Moving VM from xen to proxmox

🔁 Migration Workflow: XenServer to Proxmox

1. Prepare on XenServer (source node)

Turn off the VM and activate its LVM logical volume:

xe vm-disk-list vm=source.host.name

# get the logical volume ID
lvdisplay | grep LV_DISK_ID  

# Activate the logical volume
lvchange -a y /dev/VG_XenStorage-LV_DISK_ID/VHD-ID

Tip: Replace LV_DISK_ID and VHD-ID with actual values from lvdisplay.

2. Export over the network (Xen to Proxmox)

Start listener on destination (Proxmox):

nc -l -p 5000 | pv | dd bs=4096 of=/dev/mapper/vg-vm--111--disk--0

Then send the raw disk from source (XenServer):

xe vdi-export uuid=LV_DISK_ID format=raw filename= | nc prox.mox.host 5000

Optional: You can use pigz for compression on-the-fly if both sides support it:

💡 Alternative Direct Pipe Method (may not work with LVM-based storage)

dd if=/dev/mapper/VG_XenStorage--ID bs=4096 status=progress | ssh [email protected] 'dd of=/dev/mapper/vg-vm--111--disk--0 bs=4096'

🛠️ After Migration (CentOS or similar guests)

If migrating CentOS (especially with LVM or disk controller differences), rebuild initramfs:

dracut -f --regenerate-all -v

For more information about how to do that using you can check my other article: Rebuilding initramfs