F5 BIG-IP VE and Application Workloads Migration From VMware to Nutanix

Introduction

Nutanix is a leading provider of Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI), which integrates storage, compute, networking, and virtualization into a unified, scalable, and easily managed solution. This article will outlined the recommended procedure of migrating BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) and application workloads from VMware vSphere to Nutanix AHV, ensuring minimal disruption to application services. As always, it is advisable to schedule a maintenance window for any migration activities to mitigate risks and ensure smooth execution.

Migration Overview

Our goal is to migrate VMware BIG-IP VEs and application workloads to Nutanix with minimal disruption to application services, while preserving the existing configuration including license, IP addresses, hostnames, and other settings. The recommended migration process can be summarized in five stages:

Stage 1 – Deploy a pair of BIG-IP VEs in Nutanix:

Stage 2 – Migrate Standby BIG-IP VE from VMware to Nutanix:

Stage 3 – Failover Active BIG-IP VE from VMware to Nutanix:

Stage 4 – Migrate application workloads from VMware to Nutanix:

Stage 5 – Migrate now Standby BIG-IP VE from VMware to Nutanix:

Migration Procedure

In our example topology, we have an existing VMware environment with a pair of BIG-IP VEs operating in High Availability (HA) mode - Active and Standby, along with application workloads. Each of our BIG-IP VEs is set up with four NICs, which is a typical configuration: one for management, one for internal, one for external, and one for high availability. We will provide a detailed step-by-step breakdown of the events during the migration process using this topology.

Stage 1 – Deploy a pair of BIG-IP VEs in Nutanix

i) Create Nutanix BIGIP-1 and Nutanix BIGIP-2 ensuring that the host CPU and memory are consistent with VMware BIGIP-1 and VMware BIGIP-2:

ii) Keep both Nutanix BIGIP-1 and Nutanix BIGIP-2 powered down.

*Current BIG-IP State*: VMware BIGIP-1 (Active) and VMware BIGIP-2 (Standby)

Stage 2 – Migrate Standby BIG-IP VE from VMware to Nutanix

i) Set VMware BIGIP-2 (Standby) to “Forced Offline”, and then save a copy of the configuration:

ii) Save a copy of the license from “/config/bigip.license”.

iii) Make sure above files are saved at a location we can retrieve later in the migration process.

iv) Revoke the license on VMware BIGIP-2 (Standby):
Note: Please refer to BIG-IQ documentation if the license was assigned using BIG-IQ.

v) Disconnect all interfaces on VMware BIGIP-2 (Standby):
Note: Disconnecting all interfaces enables a quicker rollback should it become necessary, as opposed to powering down the system.

vi) Power on Nutanix BIGIP-2 and configure it with the same Management IP of VMware BIGIP-2:

vii) License Nutanix BIGIP-2 with the saved license from VMware BIGIP-2 (Stage 2ii):
Note: Please refer to K91841023 if the VE is running in FIPS mode.

viii) Set Nutanix BIGIP-2 to “Forced Offline”:

ix) Upload the saved UCS configuration (Stage 2i) to Nutanix BIGIP-2, and then load it with “no-license”:
Note: Please refer K9420 to if the UCS file containing encrypted password or passphrase.

x) Check the log and wait until the message “Configuration load completed, device ready for online” is seen before proceeding, which can be done by opening a separate session to Nutanix BIGIP-2:

xi) Set Nutanix BIGIP-2 to “Online”:
Note: Before bringing Nutanix BIGIP-2 "Online", make sure it is deployed with the same number of NICs, and interface-to-VLAN mapping is identical to VMware BIGIP-2. For example, if interface 1.1 is mapped to VLAN X on VMware BIGIP-2, make sure interface 1.1 is mapped to VLAN X too on Nutanix BIGIP-2.

xii) Make sure Nutanix BIGIP-2 is "In Sync". Perform Config-Sync using “run cm config-sync from-group <device-group-name>” if “(cfg-sync Changes Pending)" is seen like below:

xiii) BIGIP-2 is now migrated from VMware to Nutanix:

Note: Due to BIG-IP VEs are running in different hypervisors, persistence mirroring or connection mirroring will not be operational during migration. If enabled, ".....notice DAG hash mismatch; discarding mirrored state" message maybe seen during migration and is expected.

