VMware Cross vCenter vMotion

VMware Cross vCenter vMotion is a feature introduced in vSphere 6.0 that allows virtual machines (VMs) to switch from one vCenter Server instance to another to change the compute, network, storage and management of the VM concurrently.

This capability can be useful for administrators who need to move a workload to a different location but want to retain the properties of the VM.

Several requirements must be in place for the VM to migrate across vCenters. Both the original and destination vCenter Server instances and ESXi servers must be running vSphere 6.0 or later. Both vCenter Server instances need to be in Enhanced Linked Mode and on the same single sign-on domain. Lastly, both vCenter Server instances must be synchronized. There must also be at least 250 Mbps of network bandwidth for each vMotion operation.

When the VM moves to another vCenter with VMware Cross vCenter vMotion, the data associated with the VM will follow it such as events and alarms, and properties such as distributed resource scheduler (DRS) and high availability (HA) settings. The VM's universal unique identifier is also preserved during the transition.