A strategic approach to migrating virtualized workloads to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization

Migrating from traditional virtualization platforms to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization (part of Red Hat OpenShift) requires careful planning to maintain performance, security, and cost efficiency. A well-defined strategy ensures seamless transitions while minimizing disruptions to existing workloads. Key considerations include workload assessment, infrastructure readiness, and choosing the right migration approach.

There are plenty of reasons why teams decide to move their virtual machines (VMs). Sometimes it’s about switching vendors to cut costs, other times it’s about upgrading to infrastructure that’s a better fit for the tools and services they plan to use. In many cases, it’s part of an effort to simplify, consolidate systems and reduce the sprawl across multiple data centers.

Whatever the motivation, virtual machines (VM) migrations are rarely simple. They often involve a lot of moving parts and can take more time than expected. That’s why it’s worth exploring processes and tools that can help streamline the process, making it easier to automate tasks, keep track of progress, and avoid surprises along the way.

1. Assess your current virtualization environment

An assessment of your existing virtualization environment forms the critical foundation for a successful migration path to OpenShift Virtualization. This step requires methodically validating your existing virtual machine (VM) inventory with particular attention to workload criticality, clearly distinguishing between mission-critical systems requiring minimal downtime and lower-priority workloads. 

Equally important is verifying compatibility factors, including operating system support, tool dependencies and any specialized hardware requirements that might impact the migration. Capturing comprehensive performance metrics such as CPU utilization patterns, memory consumption and storage I/O characteristics enables accurate resource sizing in the OpenShift environment.

• Inventory VMs: Document all VMs—OS types, workloads, dependencies and resource usage
• Identify critical workloads: Not all VMs are equal. Prioritize based on business impact, time sensitivity, level of effort (LOE), or other key factors
• Check compatibility: OpenShift Virtualization supports Linux VMs (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu) and some Windows VMs—verify which workloads can migrate natively

2. Plan your OpenShift Virtualization architecture

OpenShift Virtualization runs on Kubernetes, so your infrastructure design matters. Consider the following variables:

• Cluster sizing: Make sure nodes have enough CPU, memory and storage for VM workloads
• Networking: OpenShift uses OVN-Kubernetes or OpenShift SDN—plan IP addressing, VLANs and network policies
• Storage: Persistent storage (like Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation or external storage) is crucial for VM disks

Avoid pitfalls: Test storage performance before migration—some VMs may need high IOPS (Input/Output operations per second).

3. Choose the right migration strategy

Not all VMs should move the same way. Pick the best method for each workload:

• Cold migration (offline):
  • Best for: Non-critical workloads, dev/test environments
  • Process: Shut down VM → Migrate → Power up in OpenShift
  • Downtime: Full outage required
• Warm migration (minimal downtime):
  • Best for: Production workloads that can handle brief disruption
  • Process: Initial sync while VM runs → Quick cutover downtime
  • Downtime: Minutes (not hours)
• Re-platforming (containerization):
  • Best for: Apps ready for modernization
  • Process: Refactor into containers instead of migrating VMs
  • Effort: Higher upfront, better long-term payoff

The following is a practical, step-by-step example of an engagement strategy designed by Red Hat Services to ensure a well-prepared and efficient transition.

4. Test, test and test again

With the migration toolkit for virtualization (MTV), Red Hat offers the tools you need to carry out a successful migration. However, without proper planning and testing, this can get complicated.

A failed migration can disrupt operations. Mitigate risks with:

• Pilot migrations: Move a few non-critical VMs first to validate the process
• Performance benchmarking: Compare VM performance pre- and post-migration
• Rollback plan: Using VM snapshots so you can revert quickly if something goes wrong

Real-world lesson: Some apps rely on vendor-specific tools. Test replacements (such as QEMU guest agents) beforehand. 

5. Optimize post-migration

Once VMs are running on OpenShift, fine-tune for efficiency:

• Right-size resources: Kubernetes allows dynamic scaling, adjusting CPU/memory based on actual usage
• Automate management: Use OpenShift’s operator framework to automate VM lifecycle tasks
• Monitor and troubleshoot: Integrate with Prometheus/Grafana for visibility into VM performance

Bonus tip: Train your team on OpenShift Virtualization’s CLI (virtctl) for easier management.

Why this migration matters

Migrating to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization isn’t just about infrastructure changes—it’s about unlocking new agility for your organization. Explore modernization features with OpenShift by running VMs alongside containers for::

• Unified management under Kubernetes
• Better scalability for hybrid cloud
• Future-proofing for cloud-native apps

But success depends on planning. Rushed migrations lead to downtime—careful planning helps enable a seamless transition.

Conclusion

Migrating from a traditional virtualization platform to OpenShift Virtualization may feel overwhelming. With cost concerns, technical dependencies, and timeline uncertainties, it’s easy to become paralyzed by analysis paralysis.

That’s where Red Hat’s Virtualization Migration Assessment (VMA) comes in. Think of it as your GPS guide for this transition:

• No guesswork: Capture your current VM architecture, analyze workload complexity and get a customized roadmap tailored to your environment,  so you know exactly what to migrate, when, and how
• Cost clarity: Identify savings upfront—no more surprise bills from legacy licensing
• Risk mitigation: Red Hat’s experts (who’ve done this hundreds of times) will flag potential pitfalls before they derail your project
• Flatten the learning curve: Hands-on training and certifications to help teams keep pace with the evolving landscape

This isn’t just another pitch. It’s a proven framework to simplify your move to OpenShift Virtualization—so you can stop worrying about the "how" and start delivering innovation faster.

Explore the Virtualization Migration Assessment
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Because a smooth migration isn’t just about technology only—it’s about making the right moves at the right time.