Migrate data from a migration source to a simple application server - Server Migration Center

If you want to migrate data from a lightweight server provided by a third party cloud vendor, such as a Tencent Cloud Lighthouse, Huawei Cloud Hyper Elastic Cloud Server (HECS), or AWS Lightsail instance, to an Alibaba Cloud simple application server, you can use Server Migration Center (SMC) to quickly complete the migration.

Note

Alibaba Cloud Simple Application Server is a lightweight cloud server that is easy to set up and manage. It provides services such as application deployment, security management, and O&M monitoring based on a single server to improve your experience and efficiency in server usage. For more information, see What is Simple Application Server?
If Alibaba Cloud Simple Application Server cannot meet your business requirements, we recommend that you migrate data from lightweight servers provided by third party cloud vendors to Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances to obtain more flexible resource configuration solutions. For more information, see Migrate a server to an ECS instance.

Limits

You cannot migrate data from Alibaba Cloud ECS instances to Alibaba Cloud simple application servers.
You cannot migrate data between simple application servers.
You cannot migrate data between a Windows server and a Linux server. You can migrate a Windows server only to a Windows server, and a Linux server only to a Linux server.
A maximum of one data disk can be attached to the source lightweight server.

Impacts

Before you migrate data, you must understand the impacts caused by migration, as shown in the following table.

Item	Description
Data directory	During migration, SMC can automatically generate a disk partition structure that is as consistent as possible with that of the source server based on the disk partition structure of the source server. You can adjust the partition structure of the destination disk as needed, including the partition size, location sequence, transfer mode, and whether to enable LVM. By default, all the disks of the server are migrated, but the following conditions still need to be considered: If no mount targets exist under the data disk, the data disk is not migrated. If you do not need to migrate some partition directories, you can choose not to migrate these disks after adjusting the disk partition structure. For more information, see Modify the disk partition as needed.
Intermediate instance	Do not perform operations on the intermediate instance during the migration. To run a migration job, SMC creates a temporary intermediate instance named `No_Delete_SMC_Transition_Instance` within your Alibaba Cloud account. For more information, see the "What specifications are available for intermediate instances?" section of the FAQ about Server Migration Center (SMC) topic. To prevent migration failures, do not stop, start, restart, or release the intermediate instance during the migration process. After the migration is complete, SMC automatically releases the intermediate instance. Note When you migrate a server to an ECS instance, the ECS instance serves as the intermediate instance.
IP address	After the migration, the IP address of your server is changed. If your business involves IP address configuration, change the IP address after the source server is migrated. Note If a domain name has been bound to the source server, the public IP address of the server is changed after the migration. In this case, you must resolve the domain name to the new public IP address of the server For more information, see Add an A record for a website domain name.
Underlying hardware	After the migration, the underlying hardware may change, and the application licenses that are associated with the underlying hardware may become invalid. Perform checks as needed.

Prerequisites

The preparations for server migration are complete. For more information, see Before you begin.
An Alibaba Cloud simple application server is created, and the storage system and operating system of the simple application server are compatible with the storage system and operating system of the migration source. For more information, see Create a simple application server.
Warning
After the migration is complete, the original data on the Alibaba Cloud simple application server is cleared. The data on the migration source is not affected. We recommend that you back up your data before you perform the migration if important data exists on the simple application server.
- The operating system of the simple application server must be the same as the operating system of the migration source.
- The number of data disks attached to the single application server must be greater than or equal to the number of data disks attached to the migration source. Otherwise, data on the migration source cannot be fully migrated to the simple application server. In this case, you must attach more data disks to the simple application server. However, a maximum of one data disk can be attached to a simple application server. For more information about how to attach a data disk, see Attach a data disk and Partition and format the data disk.
- The size of the system disk and data disk attached to the simple application server is greater than or equal to the size of the system disk and data disk attached to the migration source. If you want to scale down the system disk and data disk attached to the migration source, make sure that the size of the system disk and data disk attached to the simple application server is greater than or equal to the size actually used by the data on the system disk and data disk attached to the migration source. Otherwise, data on the migration source cannot be fully migrated to the simple application server. In this case, you must scale up the system disk and data disk attached to the simple application server. For more information about how to scale up a disk, see Extend a data disk.

