vVol Datastore Migration between vCenter Server instances (vSphere)

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Moving Virtual Volumes (vVols) management from an existing vCenter Server to a new vCenter Server instance requires re-establishing the control plane via the VASA Provider. While virtual machine data resides natively on the storage array and remains intact, the management relationship and certificates must be migrated to ensure visibility and accessibility.

Symptoms:

• Existing vVol datastores or storage containers are not visible in the new vCenter Server.
• Standard storage rescans on ESXi hosts do not discover existing vVol volumes.
• Storage Providers status shows as disconnected or missing in the new vCenter inventory.

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 8.x
• VMware vCenter Server 9.x
• VMware ESXi 8.x
• VMware ESXi 9.x

Cause

VMware vVols utilize a dual-path architecture where management (control plane) occurs via the VASA Provider and data access (data plane) occurs via Protocol Endpoints. When moving to a new vCenter, the new management instance lacks the registration and certificates required to communicate with the array's VASA Provider. While the physical data blocks remain intact, the management relationship must be re-established.

Resolution

Migrate the VASA Provider registration and map the data plane to the new environment using the following steps:

1. Log in to the old vCenter Server HTML5 client.
2. Navigate to Storage Providers under the vCenter Configure tab.
3. Locate the VASA Provider for the storage array.
4. Select the provider and click Unregister or Remove.VM data (data, config, and swap vVols) resides natively on the storage array as raw volumes. Disconnecting the VASA Provider only changes the management plane; physical data blocks remain untouched.
5. Log in to the new vCenter Server HTML5 client.
6. VM Storage Policies (SPBM) are local to the vCenter instance. Manually recreate these policies on the new vCenter Server to ensure compliance for the migrated virtual machines.
7. Go to vCenter Server > Configure > Storage Providers.
8. Click ADD.
9. Enter the Name, URL (e.g., https://<array_ip>:8443/vasa/version.xml) and management credentials from the storage vendor
10. Trust the storage array certificate when prompted.
11. Ensure new ESXi hosts are zoned to the storage array and Protocol Endpoints (PEs) are presented to the host cluster.
12. Perform Rescan Storage on the new hosts. The vVol datastore should be discovered automatically.