Oracle Cloud Migrations for VMs FAQ

General questions

Is Oracle Cloud Migrations free?

While there is no additional cost for the service, it temporarily consumes some object storage and compute instances to execute the replication and migration processes. Once the migration is complete, you pay the normal amount for any cloud resources consumed (e.g., VMs and block volumes).

Which platforms can Oracle Cloud Migrations migrate VMs from?

Oracle Cloud Migrations currently supports migrating from Amazon Web Services (AWS) and VMware.

Can Oracle Cloud Migrations migrate VMs from clouds, or just on-premises sources?

Yes, the Oracle Cloud Migrations agent supports migrating from Amazon Web Services.

Is Oracle Cloud Migrations available in all regions?

Yes, it is available in all commercial regions.

Can you use Oracle Cloud Migrations to migrate Windows desktop operating systems?

While there are no technical barriers, there may be licensing limitations. Most Microsoft Windows licenses do not allow Windows desktop operating systems to run in the public cloud. You should check your licensing agreement and consult Microsoft if necessary.

Can you bring your own license (BYOL) for Windows Server licenses?

Microsoft allows BYOL when dedicated hardware is being used. Oracle Cloud Migrations can deploy migrated VMs to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure dedicated virtual machine hosts. You should check your licensing agreement and consult Microsoft if necessary.

Can you get coverage for Windows licenses from OCI?

Yes, this is possible. After migration, you need to configure the Windows system to use the OCI Key Management Service to get proper Windows licenses assigned.

For how long can you migrate (replicate)?

Currently there are no restrictions. Oracle recommends completing migrations within 30 days of starting replication.

What edition and version of VMware do you need to have?

VMware vSphere 7.0 or 8.0 are supported. Versions 6.7 Update 3 and 6.5 Update 3 have reached the end of general support—they receive commercially reasonable support for provisioning.

What’s the difference between test and production migration?

In the case of production migration, the user needs to shut down the source VM and perform one additional replication to ensure the most recent data is replicated.

What source VM guest operating systems are supported?

A variety of Windows and Linux VMs are supported. Visit our specifications for using Oracle Cloud Migrations page for a complete list.