Procedure

Import the information about a migration source

Migration sources can be servers of a variety of types, such as servers in data centers, VMs, and hosts on third-party cloud platforms. SMC supports multiple methods to import the information about migration sources. You can select a method based on your business requirements. For more information, see the How do I select the method to import the information about a migration source? section of the "FAQ" topic.

(Recommend) Use the CLI

Important

The source server must be accessible over the Internet.

Log on to the SMC console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Migrate to Cloud > Server Migration.
On the Server Migration page, click Import Migration source.

Configure the parameters as prompted and copy the activation code command. The following table describes the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Migration Source Type	The type of the migration source. Select Physical Server/VM/ECS Instance.
Import Method	The method that is used to import the information about the migration source. Select Use CLI to Import Server.
Migration Source Quota	The number of migration sources whose information you want to import by using the activation code. Valid values: 1 to 1000. Default value: 10.
Validity Period	The validity period of the activation code. Unit: day. Valid values: 1 to 90. Default value: 30.
Activation Code	Generate the activation code and copy the generated command by performing the following steps: Click Generate. Click the Linux Shell or Windows Powershell tab based on the operating system of the source. Click Copy to copy the activation code command.

Log on to the source server and paste and run the copied command as an administrator to import the information about the migration source.
Linux server
1. Log on to the Linux server.
2. Paste and run the copied command as an administrator to import the information about the migration source.
  After the command is run, if a message similar to Import Source Server [s-bp18x8751kgz2oyh****] Successfully! is returned, the information about the migration source is imported.
Windows server
1. Log on to the Windows server.
2. Open Windows PowerShell as an administrator.
3. Run the copied command to import the information about the migration source.
  After the command is run, if a message similar to Import Source Server [s-bp19rlidl3mwuptc****] Successfully! is returned, the information about the migration source is imported.
On the Server Migration page in the SMC console, view the status of the migration source in the Real-time Migration Status column.
- If the status of the migration source is Online, the information about the migration source is imported.
- If the migration source is in another state, the information fails to be imported. In this case, troubleshoot the failure based on the following solutions and import the information about the migration source again:
  - Troubleshoot the failure based on the message displayed in the SMC console or the log file in the directory where the SMC client is installed. By default, the SMC client is installed in the following directory:
    - Windows server: C:\smc
    - Linux server: /smc
  - Refer to the FAQ about Server Migration Center (SMC) and Troubleshooting topics for troubleshooting.

Use the SMC console

Important

The source server must be accessible over the Internet.

If you want to import the information about a migration source as a Resource Access Management (RAM) user, make sure that the following permissions are granted to the RAM user:
- AliyunRAMReadOnlyAccess. For more information, see Grant permissions to a RAM user.
- AliyunCloudShellFullAccess. For more information, see Authorize RAM users.

Log on to the SMC console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Migrate to Cloud > Server Migration.
On the Server Migration page, click Import Migration source.

On the Import Migration source page, configure the parameters based on the type of your migration source.

Parameter	Description
Migration Source Type	The type of the migration source. Select Physical Server/VM/ECS Instance.
Import Method	The method that is used to import the information about the migration source. Select Import through Console.
Migration Source Name	The name of the migration source. The name must be 2 to 128 characters in length. The name must start with a letter but cannot start with `http://` or `https://`. The name can contain letters, digits, colons (:), underscores (_), and hyphens (-).
OS Type	The type of the operating system. Select Linux or Windows based on your operating system type. Important If you select Windows as the operating system, you must install OpenSSH. For more information, see the How do I install OpenSSH on a Windows server? section of the "FAQ" topic.
IP Address	The IPv4 address that is used to access the migration source over the Internet. Example: 120.55.XX.XX.
Port	The SSH port number of the migration source. Valid values: 1 to 65535. Default value: 22.
Username	The username that is used to log on to the operating system of the migration source. Linux: The default username is `root`. Windows: The default username is `Administrator`.
Password	The password corresponding to the username.

