to migrate with confidence by knowing that the undo button is there if needed.
Now what?
Your NSX-T environment is now configured and may need some final custom edits before migrating hosts to the new environment. Login to your new -T environment via ReSTNSX to enjoy the same easy-of-use as the the Migration Assistance Tool. The ReSTNSX platform is a unified management appliance delivering an exceptional and consistent user experience for both NSX-v and NSX-T. From automation to day 2 operations, ReSTNSX is the choice for managing your -v and -T environment. Request a demo today!