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Migrate lightweight servers to Simple Application Server

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Use Server Migration Center (SMC) to migrate lightweight servers from other cloud providers—such as Tencent Cloud Lighthouse, Huawei Cloud lightweight servers, or AWS Lightsail—to Alibaba Cloud Simple Application Server. SMC handles the full transfer: disk data, partition structure, and system configuration.

Simple Application Server is a lightweight cloud server designed for single-server application deployment, security management, and monitoring. See What is Simple Application Server?. To migrate to Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instead for more flexible resource configurations, see Migrate servers to Elastic Compute Service.

Before you start

Limitations

The following migration paths are not supported by SMC:

  • Simple Application Server: Use the SCP command and Data Transmission Service (DTS) instead. See Migrate ECS instances to Simple Application Server.

  • Between Simple Application Server instances: See Data migration between Simple Application Server instances.

  • Cross-OS migration: Windows and Linux systems cannot be migrated to each other. Windows migrates to Windows only; Linux migrates to Linux only.

  • Multiple data disks on source: The source server can have a maximum of one data disk attached.

  • Migration drills: Not supported. The migration drill step is automatically skipped.

Migration impact

Review what changes during migration before proceeding:

Item

Impact

Migrated data

SMC generates a disk partition structure on the destination that matches the source as closely as possible. All disks are migrated by default. Data disks without a mount target are not migrated.

Intermediate instance

SMC creates a temporary pay-as-you-go instance named No_Delete_SMC_Transition_Instance in your destination account. Do not stop, start, restart, or release this instance during migration—doing so causes failure. The instance is released automatically when migration completes. If you migrate to an existing destination instance, that instance acts as the intermediate instance and is not released. For details, see Migration principles.

IP address

The server's IP address changes after migration, which may interrupt services. Perform migration during off-peak hours. Update domain name resolution and ICP filing information after migration. If a domain name is mapped to the source server, remap it to the new public IP address. See Add a website resolution.

Hardware licenses

The underlying hardware changes. Verify any application licenses bound to hardware, as they may become invalid.

Performance during transfer

Migration consumes CPU, memory, disk I/O, and network bandwidth on the source server.

Data consistency

For details on data and system configuration changes, see Data consistency issues after migration.

Prerequisites

Warning

After migration, all original data on the destination Simple Application Server instance is permanently deleted. The source server data is not affected. Back up any important data on the destination instance before proceeding.

Before you begin, make sure that you have:

  • Completed pre-migration preparations for the source server

  • Reviewed the Migration guide for SMC client usage, billing, and migration procedures

  • Created a destination Simple Application Server instance that meets the following requirements:

    • Same operating system: Source and destination must run the same OS (Windows to Windows, Linux to Linux)

    • Data Disk: The number of data disks on the destination must be greater than or equal to the number on the source (maximum one data disk). If the destination has too few data disks, attach a data disk and partition and format it

    • Disk capacity: System disk and data disk capacity on the destination must be greater than or equal to the source. If you plan to shrink disks, the destination capacity must still exceed the used capacity on the source. To resize, see Resize a data disk

    • If you have not created a destination instance yet, see Create a Simple Application Server instance

Migrate your server

Migration consists of two steps: import the migration source (your existing server), then configure and start the migration task.

Step 1: Import the migration source

A migration source is the server you want to migrate—an on-premises server in an IDC (Internet Data Center), a virtual machine, or a cloud server from another provider. SMC supports two import methods. For guidance on choosing, see How do I choose a method to import migration sources?

Import from the command line (recommended)

Important

The source server must have public network access. If it has firewall restrictions, add the SMC domain names and ports to the firewall allowlist. See What are the service domains of SMC?. If the source server cannot access the public network or you want to use a private network for faster transfer, see Private network migration.

  1. Go to SMC Console — Server Migration.

  2. On the Server Migration page, click Import Migration source.

  3. Configure the following parameters and copy the activation code command.

    Parameter

    Description

    Workgroup (Optional)

    For batch migration scenarios only. Skip for single-server migration. Add multiple migration sources to the same workgroup. All sources in a workgroup must have automatic incremental synchronization enabled. See Batch migration of servers. Click Create a New Workgroup if needed.

