PowerCLI Reference

Move-VM

Synopsis

This cmdlet moves virtual machines to another location.

Syntax

Move-VM [-VM] <VirtualMachine[]> [[-Destination] <VIContainer>] [-AdvancedOption <AdvancedOption[]>] [-Datastore <StorageResource>] [-DiskStorageFormat <VirtualDiskStorageFormat>] [-InventoryLocation <FolderContainer>] [-Network <Network[]>] [-NetworkAdapter <NetworkAdapter[]>] [-RunAsync] [-Server <VIServer[]>] [-VMotionPriority <VMotionPriority>] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-StoragePolicy <StoragePolicy>] [<CommonParameters>]

Move-VM [-VM] <VirtualMachine[]> [[-Destination] <VIContainer>] [-AdvancedOption <AdvancedOption[]>] [-Datastore <StorageResource>] [-DiskStorageFormat <VirtualDiskStorageFormat>] [-InventoryLocation <FolderContainer>] [-NetworkAdapter <NetworkAdapter[]>] [-PortGroup <VirtualPortGroupBase[]>] [-RunAsync] [-Server <VIServer[]>] [-VMotionPriority <VMotionPriority>] [-Confirm] [-WhatIf] [-StoragePolicy <StoragePolicy>] [<CommonParameters>]

Related Commands

Online Version
Get-VM
Remove-VM
New-VM
Set-VM
Start-VM
Stop-VM
Suspend-VM
Restart-VM

Detailed Description

This cmdlet moves a virtual machine to the location that is specified by the Destination or the Datastore parameters. The destination must be a folder, host, cluster, or a resource pool. You can move a virtual machine to a DRS cluster. Moving a virtual machine to the top level of a non-DRS cluster is only possible if the virtual machine is in a resource pool in that cluster. If the virtual machine is outside the non-DRS cluster, you need to specify a virtual machine host in that cluster as destination. When moving virtual machines that are powered on, vMotion is used. You can move storage and compute resources simultaneously. You can move virtual machines between vCenter Server systems of vSphere version 6.0 and later. To specify a server different from the default one, use the Server parameter. When you move a virtual machine from one vCenter Server system to another, only datastores are supported as storage destinations.

Parameters

NameTypeDescriptionRequired?Pipeline InputDefault Value
VMVirtualMachine[]Specifies the virtual machines you want to move to another location.trueTrue (ByValue)
DestinationVIContainerSpecifies a folder, host, cluster, or a resource pool where you want to move the virtual machines. If a data center is specified for the Destination parameter, you can move the virtual machines to the data center's "vmFolder" folder. The "vmFolder" is a system folder and is guaranteed to exist. Passing values to this parameter through a pipeline is deprecated and will be disabled in a future release.falseTrue (ByValue)
AdvancedOptionAdvancedOption[]This parameter is only applicable when a DatastoreCluster object is passed to the Datastore parameter. Specifies one or more rules for the placement of the virtual machines that you want to relocate.


To indicate that you want to store the virtual machines on different datastores, pass an SdrsVMAntiAffinityRule object to the parameter. You can set more than one Storage DRS (SDRS) virtual machine anti-affinity rules.


To indicate that you want to store the virtual machine disks on different datastores, pass an SdrsVMDiskAntiAffinityRule object to the parameter. You can set only one SDRS virtual machine disk anti-affinity rule.
falseFalse
ConfirmSwitchParameterIf the value is $true, indicates that the cmdlet asks for confirmation before running. If the value is $false, the cmdlet runs without asking for user confirmation.falseFalse
DatastoreStorageResourceSpecifies the datastore or datastore cluster where you want to move the virtual machines. When you pass a datastore cluster to the Datastore parameter, you can also set the AdvancedOption parameter.falseFalse
DiskStorageFormatVirtualDiskStorageFormatSpecifies a new storage format for the hard disk of the virtual machine you want to move. This parameter is applicable only when moving a virtual machine to a different datastore, using the Datastore parameter. This parameter accepts Thin, Thick, and EagerZeroedThick values.falseFalse
InventoryLocationFolderContainerSpecifies a data center or a virtual machine folder where you want to move the virtual machine.falseFalse
NetworkNetwork[]Specifies the destination networks for the specified virtual machine network adapters. The number of networks should be one or equal to the number of the specified network adapters. If one network and more than one network adapters are specified, you can migrate all network adapters to the specified network. You cannot use this parameter with the PortGroup parameter.falseFalse
NetworkAdapterNetworkAdapter[]Specifies the virtual machine network adapters you want to migrate to a new port group.falseFalse
PortGroupVirtualPortGroupBase[]Specifies the destination port groups for the specified virtual machine network adapters. The number of the port groups should be one or equal to the number of the specified network adapters. If one port group and more than one network adapters are specified, you can migrate all network adapters to the specified port group. You cannot use this parameter with the Network parameter.falseFalse
RunAsyncSwitchParameterIndicates that the command returns immediately without waiting for the task to complete. In this mode, the output of the cmdlet is a Task object. For more information about the RunAsync parameter, run "help About_RunAsync" in the VMware PowerCLI console.falseFalse
ServerVIServer[]Specifies the vCenter Server systems on which you want to run the cmdlet. If no value is given to this parameter, the command runs on the default servers. For more information about default servers, see the description of the Connect-VIServer cmdlet.falseFalse
StoragePolicyStoragePolicySpecifies a new StoragePolicy for the virtual machine you want to move. The StoragePolicy is attached to VMHome and all hard disks.falseFalse
VMotionPriorityVMotionPriorityDetermines the priority that you should use for a vMotion operation.falseFalse
WhatIfSwitchParameterIndicates that the cmdlet is run only to display the changes that would be made and actually no objects are modified.falseFalse

Return Type

Zero or more relocated VirtualMachine objects

Notes

Examples

-------------------------- Example 1 --------------------------

Get-VM -Name VM | Move-VM -Destination 10.23.112.235

Moves the virtual machine named VM from its current location to the host on IP address 10.23.112.235.

