Importing existing VMware vSphere virtual machine

You can import a VMware vSphere virtual machine as a Managed services stack instance, identify whether the instance is imported successfully, and manage the stack resources.

A default provided template, Import existing VM with a single disk - VMware vSphere for Terraform 1.x.x, is shipped as a sample to import a virtual machine. You can use this template during the import of VMware virtual machines. However, this template cannot be used to deploy new virtual machines.

Procedure

  1. Use the Import VM by IDs or Import VM by Name to import a VMware vSphere virtual machine as a stack instance. For more information, see Import VM by IDs API and Import VM by Name API.
  2. Log in to IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps console.
  3. In the navigation bar, click Automate Infrastructure > Instances. Click the Terraform templates tab.
  4. Click the deployed instance to open it and manage the imported virtual machine resources.
  5. From the Overview tab > Resources section, use the overflow menu to start, stop, shutdown, taint, untaint, and view details. For more information, see Managing virtual machine resources.
  6. You can also modify the virtual machine using the plan and apply process. For more information, see Modifying a deployed template instance.

Limitations

  • The Import existing VM with a single disk - VMware vSphere for Terraform 1.x.x template works only for virtual machines with a single disk. Go to the template source to find the following single disk information:

     disk{
   unit_number = "${var.disk_0_unit_number}"
   path = "${var.disk_0_path}"
   label = "${var.disk_0_label}"
   size = "${var.disk_0_size}"
   datastore_id="${var.disk_0_datastore_id}"
 }

    If you are importing a virtual machine with more than one disk, clone this template to create a copy and duplicate the disk section for each additional disk. Make sure to increment the disk reference number in the variable names.

  • The parameter values of Import existing VM with a single disk - VMware vSphere for Terraform 1.x.x template are automatically populated after a successful import. When the mapping occurs, if your variable values have dots (.), then Managed services automatically converts them to underscore (_) and sets the new values for the template variables. The conversion occurs because the dot (.) character is not supported for the template variable values.