After you configure the parameters, click Import.
The import process takes about 3 to 10 minutes. Wait until the import is complete.
On the Server Migration page in the SMC console, view the status of the migration source in the Real-time Migration Status column.
- If the status of the migration source is Online, the information about the migration source is imported.
- If the migration source is in another state, the information fails to be imported. In this case, troubleshoot the failure based on the following solutions and import the information about the migration source again:
  - Troubleshoot the failure based on the message displayed in the SMC console or the log file in the directory where the SMC client is installed. By default, the SMC client is installed in the following directory:
    - Windows server: C:\smc
    - Linux server: /smc
  - Refer to the FAQ about Server Migration Center (SMC) and Troubleshooting topics for troubleshooting.

Use the SMC client

For more information about the SMC client, see Use the Windows GUI version of an SMC client.

Log on to the SMC console.
In the left-side navigation pane, choose Migrate to Cloud > Server Migration.
On the Server Migration page, click Import Migration source.

On the Import Migration Source page, configure the parameters. The following table describes the parameters.

Parameter	Description
Migration Source Type	The type of the migration source. Select Physical Server/VM/ECS Instance.
Import Method	The method that is used to import the information about the migration source. Select Use Client to Import Server.
Description	Read the information in the Description section and download the required version of the SMC client based on the CPU architecture (ARM or x86) and bit version (32-bit or 64-bit) of the operating system of the migration source.