    Migration Source Type

    Select Physical Machine/VM/Cloud Server From Other Platform.

    Import Method

    Select Command-line Import. A single command runs on the source server to import it.

    Migration Source Quota

    Number of migration sources the activation code can activate. Range: 1–1,000. Default: 200.

    Validity Period

    How long the activation code remains valid. Range: 1–90 days. Default: 90 days.

    Activation Code

    Click Generate, select the Linux Shell or Windows Powershell tab based on your source OS, then click Copy.

  4. Log on to the source server and run the copied command with administrator privileges.

    Linux source server

    1. Log on to the Linux source server.

    2. Paste and run the copied command with administrator privileges.

    image.png

    A message similar to Import Source Server [s-bp18x8751kgz2oyh****] Successfully! confirms the import succeeded.

    Windows source server

    1. Log on to the Windows source server.

    2. Open Windows PowerShell with administrator privileges.

    3. Paste and run the copied command.

    image.png

    A message similar to Import Source Server [s-bp19rlidl3mwuptc****] Successfully! confirms the import succeeded.

    If the command fails, see What do I do if the command fails to run when I import a Windows migration source from the command line?.

  5. On the Server Migration page, check the Real-time Migration Status column: For common issues, see SMC FAQ and Troubleshooting.

    • Source Online: Import succeeded. Proceed to Step 2.

    • Any other status: Import failed. Troubleshoot using the error message in the console or the SMC client log files:

      • Windows: C:\smc

      • Linux: /smc

Import using the SMC client

For details on the SMC client, see SMC client user guide.

Important

The SMC client must run on the source server with public network access. If the source has firewall restrictions, add SMC domain names and ports to the allowlist. See What are the service domains of SMC?. For private network migration, see Private network migration.

  1. Go to SMC Console — Server Migration.

  2. On the Server Migration page, click Import Migration source.

  3. On the Import Migration Source page, configure the following parameters:

    Parameter

    Description

    Migration Source Type

    Select Physical Machine/VM/Cloud Server From Other Platform.

    Import Method

    Select Client Import. Download and install the SMC client manually on the source server.

    Import Instructions

    Follow the prompts to download, install, and activate the SMC client for your source OS (Linux or Windows) and architecture (32-bit or 64-bit). Click Generate Activation Code and copy the code. Enter this code during client installation.

  4. Import the migration source.

    Important

    Do not close the SMC client during migration. Closing it disconnects the migration source from the SMC console and causes migration failure.

    Windows source server

    1. Upload the SMC client to the Windows source server using a file transfer tool such as WinSCP.

    2. Unzip the SMC client package using the system's built-in or a third-party decompression tool.

    3. In the SMC client folder that matches your source server's system version, run the client:

      • GUI version: Double-click go2aliyun_gui.exe. Click OK when prompted for administrator privileges.

      • Command-line version: Double-click go2aliyun_client.exe. Click OK when prompted for administrator privileges.

    4. Get an activation code or AccessKey pair:

      • (Recommended) In the Import Instructions section, click Generate Activation Code and copy it.

      • Alternatively, use an AccessKey pair (AccessKey ID and AccessKey secret). To create one, see Create an AccessKey pair.

    5. Enter the activation code or AccessKey pair as prompted:

      • GUI: Enter in the Token Id/AK and Token Code/SK fields and click Run. See SMC client user guide.

      • Command-line: Enter values for access_access_token_id and access_token_code, then press Enter.

    A message similar to Import Source Server [s-bp18x8751kgz2oyh****] Successfully! confirms the import succeeded.

    Linux source server

    1. Upload the SMC client to the Linux source server using a file transfer tool such as WinSCP.

    2. Connect to the Linux source server and unzip the client package. This example uses the Linux 64-bit General-purpose Edition. Replace the package name if you use a different version.

      tar -zxvf go2aliyun_client.tar.gz
      Note

      The Linux 64-bit ARM Edition supports the g6r general-purpose instance family and the c6r compute-optimized instance family. For instance family details, see Enterprise-level Arm-based compute instance families.

    3. (Optional) Filter and exclude files or directories that do not need to be migrated. > Important: If you enable block replication, you cannot exclude files or directories.

