Hello Accession (Nick)!

Well I've had to do it. Migrating from Esxi 6.5 to Proxmox. Not due to Hardware issues, and not from software failing, but still a software issue.

I've got a project that requires the pass through of a GPU to a Linux VM.

Esxi did that part fine, the vm could see the card, but the drivers just failed to load....

The same hardware setup with Proxmox is the only change that works!

Ok so here's the things to note:

Proxmox can't read the VMFS6 formated drives, due to the older ESXi version. So no direct import of the VM's.

This leaves you with two options going forward.

1. Setup proxmox on a temporary system, and via the "Datacenter -> Storage", click on add and choose ESXi.
Input your Esxi hosts information.

This then gives you the option of "Importing" your VM's from the ESXi host via the network.

To complete this process the source VM needs to be powered off, or it will fail.

Once you have your VM's imported, move the hd/ssd with proxmox on it to your existing host.
Once booted up, you will then need to change the network setting for the local lan.

"dmesg |grep eth"

Will show you something like this (My local lan is enp5s0):

root@pve:~# dmesg|grep eth
[ 1.644270] e1000e 0000:00:19.0 eth0: (PCI Express:2.5GT/s:Width x1)
[ 1.644274] e1000e 0000:00:19.0 eth0: Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection
[ 1.644307] e1000e 0000:00:19.0 eth0: MAC: 10, PHY: 11, PBA No: 0100FF-0FF
[ 1.726086] e1000e 0000:05:00.0 eth1: (PCI Express:2.5GT/s:Width x1)
[ 1.726090] e1000e 0000:05:00.0 eth1: Intel(R) PRO/1000 Network Connection
[ 1.726175] e1000e 0000:05:00.0 eth1: MAC: 3, PHY: 8, PBA No: 1000FF-0FF
[ 1.965989] e1000e 0000:05:00.0 enp5s0: renamed from eth1
[ 1.966194] e1000e 0000:00:19.0 eno1: renamed from eth0

root@pve:~# cat /etc/network/interfaces
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

iface enp5s0 inet manual

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
address 192.168.1.10/24
gateway 192.168.1.1
bridge-ports enp5s0
bridge-stp off
bridge-fd 0

iface eno1 inet manual


2. Use backup software in your VM's, and do a restore (Might fail).
You have to get the drive sizes right etc.



Vorlon


--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: Dragon's Lair ---:- dragon.vk3heg.net -:--- Prt: 6800 (46:3/101)

Hey Vorlon!

On Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:28:36 +1100, you wrote:

Well I've had to do it. Migrating from Esxi 6.5 to Proxmox. Not due to Hardware issues, and not from software failing, but still a software
issue.

At least you were able to get it done successfully!

I've got a project that requires the pass through of a GPU to a Linux
VM.

Esxi did that part fine, the vm could see the card, but the drivers just failed to load....

Luckily, I don't have a need for anything like this. I'm probably going to continue to use ESXi 6.5 until the hardware starts showing signs of failure/fatigue. At that point, I may just go with a mini PC, and even then I may try to use a newer version of ESXi (as long as it's still free). ;)

Proxmox can't read the VMFS6 formated drives, due to the older ESXi
version. So no direct import of the VM's.

I thought I had tested this not too long ago (maybe a year or so ago?). I transferred my VM from ESXi to Proxmox (that was being run in a Virtualbox VM, lol) via a live migration. It seemed to work just fine, but the memory is hazy and I didn't spend much time on it. I just wanted to see if it would work and go through the process so I wasn't going in blind when the time actually does come. Alas, with newer hardware I wouldn't mind giving a newer (or newest, even) version of ESXi a try before making a final decision.

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20260304
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)

Hello Accession!

18 Mar 26 21:40, you wrote to me:

Well I've had to do it. Migrating from Esxi 6.5 to Proxmox. Not due
to Hardware issues, and not from software failing, but still a
software issue.

At least you were able to get it done successfully!

It took me three days to do it though. I still have to get pfsense back into a VM though.

Esxi did that part fine, the vm could see the card, but the drivers
just failed to load....

Luckily, I don't have a need for anything like this. I'm probably
going to continue to use ESXi 6.5 until the hardware starts showing
signs of failure/fatigue. At that point, I may just go with a mini PC,
and even then I may try to use a newer version of ESXi (as long as
it's still free). ;)

That was my plan as well, but things change... @0)

Proxmox can't read the VMFS6 formated drives, due to the older ESXi
version. So no direct import of the VM's.

I thought I had tested this not too long ago (maybe a year or so
ago?). I transferred my VM from ESXi to Proxmox (that was being run in
a Virtualbox VM, lol) via a live migration.

I did at first have the two vm drives connected to proxmox via the mb's sata ports.
When that didn't work, I resorted to having the ESXi install on another machine, and then connetced to Esxi via the network.


Vorlon


--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20250409
* Origin: Dragon's Lair ---:- dragon.vk3heg.net -:--- Prt: 6800 (46:3/101)

Hey Vorlon!

On Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:03:42 +1100, you wrote:

It took me three days to do it though. I still have to get pfsense back
into a VM though.

Well, that doesn't sound like any fun. ;)

That was my plan as well, but things change... @0)

I'm not changing my plans just yet. Some hardware is entirely too expensive right now to interest me in changing anything at this time. Especially when it comes to a little BBS/FTN server!

I thought I had tested this not too long ago (maybe a year or so
ago?). I transferred my VM from ESXi to Proxmox (that was being run
in a Virtualbox VM, lol) via a live migration.

I did at first have the two vm drives connected to proxmox via the mb's
sata ports. When that didn't work, I resorted to having the ESXi install
on another machine, and then connetced to Esxi via the network.

I think I did it over my LAN? I don't remember specifics, though.

Regards,
Nick

... Sarcasm: because beating people up is illegal.
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20260304
* Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (46:1/100)