How to Migrate a VMware Template

How to Migrate a VMware Template

I was busy doing maintenance tasks last week. One of the things I needed to do with move a VMware template from one host to another. But, the Migrate menu option was greyed out and I didn’t see a way of moving this template to its new host. Migrating virtual machines, whether powered on or shutdown worked fine. So, what was the secret sauce to migrating the template?

  1. Convert Template to VM:
    • Right-click the template and select “Convert to Virtual Machine…” menu item
    • Accept all defaults
  2. Migrate the VM:
    • Right-click the VM and select “Migrate…” menu item
    • Pick the migration type (host in this case) from the radio buttons
    • Pick the target host and be certain the results are “validation successful”
      Note: if the validation fails, you have some configuration difference between hosts that you need to debug
  3. Covert VM to Template:
    • Right-click the VM and select “Template” | “Convert to Template” menu item
    • When it asks you, assure VMware that you are moving it, otherwise it will alter all your network MAC addresses

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction. I cannot explain why migration of a template cannot be completed in a straight-forward manner. I understand that a template doesn’t really “run” anywhere, but it is inventoried on a particular host. I was using the vSphere client of VMware 5.5 Update 2e in this case. Perhaps they will fix this minor irritation in a future release?