Import the information about the migration source.
Perform the operations based on the operating system of the migration source.
Important
During the migration, do not shut down the SMC client until the migration is complete. Otherwise, the migration source is disconnected from the SMC console, and the migration fails.
Windows server
1. You can use a remote connection tool that supports file transfer. For example, you can use WinSCP to upload the SMC client package to the source Windows server.
2. On the source Windows server, use the built-in decompression tool of Windows or the decompression tool that you install to decompress the SMC client package.
3. In the SMC client folder that corresponds to the source server, run the SMC client.
  To run the Windows GUI version, double-click the go2aliyun_gui.exe file.
  To run the Windows CLI version, double-click the go2aliyun_client.exe file.
  Note
  When you run the program, you must click OK to confirm that you have the administrator permissions.
4. Obtain an activation code or AccessKey pair.
  (Recommend) Obtain an activation code: In the Description section in the SMC console, click Generate and copy the generated activation code information.
  Obtain an AccessKey pair: An AccessKey pair consists of an AccessKey ID and an AccessKey secret. If no AccessKey pair is created, create one first. For more information, see Obtain an AccessKey pair.
5. Enter the activation code or AccessKey pair as prompted.
  To run the Windows GUI version, enter the activation code or AccessKey pair in the Token Id/AK and Token Code/SK fields and click Start. For more information, see Use the Windows GUI version of an SMC client.
  To run the Windows CLI version, enter the obtained access_access_token_id and access_token_code and press the Enter key.
  If the information about the migration source is imported, a message similar to the following one is returned: Import Source Server [s-bp11npxndknsycqj****] Successfully!
Linux server
1. You can use a remote connection tool that supports file transfer. For example, you can use WinSCP to upload the SMC client package to the source Linux server.
2. Connect to the source Linux server and decompress the SMC client package.
  Linux 64-bit Generic is used in the example. Run the following command to decompress the package. If you use another version of the SMC client, replace the package name in the command with the name of your SMC client.
  tar xf go2aliyun_client_linux_x86_64.tar.gz
  Note
  Linux ARM64 supports the g6r general-purpose instance family and the c6r compute-optimized instance family. For more information about instance types, see the "ARM-based enterprise-level computing instance families" section of the Overview of instance families topic.
3. (Optional) Exclude the files or directories that you do not need from the migration. For more information, see the How do I exclude files or directories from a migration job? section of the "FAQ" topic.
  Important
  If you enable the block replication feature, you cannot exclude files or directories from the migration job.
4. Obtain an activation code or AccessKey pair.
  (Recommend) Obtain an activation code: In the Description section in the SMC console, click Generate and copy the generated activation code information.
  Obtain an AccessKey pair: An AccessKey pair consists of an AccessKey ID and an AccessKey secret. If no AccessKey pair is created, create one first. For more information, see Obtain an AccessKey pair.
5. In the SMC client folder, run the following commands to run the SMC client.
  Run the following commands as a root or sudo user based on whether you have root or sudo permissions on the operating system of the source server.
  Root user
  cd go2aliyun_client_linux_x86_64 chmod +x go2aliyun_client ./go2aliyun_client
  Sudo user
  cd go2aliyun_client_linux_x86_64 sudo chmod +x go2aliyun_client sudo ./go2aliyun_client
6. Enter the activation code or AccessKey pair as prompted. In this example, an activation code is used, as shown in the following figure.
  The following messages may appear after you enter the activation code.
  If no snapshot dependency is installed on your source server, a message appears. The following figure shows the details of the message. You can decide whether to install a snapshot dependency based on whether you enable the block replication feature.
  If you want to enable block replication for the migration, enter yes to automatically install a snapshot dependency.
  If you do not want to enable block replication for the migration, enter no.
  Important
  If the snapshot dependency fails to be installed, do not enable block replication when you create a migration job. Otherwise, the migration may fail.
  The rsync tool is installed on most mainstream migration sources. If rsync is not installed on the migration source, the SMC client displays a message. Enter yes to install rsync, as shown in the following figure.
  If SELinux is enabled on the migration source, a message that prompts you to disable SELinux appears. Enter yes to disable SELinux. The following figure shows how to disable SELinux.
  If the information about the migration source is imported, a message similar to the following one is returned: Import Source Server [s-bp11npxndknsycqj****] Successfully!.
  Note
  If the information about the migration source fails to be imported, you can troubleshoot the issue based on the returned message. After you fix the issue, run the following commands to exit the background program and re-import the information about the migration source based on your permissions on the operating system of the migration source. For more information about frequently asked questions (FAQ) and solutions, see FAQ about Server Migration Center (SMC) and Troubleshooting.
  Sudo user
  sudo ./go2aliyun_client --abort sudo ./go2aliyun_client
  Root user
  ./go2aliyun_client --abort ./go2aliyun_client
On the Server Migration page in the SMC console, view the status of the migration source in the Real-time Migration Status column.
- If the status of the migration source is Online, the information about the migration source is imported.
- If the migration source is in another state, the information fails to be imported. In this case, troubleshoot the failure based on the following solutions and import the information about the migration source again:
  - Troubleshoot the failure based on the message displayed in the SMC console or the log file in the directory where the SMC client is installed. By default, the SMC client is installed in the following directory:
    - Windows server: C:\smc
    - Linux server: /smc
  - Refer to the FAQ about Server Migration Center (SMC) and Troubleshooting topics for troubleshooting.

Step 2: Create a migration job

Find the migration source that you want to manage and click Start Migration in the Actions column.

Configure the parameters and click Create.

Configure the basic parameters described in the following table.