-------------------------- Example 2 --------------------------

Move-VM -VM VM -Destination Folder

Moves the virtual machine to a folder called Folder. Note that you can move virtual machines only to folders containing virtual machines (the 'blue' folders in the vSphere Client).

-------------------------- Example 3 --------------------------

Move-VM -VM 'MyVM' -Destination 'MyDestination'

Moves a powered on virtual machine from one existing host to another by using vMotion, passing parameters by name.

-------------------------- Example 4 --------------------------

Move-VM -VM 'MyVM' -Datastore 'MyDatastore'

Moves a powered on virtual machine from one existing datastore to another by using storage vMotion, passing parameters by name.

-------------------------- Example 5 --------------------------

$myDatastoreCluster1 = Get-DatastoreCluster -Name 'MyDatastoreCluster1'
Move-VM -VM 'MyVM1' -Datastore $myDatastoreCluster1

Moves the MyVM1 virtual machine to any datastore in the specified datastore cluster.

-------------------------- Example 6 --------------------------

$myDatastoreCluster1 = Get-DatastoreCluster -Name 'MyDatastoreCluster1'
$myVm2 = Get-VM -Name 'MyVM2'
$vmAntiAffinityRule = New-Object -TypeName VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Types.V1.DatastoreManagement.SdrsVMAntiAffinityRule -ArgumentList $myVm2
Move-VM -VM 'MyVM1' -Datastore $myDatastoreCluster1 -AdvancedOption $vmAntiAffinityRule

Moves the MyVM1 virtual machine to the specified datastore cluster and sets a VM anti-affinity rule for the placement of the virtual machine. You can place the MyVM1 virtual machine on any datastore in the specified datastore cluster that does not contain the MyVM2 virtual machine.

-------------------------- Example 7 --------------------------

$myVm1 = Get-VM -Name 'MyVM1'
$vmdks = Get-Harddisk -VM $myVm1
$myDatastoreCluster1 = Get-DatastoreCluster -Name 'MyDatastoreCluster1'
$vmdkAntiAffinityRule = New-Object -TypeName VMware.VimAutomation.ViCore.Types.V1.DatastoreManagement.SdrsVMDiskAntiAffinityRule -ArgumentList $vmdks
Move-VM -VM '$myVm1' -Datastore $myDatastoreCluster1 -AdvancedOption $vmdkAntiAffinityRule

Moves the MyVM1 virtual machine to the specified datastore cluster and sets a VM disk anti-affinity rule for the placement of the virtual machine. You can store the disks of the MyVM1 virtual machine on different datastores in the specified datastore cluster.

-------------------------- Example 8 --------------------------

Get-VM -Name 'MyVM' -Server 'MyServer' | Move-VM -Destination 'NewHost' -Datastore 'DatastoreOnNewHost' -DiskStorageFormat 'Thin'

Moves a powered off virtual machine to another datastore on another host and changes its disk storage format to thin.

-------------------------- Example 9 --------------------------

Connect-VIServer 'myVC1' -Username <username> -Password <pass>
Connect-VIServer 'myVC2' -Username <username> -Password <pass>

$vm = Get-VM 'myVM' -Location 'myVMhostOnVC1'
$destination = Get-VMHost 'MyVMhostOnVc2'
$networkAdapter = Get-NetworkAdapter -VM $vm
$destinationPortGroup = Get-VDPortgroup -VDSwitch 'myVDSwitchOnVC2' -Name 'myPortGroup'
$destinationDatastore = Get-Datastore 'MyDatastoreOnVc2'

$vm | Move-VM -Destination $destination -NetworkAdapter $networkAdapter -PortGroup $destinationPortGroup -Datastore $destinationDatastore

Moves the MyVM virtual machine from one vCenter Server system to another. Specifies myPortGroup as the destination port group and MyDatastoreOnVc2 as the destination datastore.


Note: This functionality works only against vSphere 6.0 and later environments.

-------------------------- Example 10 --------------------------

Move-VM -VM 'MyVM' -Datastore 'MyDatastore' -StoragePolicy $policy

Moves a powered on virtual machine from one existing datastore to another by using storage vMotion, and attaches the $policy storage policy to it.

-------------------------- Example 11 --------------------------

Connect-VIServer 'myVC1' -Username <username> -Password <pass>
Connect-VIServer 'myVC2' -Username <username> -Password <pass>

$vm = Get-VM 'myVM' -Location 'myVMhostOnVC1'
$destination = Get-VMHost 'MyVMhostOnVc2'
$networkAdapter = Get-NetworkAdapter -VM $vm
$destinationPortGroup = Get-VDPortgroup -VDSwitch 'myVDSwitchOnVC2' -Name 'myPortGroup'
$destinationDatastore = Get-Datastore 'MyDatastoreOnVc2'
$destinationStoragePolicy = Get-SpbmStoragePolicy 'MyStoragePolicyOnVc2'

$vm | Move-VM -Destination $destination -NetworkAdapter $networkAdapter -PortGroup $destinationPortGroup -Datastore $destinationDatastore -StoragePolicy $destinationStoragePolicy

Moves the MyVM virtual machine from one vCenter Server system to another. Specifies myPortGroup as the destination port group and MyDatastoreOnVc2 as the destination datastore. Attaches the MyStoragePolicyOnVc2 storage policy to VMHome and its hard disks.


Note: This functionality works only against vSphere 6.0 and later environments.


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