kubevirt-vm-migration-platform

ADR 001: Local nested ESXi as the migration source

• Status: Accepted

Context

Project 1.5 needs a real VMware source to migrate from. There is no spare physical server and no access to a corporate vSphere. The laptop (i7-14650HX, 32 GB RAM) can run VMware Workstation Pro, and nested virtualization works once the Windows hypervisor is off.

Decision

Use nested ESXi 8.0 U3e (free “vSphere 8 Hypervisor”) running as the Workstation VM esxi-8-lab (192.168.50.11, migration-datastore VMFS-6) as the migration source. Source VMs (starting with legacy-source-vm) will be created on it in a later stage.

Alternatives considered

Option	Why not (for now)
vCenter + evaluation licenses	Adds a large appliance and a 60-day clock; not needed for one-VM cold migration
Exported OVA only, no ESXi	Skips discovery, power control and the datastore model we want to learn
Physical ESXi server	Not available

Consequences

• Real ESXi objects (VMX, VMDK, VMFS, vSwitch, port groups, vim-cmd) are available to learn and automate against.
• Free edition limits apply: no vCenter, 8 vCPU per VM, no VADP, and API use is unsupported and may be read-only. MTV/VDDK/CBT-based paths are not reliable here. Discovery and disk access go through SSH.
• The Windows hypervisor must stay off, so WSL2 and Docker Desktop are unavailable while the lab runs.
• Nested virtualization means performance results are not representative.
• Clarification (Stage 0 refinement): the host itself is proven (ESXi 8.0.3, VMFS-6 datastore, static vmk0, SSH key auth, NTP). A nested 64-bit L2 guest and VMDK acquisition from this free host are not yet proven (feasibility).

Evidence

ESXi 8.0.3 build 24677879, HV Support: 3, migration-datastore 199.8 GB (see evidence index). Free-edition limits: Broadcom KB 399823, ESXi 8.0 U3e release notes.