    4. Get an activation code or AccessKey pair:

      • (Recommended) In the Import Instructions section, click Generate Activation Code and copy it.

      • Alternatively, use an AccessKey pair. See Create an AccessKey pair.

    5. Run the SMC client: ``bash cd go2aliyun_client_linux_x86_64 sudo chmod +x go2aliyun_client sudo ./go2aliyun_client ``

    6. Enter the activation code or AccessKey pair as prompted. adad After entering credentials, the client may display additional prompts:

      • Snapshot driver: If not installed, the client asks whether to install it. > Important: If snapshot driver installation fails, do not enable block replication for the migration task. Migration will fail. 123

        • Enter yes if you plan to enable block replication for the migration task.

        • Enter no if you do not plan to enable block replication.

      • rsync: Most systems have rsync installed. If not, enter yes to install automatically. 安装rsync

      • SELinux: If enabled, enter yes to disable it automatically. 关闭SELinux

    A message similar to Import Source Server [s-bp11npxndknsycqj****] Successfully! confirms the import succeeded.

    If import fails, resolve the issue based on the error message, then run the following commands to exit the background process and retry: ``bash sudo ./go2aliyun_client --abort sudo ./go2aliyun_client `` For common issues, see SMC FAQ and Troubleshooting.

  5. On the Server Migration page, check the Real-time Migration Status column: For common issues, see SMC FAQ and Troubleshooting.

    • Source Online: Import succeeded. Proceed to Step 2.

    • Any other status: Import failed. Check the error message or the SMC client log files:

      • Windows: C:\smc

      • Linux: /smc

Step 2: Configure and start the migration

  1. Find the migration source and click Start Migration in the Actions column.

  2. Configure the basic parameters and click Start Migration.

    Basic parameters

    Parameter

    Description

    Migration Job Name

    A name for the migration task.

    Job Description

    An optional description.

    Destination Type

    Select Simple Application Server.

    Destination Region (Required)

    The Alibaba Cloud region to migrate to. See Regions and zones.

    Destination Instance (Required)

    Select the Simple Application Server instance. The instance must match the source OS and have sufficient disk capacity.

    Important

    Do not stop, start, restart, or release the destination instance during migration. If the destination has fewer data disks than the source, not all source data disks will be migrated. If disk capacity is insufficient, resize the data disk first.

    Execution Method

    Choose when to run the migration: Migrate Now (starts immediately, default), Schedule Migration (starts at a set time; earliest is 10 minutes from now), or Create Only (creates the task without starting; start later by clicking Start Task in the Actions column).

    Modify Disk Partition (optional)

    This feature requires SMC client V2.8.0 or later. See SMC client user guide for version details.

    Setting

    Behavior

    Disabled

    SMC reads source disk information automatically and generates the destination partition structure. You cannot modify it.

    Enabled

    SMC displays source disk information and generates a default structure. Adjust partition size, order, transfer method (block replication or file replication), and Logical Volume Manager (LVM) settings as needed.

    The parameters for the disk partition structure are described as follows:

    When Adjust Disk Partition Structure is enabled, configure the following:

    Disks

    • System Disk: Size of the destination system disk in GiB. Range: 20–2,048 GiB. Must exceed the used size of the source system disk. Default is the source system disk size. Avoid reducing below the default unless necessary.

    • Data Disk <N>: Size of destination data disk N in GiB. Range: 1–32,768 GiB. Must exceed the used size of the source data disk. If a data disk has no mount target or all its mount targets are set to not migrate, the disk is not migrated. <N> is the data disk number; when migrating to a destination instance, N is the data disk ID.

    • LVM: Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is a mechanism for flexible disk partition management on Linux. When enabled, SMC rebuilds the disk with an LVM structure: one physical volume (PV) and one volume group (VG) per disk, with logical volumes (LVs) corresponding to the number of mount targets. Volume group names default to vgX (where X is the disk's sequence number) and logical volume names default to lvX (where X is the logical volume's sequence number).

      image

      Important

      LVM is not supported when the source is a Windows system or when the system disk has no boot partition. LVM is enabled but has no effect when: the source does not support lvm2 or lvm2 is not installed, or the source is a Debian system with kernel 3.x or earlier and an XFS file system disk mounted.

