StarWind V2V Converter

StarWind V2V Converter is a free tool useful to convert VMs from one format to another and it works with VHD/VHDX, VMDK, QCOW2, and StarWind native IMG formats.

VMware VMs can't be moved to an Hyper-V environment in native format and vice versa. In case of a platform migration (from Hyper-V to VMware for instance), running virtual machines must be converted to the supported format in the target hypervisor.

In environments where multiple hypervisor platforms are in use, the flexibility of moving VMs between different host types can be a critical business requirement if not properly supported.

StarWind V2V Converter features

The tool by StarWind provides several features useful to convert VMs in different formats:

• StarWind V2V Converter allows easily converting VM formats directly from one hypervisor to another.
• Bi-directional VM conversion between different hypervisors is possible with the supported formats: VMDK, VHD/VHDX, QCOW2, and StarWind-native IMG.
• Virtual machines can be migrated and copied between hosts with different hypervisors. Also the physical machine to virtual machine conversion is supported.

Virtual to Virtual conversion

VMs conversion doesn't create an extra VM disk copy since the conversion process takes place directly from one hypervisor storage to another. To ensure data consistency, the tool leverages VSS snapshot of the source machine.

Physical to Virtual conversion

Physical machines can be converted by StarWind V2V Converter into virtual machines that resides on a Hyper-V or ESXi servers. Physical disks or volumes can be converted to VHD/VHDX, VMDK, QCOW2, and IMG/RAW formats preserving data consistency during the migration.

Install StarWind V2V Converter

Download StarWind V2V Converter and run the installer. Accept the EULA then click Next.

Leave default location and click Next to continue.

Specify the Start Menu Folder then click Next.

Enable the Create a desktop shortcut option if requested then click Next.

Click Install to install the software.

The application is being installed.

When the installation has been completed, click Finish to exit the wizard.

Convert a Hyper-V VM to VMware

In this example a Hyper-V VM is converted to a VMware format VM.

To convert a Hyper-V VM to VMware select Microsoft Hyper-V Server option and click Next.

Enter the Hostname and the credentials to connect then click Next.

Select from Hyper-V the VM you want to convert then click Next.

Select Remote VMware ESXi Server as a destination and click Next.

Enter the IP address and the credentials to connect then click Next to proceed.

Click the Browse (...) button to select the target datastore.

Select where to store the VM to convert then click OK to confirm.

Once selected the target datastore, specify the VM parameters and click Converting.

The VM is being converted.

When the conversion process has been completed, click Finish to exit the Wizard.

The converted VM is now running in the target VMware environment.

StarWind V2V Converter is available to download at StarWind website as free tool.