Migrate to Virtual Machines Complete Guide (2026)

Migrate to Virtual Machines (M2VM) is GCP's VM migration tool that moves workloads from VMware, Hyper-V, AWS EC2, Azure VM, or physical servers to Compute Engine with minimal downtime. Built on Velostrata (which Google acquired in 2018), it's known for agentless Stream Migration.

Key Features

Stream Migration: Production keeps running with continuous delta sync → only a few minutes of downtime at cutover
Test Clone: Create a test environment on GCE without stopping production
Group Migration: Migrate multiple VMs as a batch
OS compatibility check: Determine migration feasibility in advance
Agentless: No changes required on the source VM
Cutover Plan: Planned cutover with rollback support

Supported Source Environments

Environment	Support
VMware vSphere 6.0+	Excellent
Microsoft Hyper-V	Excellent
AWS EC2	Excellent (AWS Connector)
Azure VM	Excellent (Azure Connector)
Physical servers	Supported (Linux only)

Supported OSes

Windows Server 2008 R2 / 2012 / 2012 R2 / 2016 / 2019 / 2022
RHEL 6 / 7 / 8 / 9
CentOS 6 / 7 / 8
Ubuntu 14.04 / 16.04 / 18.04 / 20.04 / 22.04
Debian 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 SP4 / 12 / 15
Oracle Linux 6 / 7 / 8

Migration Phases

Discovery: Scan the source environment and pick migration targets
Assessment: OS compatibility, dependency analysis, and TCO estimation
Initial Sync: Sync source VM disks to GCE Persistent Disk (takes hours)
Continuous Sync: Continuously sync only the deltas (no impact on production)
Test Clone: Launch a test VM on GCE → validate behavior
Cutover: Stop the source → final delta sync → start on GCE (a few minutes)
Optimization: Right-size GCE instances and apply CUDs

Setup Example (AWS → GCP)

# 1. M2VM API enable
gcloud services enable vmmigration.googleapis.com

# 2. AWS Source register
gcloud migration vms sources create my-aws-source \
  --location=asia-northeast1 \
  --aws-source-region=ap-northeast-1 \
  --aws-access-key-id=AKIA... \
  --aws-secret-access-key=...

# 3. List source VMs
gcloud migration vms machines list \
  --source=my-aws-source --location=asia-northeast1

# 4. Create Migration Group
gcloud migration vms groups create my-group --location=asia-northeast1

# 5. Create Migration Plan
gcloud migration vms migration-plans create my-plan \
  --source=my-aws-source --location=asia-northeast1 \
  --vm-id=i-abcd1234

# 6. Start Initial Sync
gcloud migration vms migration-plans start my-plan --location=asia-northeast1

# 7. Test Clone
gcloud migration vms migration-plans clone my-plan --location=asia-northeast1

# 8. Cutover (production switch-over)
gcloud migration vms migration-plans cutover my-plan --location=asia-northeast1

TCO Comparison (Mid-Size)

Item	VMware on-prem	GCE
Hardware	$200K (3-year depreciation + maintenance)	—
Licenses (VMware + Windows)	$50K/yr	Windows only (BYOL available)
Operations headcount	$150K/yr	$50K/yr (reduced)
Power / cooling / facilities	$30K/yr	—
GCE monthly (100 VMs)	—	$20K/mo (after CUDs)
3-year total	$890K	$870K + operational efficiency

Best Practices

Phase 1: Migrate dev/staging environments first
Phase 2: Stateless web tier
Phase 3: Stateful workloads (migrate DBs separately to Cloud SQL / AlloyDB)
Always validate with Test Clone
Schedule cutover during the lowest-impact window
Right-size with Recommender after migration
Apply CUDs for long-term cost savings
Design VPC, IAM, and Audit Logs in advance

What is Migrate to Virtual Machines (M2VM)?

A migration tool that moves VMs from VMware, Hyper-V, physical servers, AWS EC2, or Azure VM to GCE (formerly Migrate for Compute Engine, based on Velostrata). It is agentless and enables minimal-downtime migration.

What migration methods are available?

Stream Migration (production keeps running with continuous delta sync) or Disk Image Migration (batch). Stream Migration is the recommended default.

Which OSes are supported?

Windows Server 2008 R2 and later, RHEL 6+, CentOS 6+, Ubuntu 14.04+, Debian 8+, SUSE 11 SP4+, Oracle Linux 6+, and many more.

How much does it cost?

Migrate to VMs itself is free (you only pay for the target GCE resources). Data transfer is charged at standard egress rates.

How long does the migration take?

With Stream Migration the production downtime is just a few minutes (only at cutover). Disk image migration depends on VM size (hours to days for TB-class workloads).

What about migrating from AWS?

Install the AWS Connector on the AWS side → specify the target on the GCP side → run Stream Migration. VPC Peering or VPN connectivity is required.

What happens on failure or rollback?

The original VMware/physical server keeps running throughout (with Stream Migration). You can safely cancel at any time before cutover.

What is Test Clone?

Before the production cutover you create a Test Clone on GCE for validation. Production keeps running while you test thoroughly on GCE.

Check what you learned with practice questions

Practice with certification-focused question sets

See the GCP exam prep page

Author

NicheeLab Editorial Team

NicheeLab editorial team focused on data engineering and cloud certification learning. Content is structured around practical study needs and official exam domains.

Migrate to Virtual Machines (M2VM) Complete Guide: VMware/AWS/Azure → GCE Migration