topic Re: SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox in General Topics

SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox

DPi — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 09:33:49 GMT

Hi everyone,

I'm in the middle of a SMS migration (R81.10) from an hypervisor to another (XCP-NG) to Proxmox .

I'm following the guidelines to export the snapshot via GUI and import to the new VM.

I have one question about this procdure: does the snapshot maintain the and request the very same amount of RAM, disk and vCPU used in the source VM ?

Any advice on the migration to Proxmox.

Many thanks in advance

Davide

Re: SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox

Chris_Atkinson — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:49:07 GMT

Snapshot is probably not your solution here given the change described.

Most likely you will need to perform a migrate export / import.

https://sc1.checkpoint.com/documents/R82/WebAdminGuides/EN/CP_R82_Gaia_AdminGuide/Content/Topics-GAG/Snapshot-Management.htm

Re: SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox

DPi — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:34:04 GMT

Hi Chris,

thanks for the Hint! Could you please be more specific?

Is there any clear guide for R81.10 ?

Thanks again

Davide

Re: SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox

DPi — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:42:38 GMT

Based on your experience, the destination VM should have the same network configuration of the source one ?
Thanks

Davide

Re: SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox

Martijn — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:48:21 GMT

Hi,

@Chris_Atkinson is correct. The best procedure to migrate to a new SMS is using the migration tools.

Please follow the R81.10 Installation and Upgrade Guide:
Migrating Database Between R81.10 Security Management Servers

Tools can be found SK article below, but are updated when the SMS has internet access
sk135172 - Upgrade Tools package

You can also use these tools to upgrade to a newer version.

Regards,
Martijn

Re: SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox

Bob_Zimmerman — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 14:18:27 GMT

XCP and Proxmox typically use different disk image formats. The actual format Proxmox uses even depends on how it was installed: if you use ZFS (which I highly, highly recommend), Proxmox will use zvols to back VMs. As a result, you generally can't bring storage over directly.

When you migrate from one VM to another, the hostname in the OS must remain the same. The IP can change, though if you use a different IP, you will probably need to reissue a bunch of licenses.

The easiest way to go is to:

Check the jumbo on the old VM (cpinfo -y fw1)
Use 'migrate export' on the old VM to export the config
Copy the export file to some third system (such as your workstation). Keep in mind, this file is very sensitive: it contains all of your rules and objects, as well as the cryptographic keys needed to manage the firewalls.
Shut down the old VM
Install the same release in the new VM (e.g, R81.10)
Go through config_system (or use the first-time wizard)
Install the jumbo you identified in step 1 on the new VM
Copy the export file to the new VM
Use 'migrate import' on the new VM to import the export file
Reboot to let everything come up clean

I would also recommend upgrading to R81.20, but that makes this swap a bit more complicated. You would need to use 'migrate_server' instead of 'migrate export'.

Re: SMS migration from XCP-NG to ProxMox

DPi — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 14:40:58 GMT

Thanks Martijn,
I'm going to give it a try and post a feedback here as soon as it's done.

Thank you for sharing.

Regards

Davide