Parameter	Description	Example
Migration Job Name	The name of the migration job.	Lightweight server migration
Job Description	The description of the migration job.	test
Destination Type	Select Simple Application Server.	Simple Application Server
Destination Region	Required. The region of the simple application server to which you want to migrate your data. For more information, see Regions and zones.	China (Hangzhou)
Destination Instance	Required. The simple application server to which you want to migrate data. The storage system and operating system of the simple application server must be compatible with the storage system and operating system of the migration source. For example, you can migrate data only from a Linux migration source to a Linux simple application server, or from a Windows migration source to a Windows simple application server. Important To prevent migration failures, do not stop, start, restart, or release the simple application server during the migration. If the number of data disks attached to the simple application server is smaller than the number of data disks attached to migration source, data on the data disk attached to the migration source is not fully migrated to the simple application server. If the disk size of the simple application server is smaller than the disk size of the migration source, we recommend that you scale up the disk of the simple application server before you create the migration job. For more information, see Extend a data disk.	-
Execution Method	The mode in which to execute the migration job. Valid values: Migrate Now: The migration job starts immediately after it is created. This is the default value. Migrate Later: The migration job automatically starts at the specified time after it is created. Note The earliest time that you can specify to run a migration job is 10 minutes after the job is created. Create Only: After the migration job is created, you must click Run in the Actions column to manually start the migration job.	Keep the default setting

Adjust the disk partition structure as needed. The following table describes the parameters.

Parameter

Description

Example

Modify Disk Partition

Determine whether to enable Modify Disk Partition based on your needs. This feature is only supported in SMC client 2.8.0 or above. For more information, see Use the SMC client.

Not enabled: By default, the disk partition structure of the destination system are the same as those of the migration source.
Enabled: You can adjust the destination disk partition structure, including partition size and order, transfer method, whether to enable LVM, and other configurations.
The parameter descriptions for the disk partition structure are as follows.
Configure disks
System Disk: the size of the system disk of the destination instance. Unit: GiB. Valid values: 20 to 2048,
The size of the destination system disk must be larger than the amount of data on the source system disk. For example, if the total size of the source system disk is 400 GiB but the size of data stored on this disk is only 100 GiB, you must set this parameter to a value greater than 100.
Note
The default value of this parameter is the size of the source system disk. We recommend that you retain the default value or specify a greater value.
Data Disk <N>: the size of the data disk of the destination instance. Unit: GiB. Valid values: 1 to 32768.
The variable <N> indicates the serial number of the data disk. If the disk is migrated to the destination instance, N is the ID of the data disk.
The size of the destination data disk must be larger than the amount of data on the source data disk. For example, if the total size of the source data disk is 500 GiB but the size of data stored on this disk is only 100 GiB, you must set this parameter to a value greater than 100.
If there are no mount targets under the data disk or if all mount targets are not migrated, the data disk will not be migrated.
LVM: Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is a mechanism for managing disk partitions in Linux systems. LVM is more flexible than traditional disk partitions and allows for dynamic adjustment of disk space.
You can select whether to enable LVM based on your needs. After enabling LVM, the destination will automatically rebuild the disk with an LVM structure.
Example description:
For each destination disk where LVM is enabled, the system will create one Physical Volume (PV) and its corresponding Volume Group (VG). On the VG, a number of Logical Volume Manager (LVM) corresponding to the mount targets are created. By default, the VG name is vgX (where X is the serial number of the disk), and the LVM name is lvX (where X is the serial number of the LVM). An example is provided in the following figure.
Important
LVM is not supported in the following scenarios:
When the migration source is a Windows system.
When the system disk does not have a boot partition.
After enabling LVM, the feature does not take effect in the following scenarios:
The migration source does not support lvm2 or the lvm2 package is not installed.
The migration source is a Debian system with a kernel version of 3.x or earlier, and disks with XFS file systems are mounted.
Configure mount targets
Whether to Migrate: You can select whether to migrate the mount target based on your business needs.
Enable Block Replication: Enabling block replication can effectively improve the stability of migration transmission speed while ensuring consistency with the source partition structure. However, the partition size cannot be modified. SMC determines whether to support enabling block replication based on the migration source disk partition status.
If the migration source does not support block replication for partitions, the Enable Block Replication switch cannot be turned on, and default file replication method is used, allowing partition size modification.
If the migration source supports block replication for partitions, the Enable Block Replication switch is enabled by default to achieve partition-level disk migration.
Note
When the migration source is a Windows operating system, the block replication feature is enabled by default and cannot be disabled.
If LVM is enabled on the disk and the partition size is not an integer multiple of 4 MiB, block replication does not take effect, and file replication is used for data transfer.
Set partition size: When block replication is not enabled, you can set the partition size based on your needs, but the sum of partition sizes cannot exceed the size of the disk they belong to.
Note
If the size of disks of the destination instance do not match that of the migration source disks, the migration task cannot be created. In this case, the system will automatically adjust the mount target positions to meet the disk size requirements. If the requirements cannot be met after the adjustment, handle the issue as prompted.
You can also manually drag and drop mount targets to meet disk size requirements. However, drag-and-drop is not supported for partitions of type boot or system. The specific operations are as follows:
Move your pointer over before the mount target.
Use your pointer to drag the mount target to another disk.

