Migrate server to AWS with CloudEndure
Hi folks, this is Utpal and in this article I have discussed how to migrate on premise server to AWS cloud using CloudEndure.
In the same week, I have written another article on Amazon Redshift- The Data Warehouse solution; you may read this later.
CloudEndure is an AWS company which is used to migrate VM from on premise or other cloud platform to AWS or from one AWS region to another AWS region (disaster recovery) in an automated, rapid and reliable way. While migrating VM to AWS with CloudEndure, block-level replication occurs without impacting the performance.
In this article, I have shown how to migrate VM (Ubuntu) from on premise to AWS with few steps-
At first, created a CloudEndure account and also subscribed to CloudEndure Migration from the AWS marketplace in the AWS account.
In the CloudEndure console from the upper-left corner, clicked on the plus (+) sign to create a project. Given a project name and clicked on Create Project. Then in the popup window (Project Not Set Up!) clicked on Continue. Then the page of Setup & Info (from left menu) has appeared in AWS CREDENTIALS tab.
The CloudEndure project require few permissions (click), so we have to create an IAM user with those permissions and programmatic access. We have to enter the AWS Access Key ID and AWS Secret Access Key in the given form and click on SAVE.
Next in the REPLICATION SETTINGS tab we have to select the Live Migration Source and Target. I have selected Other Infrastructure as the source and AWS US East (North Virginia) as the target. Then left the replication server instance type as default (which is t3). Also, left the disk type, subnet, security group as default. I have not enabled volume encryption; it will slow down the migration process but will secure the data while migration. Finally clicked on SAVE REPLICATION SETTINGS.
A popup appeared the message ‘Project setup complete’, clicked on SHOW ME HOW.
Then the page of Machines has opened with the instructions to add machines. We have to install a CloudEndure agent on the source machine.
In my Ubuntu VM, I have downloaded the CloudEndure agent installer by running the given command in the above-mentioned picture. Then run the installer with the given agent installation token.
After some time, the installation finished successfully.
Then in the Machines page, the server is shown. It has taken time to ready the machine. The progress bar under the DATA REPLICATION PROGRESS column indicates the percent of data that has been replicated. By clicking on the machine name details of the steps can be viewed.
After completion, it shows ‘Continuous Data Replication’ under the DATA REPLICATION PROGRESS column and ‘Ready for Testing’ under the MIGRATION LIFECYCLE column. It indicated that the machine is correctly functioning and ready to be migrated.
Here in the STATUS column four symbols are shown. The first symbol indicates that data replication is stalled or not; the second one (flag) indicates that the replication is tested or not; the third one indicates that the target can be launched and the last one indicates when a target has been launched.
In the next step, I have configured the blueprint (set of instructions to launch a Target machine for selected Source machine) by clicking on the machine name and clicked on the Blueprint column.
Here we have to set various settings such as target machine type, subnet, security group, private IP of the machine to be launched, elastic IP, Public IP, IAM role, placement group, initial target instance state (started or stopped) tags and volumes. I have set all of these and clicked on SAVE BLUEPRINT.
Then clicked on Machines (from left menu) selected the machine and clicked on LAUNCH TARGET MACHINES (upper right corner) then Test Mode. For production workload we should perform test before one week of the source machine migration. Clicked on CONTINUE on the popup window.
We can monitor the launch by clicking on Job Progress from the left menu. When the launch process completed, the 4th symbol of STATUS column become purple, there are green color at the left of the VM name (which means the machines are healthy) and the column named LIVE MIGRATION LIFECYCLE become ‘Tested’.
By clicking on the machine, we can view the source and target details.
We should perform various acceptance test and also observe for few days before cutover.
After testing and viewing the result, we can launch the source machine in Cutover Mode. The target machines will be launched for the Source machines. By clicking on Job Progress, we can monitor the launch.
When the launch process completed, the 4th symbol of STATUS column become purple, there are green color at the left of the VM name (which means the machines are healthy) and the column named LIVE MIGRATION LIFECYCLE become ‘Cutover’.
After successfully completing the cutover, I have removed the source machine from the CloudEndure user console as it is no longer needed.
To do this selected the machine, opened the MACHINE ACTIONS menu, and clicked on the Remove X Machines from This Console option.
