CloudEndure Server Migration

by Richard.Bailey · Published 28/02/2019 · Updated 01/12/2023

How to migrate a server to Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using CloudEndure

Table of Contents

Update 08/23 – Note that CloudEndure is now at the end of its life and has been migrated to an AWS Service called AWS Application Migration. Full details can be found here. I will keep this procedure online for nostalgia.

Update 09/19 –Since I originally wrote this Article, AWS has bought CloudEndure. At present, this procedure is still valid for GCP customers, but there may come a day when GCP customers cannot use CloudEndure for Migrations

In this blog post, I will be migrating a Linux server from my home VM lab into GCP. CloudEndure will work with physical or virtual servers and is great for migrating individual servers in a controlled manner.

Log into the GCP console.
Goto Compute Engine > VM Instances and click Import (you need to have atleast 1x VM running for the import button to show up)

Choose CloudEndure – this will open the CloudEndure SSO page, and log in with your GCP account

After a short initial setup, you will be presented with the CloudEndure main console. If this is the very first time you have used this, it may take up to 10 minutes to become ready.
Below you can see my token IDs and install commands to run on my local Linux machine (note I had censored my key below)

From the physical server, download the latest CloudEndure agent using the command

Bash

wget -O ./installer_linux.py https://gcp.cloudendure.com/installer_linux.py

This will download the agent that will do the migration to the cloud.

Next use the phython script to install the agent with the Token ID assigned to you.
The process will take a few minutes to complete

Next, switch back to the GCP console, and you will see the server.

Click on the server, and you can monitor the progress on the migration

Whilst it migrates, you can look at the options under “blueprint”, here you can set the server:
- IP address
- VPC network settings
- Server name
- Disk size if you want to resize the server
- Disk type if you want SSD or HDD

Now you have to wait for the migration to complete. This will depend on your network speed

Once completed, you will see the following screen

Next, we need to test the server to ensure it boots and connects to GCP. This is done by clicking the button Launch Target Instance > Test Mode

After a few minutes, the instance will be available in your GCP VM instances.
You can monitor the job in the “job progress” tab

It takes a few minutes for this process to complete. Once done you will see the VM in the compute engine

Testing

Now we have to test the instance and ensure that the server is working. As this is a custom server, the Google Daemon which enables SSH console in the GCP web browser, will not work.

You can test the server with an SSH serial connection instead

To do this, click on the Virtual Machine > Edit and ticked the box for “Enable connecting to serial ports”

Conduct some testing to make sure the server is healthy; once you are happy, to can cut over the server into Production. In the example above, you can see that my NIC ENS4 is down. This is a common issue that happens when you migrate, and I will fix it after the cutover to production.

Go back to the CloudEndure console and select Launch Target Machine > Cutover.

After a few minutes, your VM will be in Production

Fixing the network

Now to fix the network, I have re-enabled SSH over serial again (as above)

SSH to the serial console and type

Bash

ip address show

Make a note of the adapter details for your production network. In this example it is ENS4

To fix this type (note this OS is Ubuntu 17.04LTS)

Bash

sudo netplan generate

Bash

sudo vi /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

Now edit the YAML file to match your NIC ID

Bash

sudo netplan apply

Bash

ip address show

You can now see your server NIC is UP, and it has an IP address.

Now you can connect to your VM using SSH to the external IP. If you have any issues

Open the Putty Key Generator from the Putty folder on your start menu.

Click generate and follow the on-screen prompt to wiggle the mouse to create randomness.

Keep wiggling the mouse to generate the key

Enter the Username and password you want to use in the Key Comment and Key Passphrase sections. In this example, I am using root, but you can use anything provided there is an associated account on the server.