*Current BIG-IP State*: VMware BIGIP-1 (Active) and Nutanix BIGIP-2 (Standby)

Stage 3 – Failover Active BIG-IP from VMware to Nutanix

i) Failover VMware BIGIP-1 from Active to Standby:

ii) Nutanix BIGIP-2 is now the Active BIG-IP:

*Current BIG-IP State*: VMware BIGIP-1 (Standby) and Nutanix BIGIP-2 (Active)

Stage 4 – Migrate application workloads from VMware to Nutanix

i) Migrate application workloads from VMware to Nutanix using Nutanix Move

Note: To minimize application service disruption, it is suggested to migrate the application workloads in groups instead of all at once, ensuring that at least one pool member remains active during the process. It is because Nutanix Move requires a downtime to shut down the VM at the source (VMware), perform a final sync of data and then start the VM at the destination (Nutanix).

*Current BIG-IP State*: VMware BIGIP-1 (Standby) and Nutanix BIGIP-2 (Active)

Stage 5 – Migrate now Standby BIG-IP VE from VMware to Nutanix

i) Set VMware BIGIP-1 “Forced Offline”, and then save a copy of the configuration:

ii) Save a copy of the license from “/config/bigip.license”.

iii) Make sure above files are saved at a location we can retrieve later in the migration process.

iv) Revoke the license on VMware BIGIP-1 (Standby):
Note: Please refer to BIG-IQ documentation if the license was assigned using BIG-IQ.

v) Disconnect all interfaces on VMware BIGIP-1 (Standby):
Note: Disconnecting all interfaces enables a quicker rollback should it become necessary, as opposed to powering down the system.

vi) Power on Nutanix BIGIP-1 and configure it with the same Management IP of VMware BIGIP-1:

vii) License Nutanix BIGIP-1 with the saved license from VMware BIGIP-1 (Stage 5ii):
Note: Please refer to K91841023 if the VE is running in FIPS mode.

viii) Set Nutanix BIGIP-1 to “Forced Offline”:

ix) Upload the saved UCS configuration (Stage 5i) to Nutanix BIGIP-1, and then load it with “no-license”:
Note: Please refer K9420 to if the UCS file containing encrypted password or passphrase.

x) Check the log and wait until the message “<hostname>……Configuration load completed, device ready for online” is seen before proceeding, which can be done by opening a separate session to Nutanix BIGIP-1:

xi) Set Nutanix BIGIP-1 to “Online”:
Note: Before bringing Nutanix BIGIP-1 "Online", make sure it is deployed with the same number of NICs ,and interface-to-VLAN mapping is identical to VMware BIGIP-1. For example, if interface 1.1 is mapped to VLAN X on VMware BIGIP-1, make sure interface 1.1 is mapped to VLAN X too on Nutanix BIGIP-1.

xii) Make sure Nutanix BIGIP-1 is "In Sync". Perform Config-Sync using “run cm config-sync from-group <device-group-name>” if “(cfg-sync Changes Pending)" is seen like below:

xiii) BIGIP-1 is now migrated from VMware to Nutanix:

Migration is now completed.

*Current BIG-IP State*: Nutanix BIGIP-1 (Standby) and Nutanix BIGIP-2 (Active)

Summary

The outlined migration procedure in this article is the recommended procedure of migrating BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) and application workloads from VMware vSphere to Nutanix AHV. It ensures successful migration during a scheduled maintenance with minimal application service disruption, enabling them to continue functioning smoothly during and post-migration.