    Mount targets

    • Migrate: Choose whether to migrate each mount target.

    • Block Replication: Improves transfer stability and ensures partition structure consistency with the source, but the partition size cannot be modified. SMC determines block replication support based on the source disk partition state.

      • If not supported for a partition, file replication is used and partition size can be modified.

      • If supported, block replication is enabled by default.

      Note

      For Windows source servers, block replication is enabled by default and cannot be disabled. If LVM is enabled and the partition size is not a multiple of 4 MiB, file replication is used instead.

    • Set Partition Size: When block replication is disabled, set the partition size manually. The sum of all partition sizes cannot exceed the disk size.

      Note

      If the destination disk sizes do not match the source, the system automatically adjusts mount target positions. If automatic adjustment is insufficient, follow the on-screen prompts. To manually drag mount targets to other disks (not supported for boot or system partitions): hover over the image icon in front of the mount target, then drag it to the target disk.

    Advanced configuration (optional)

    Click Advanced Configuration to set the following:

    Parameter

    Description

    Network Type

    Migration data transfers over the public network. Optionally specify a VPC and vSwitch. If specified, SMC creates the intermediate instance in that VPC and vSwitch. If not specified, SMC creates a new VPC and vSwitch automatically.

    Transmission Speed Limit

    Throttles network transfer speed, in Mbps. When compression is enabled, the actual compressed data transfer speed is lower than the displayed limit.

    Compression Ratio

    Data compression level. Range: 0–10. Default: 7. A value of 0 disables compression. Use a higher ratio for limited-bandwidth environments. For very high-bandwidth environments, set to 0 to reduce CPU usage on the source.

    Checksum Verification

    Disabled by default. Enabling improves data consistency checks but may reduce transfer speed.

    SSL-Encrypted Transmission

    Enabled by default. Uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption to improve data security and integrity.

    Tag

    Bind tag key-value pairs to the migration task for management. Maximum 20 tags. See Use tags to manage migration sources and tasks and Implement fine-grained permission management using tags.

    Report diagnostic logs

    Enabled by default. Uploads SMC client logs to the SMC server for error diagnosis. Logs are stored in /smc/go2aliyun_client*/Logs.

  3. Read the migration notes in the confirmation message and click Got It.

  4. Monitor progress on the Server Migration page. While the migration task status is Synchronizing, you can:

    You can subscribe to migration error events, modify the migration, and pause the migration.

    • Subscribe to SMC migration task error event notifications in Cloud Monitor to receive email alerts.

    • Click Modify Migration Job in the Actions column to change transfer throttling, compression ratio, or checksum verification settings.

    • Click Pause Migration Job in the Actions column to pause the task.

    - Speed: Uncompressed data transferred per second. If compression is enabled, this value exceeds the actual compressed network speed. - Remaining Sync Time: Calculated as (Total Data Volume - Transferred Data Volume) / Speed. - If transfer speed is too slow, temporarily increase the bandwidth of the source and destination servers. See Estimate migration time and test transfer speed.

    image

  5. View migration details

    (Optional) To view migration details, click the migration source ID in the Migration Source ID/Name column.

    image

Verify the migration result

When Real-time Migration Status shows Completed, migration succeeded.

image

Verify that data and applications are intact:

  1. In the Actions column, click View Destination Instance to open the Simple Application Server console.

  2. Log on to the instance remotely. See Remotely connect to a Linux server or Remotely connect to a Windows server.

  3. Check data and applications on the instance. See How do I check a Linux server after migration? or How do I check a Windows server after migration?.

The IP address changes after migration. Update any service configurations that reference the old IP address. If a domain name is mapped to the source server, remap it to the new public IP address. See Add a website resolution.

If Real-time Migration Status shows InError, the migration failed:

  1. Click Troubleshoot Error in the Actions column. Use the error code and message to resolve the issue. See SMC FAQ and Troubleshooting.

  2. After fixing the issue, click Retry Migration Job in the Actions column to resume.

What's next

Previous：Migrate a simple application server to an ECS instanceNext：Migrate data from a Tencent Cloud Lighthouse instance to an Alibaba Cloud simple application server