Keep the default setting

Optional. Click Advanced Settings to configure advanced parameters such as Network Type and Compression Ratio. The following table describes the advanced parameters.

Parameter	Description	Example
Network Type	SMC migrates data to the intermediate instance over the Internet. If you select Public Network, make sure that the source server can access the Internet. You can determine whether to specify a VPC and a vSwitch based on your business requirements. If you specify a VPC and a vSwitch, SMC creates an intermediate instance that connects to the specified VPC and vSwitch. If you do not specify a VPC or vSwitch, SMC creates an intermediate instance that connects to the VPC and vSwitch automatically created by the system.	Keep the default setting
Transmission Speed Limit	The maximum network transfer speed during the migration. Unit: Mbit/s. If you set the Compression Ratio parameter to a value greater than 0, the actual network transfer speed, which is the transfer speed of compressed data, is lower than the speed displayed in the Real-time Migration Status column.	Keep the default setting
Compression Ratio	The compression ratio of the data to be migrated. Set the compression ratio based on your business requirements. If the bandwidth is limited, a high compression ratio improves the transmission efficiency. If a high bandwidth is available, we recommend that you do not compress data. Data compression consumes CPU resources of the migration source. Valid values: 0 to 10. Default value: 7. A value of 0 indicates that data is not compressed.	Keep the default setting
Checksum Verification	Specifies whether to verify data integrity by using a checksum. By default, this feature is disabled. If you enable this feature, data integrity is ensured, but transmission speed may be reduced.	Keep the default setting
Migration Job Tags	The tags that you specify for the migration job. Each tag contains a key and a value. You can use tags to query and manage migration jobs. For more information, see Use tags to manage migration sources and migration jobs and Use tags to implement fine-grained access control. Note You can specify up to 20 tags for a migration job.	Keep the default setting

In the message that appears, read the migration notes and click Got It.
In the Migration Jobs section of the details page of a migration job, view the status of the created job.
If you enable a migration test, SMC will first perform the test and proceed with the migration operation after the migration test is passed.
Optional. To view details about the migration, perform the following steps:
1. Find the migration job whose details you want to view and click the migration source ID or name in the Migration Source ID /Name column.
2. On the job details page, view the job details in the Migration Jobs section.

Verify the migration result

If Completed is displayed in the Real-time Migration Status column, the migration is successful.
- After the migration is complete, you can check whether the data on the simple application server is complete and whether the simple application server and applications on the simple application server run as expected. Procedure:
  1. Click View Destination Instance in the Actions column that corresponds to the migration job that you executed.
    You are navigated to the Simple Application Server console.
  2. Log on to the simple application server. For more information, see Connect to a Linux server or Connect to a Windows server.
  3. Check the data and applications on the simple application server. For more information, see the How do I check my system after I migrate a Linux server or How do I check my system after I migrate a Windows server? section of the "FAQ" topic.
If InError is displayed in the Real-time Migration Status column, the migration failed.
In this case, you need to perform the following operations:
1. Click Troubleshoot Errors in the Actions column and fix the failure based on the error code and error message. For more information, see FAQ about Server Migration Center (SMC) and Troubleshooting.
2. On the Migration Jobs page, click Retry Migration Job.
  The migration job resumes from the point where it was suspended.