Supportability of migrating Active Directory Domain Controllers via Cross vCenter vMotion

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Customers may need to migrate Active Directory Domain Controllers (DCs) between different vCenter Server instances using Cross vCenter vMotion. Concerns often arise regarding whether this process is supported and if it will impact Active Directory database replication or cause synchronization errors between sites.

Environment

• Product: VMware vSphere / VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF)
• Component: vCenter Server, ESXi
• Feature: Cross vCenter vMotion

Cause

This is a consultative inquiry regarding the stability of Active Directory replication during long-distance or cross-instance migrations.

Resolution

Migrating a Domain Controller using Cross vCenter vMotion is a supported activity. To ensure a successful migration without impacting Active Directory health, you must verify the following:

1. Network Continuity: The destination port group must provide the same network connectivity (L2 adjacency) so the DC retains its IP address and can communicate with its replication partners immediately after migration.
2. Latency Requirements: Ensure the RTT (Round Trip Time) between the source and destination vCenter Servers does not exceed 150 ms.
3. Time Synchronization: Verify that the source and destination ESXi hosts are synchronized to the same reliable NTP source to prevent Kerberos or replication issues caused by time skew.
4. Vendor Documentation: Align these steps with Microsoft's official stance on virtualizing Domain Controllers, which supports vMotion.

Additional Information

• For general support policies, please see the Broadcom Maintenance Policy Handbook.
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