Veeam Migration Path — Validation & Checklist
Validation steps for each migration hop and the complete pre-migration checklist.
Hop 1 Go / No-Go Sign-off
CAUTION
Do not proceed to Hop 2 until every VM in this batch passes every check below The Hyper-V staging host is your last rollback point before Azure Migrate consumes the VMs. Once Hop 2 replication starts and succeeds, rolling back to Nutanix requires restoring from backup.
After Veeam failover or restore, sign off on each VM individually before committing the batch to Hop 2:
| Check | Command / Method | Expected Result | Signed off |
|---|---|---|---|
| VM boots and stays running | Hyper-V Manager — check VM state | Running (not Paused or Off) | ☐ |
| Network connectivity to gateway | ping <gateway-ip> from inside VM | Successful | ☐ |
| Correct IP address assigned | ipconfig /all (Windows) / ip addr (Linux) | Matches planned IP | ☐ |
| DNS resolution (forward) | nslookup <hostname> | Resolves to correct IP | ☐ |
| DNS resolution (reverse) | nslookup <vm-ip> | Resolves to correct hostname | ☐ |
| AD domain membership | Test-ComputerSecureChannel (Windows) | True | ☐ |
| Can reach domain controllers | nltest /sc_query:<domain> | Success | ☐ |
| All critical services running | Get-Service / systemctl status | Expected services active | ☐ |
| Application smoke test | Browser / curl / DB query / ping app port | Expected response | ☐ |
| Can communicate back to source network | Ping dependent servers / databases by hostname | Successful | ☐ |
| Disk integrity | Check Event Viewer (Windows) or dmesg (Linux) | No disk errors | ☐ |
| Re-IP applied correctly (if applicable) | ipconfig /all / DNS check | New IP active, DNS updated | ☐ |
Batch Hop 1 Sign-off:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Batch | |
| VMs in batch | |
| Date / Time completed | |
| All checks passed? | ☐ Yes — proceed to Hop 2 ☐ No — rollback |
| Sign-off by | |
| Application owner confirmation |
Hop 1 Validation — Hyper-V Staging (Detail)
After Veeam failover, validate each VM before committing:
| Check | Command / Method | Expected Result |
|---|---|---|
| VM boots | Hyper-V Manager — check VM state | Running |
| Network connectivity | ping <gateway> from inside VM | Successful |
| DNS resolution | nslookup <hostname> | Resolves to correct IP |
| AD domain membership | Test-ComputerSecureChannel (Windows) | True |
| Services running | Get-Service / systemctl status | Expected services active |
| Application smoke test | Browser/curl to app URL or DB query | Expected response |
| Disk integrity | Check Event Viewer or dmesg for disk errors | No errors |
TIP
Document your baseline Before starting any migration, record the expected state for each VM (IP, service list, app test URL/query). This becomes your validation checklist post-migration.
Hop 2 Validation — Azure Local
After Azure Migrate cutover, repeat all Hop 1 checks plus:
| Check | Method | Expected Result |
|---|---|---|
| Arc status | Azure portal → Azure Local → VMs | Connected |
| Azure Monitor agent | Azure portal → Monitor → Agents | Reporting |
| Defender for Cloud | Azure portal → Defender for Cloud | VM appears, no critical alerts |
| Update Manager | Azure portal → Update Manager | VM inventoried |
| DNS (if re-IPed) | nslookup <hostname> from multiple clients | Resolves to new IP |
| SPN registration | setspn -L <computer-account> | SPNs intact for SQL/IIS services |
| Kerberos authentication | Test app login with domain account | Successful |
| Application sign-off | App owner performs full functional test | Pass |
IP and DNS Verification
=== "Preserved IPs (same VLAN)"
- `ipconfig /all` (Windows) or `ip addr` (Linux) — verify IP matches expected
- `nslookup <hostname>` — verify forward DNS resolves to correct IP
- `nslookup <ip>` — verify reverse DNS (PTR) resolves to correct hostname
- From other servers: ping by hostname to verify DNS propagation
=== "Re-IPed (new subnet via Veeam re-IP rules)"
- Verify new IP assigned correctly after Veeam failover
- Update DNS A records: `Set-DnsServerResourceRecord` or via DNS Manager
- Update PTR records (reverse zone)
- Flush DNS caches on key servers: `ipconfig /flushdns` (Windows), `systemd-resolve --flush-caches` (Linux)
- Verify SPN registrations if SQL Server, IIS with Windows Auth, or other Kerberos services are present
Rollback Decision Points
| Stage | Rollback Action |
|---|---|
| After Veeam failover — validation fails | Undo Failover in Veeam → source AHV VMs power back on |
| After Commit Failover — Azure Migrate test fails | Power off Azure Local test VMs, restore source AHV VMs from Nutanix snapshots |
| After Azure Migrate cutover — issues found | Open source AHV VMs (still powered off, not deleted) and power them back on |
CAUTION
Never delete source VMs until holding period expires Maintain source Nutanix VMs in a powered-off state for a defined holding period (typically 2–4 weeks per batch) after Azure Local validation is complete. Only then decommission them permanently.
Pre-Migration Checklist
| Item | Status | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veeam B&R v12+ installed | ☐ | Infra | Confirm version |
| Veeam licensed (VUL count confirmed) | ☐ | Infra | Minimum 10 VUL for rolling batches |
| Nutanix AHV/ESXi added to Veeam | ☐ | Infra | AHV proxy deployed and healthy |
| Hyper-V staging host(s) added to Veeam | ☐ | Infra | Transport service installed |
| Hyper-V storage sized and available | ☐ | Infra | ≥ used disk of largest batch |
| Azure Migrate project created | ☐ | Cloud | Subscription + RG selected |
| Azure Migrate appliance deployed | ☐ | Cloud | Registered, discovery complete |
| Azure Local cluster healthy | ☐ | Infra | Arc-registered, CSV capacity available |
| Network ports verified open | ☐ | Networking | All ports in prerequisites table |
| VM inventory sorted into batches | ☐ | Migration Lead | Batch spreadsheet complete |
| IP/VLAN mapping spreadsheet complete | ☐ | Networking | Source → target for all VMs |
| DNS TTLs lowered (if re-IPing) | ☐ | Networking | Set to 300 seconds, 48 hours before Batch 1 |
| Application baseline documented per VM | ☐ | App Owners | IPs, services, smoke test procedure |
| Rollback procedure documented and tested | ☐ | All | Undo Failover confirmed working |
| Stakeholder maintenance windows approved | ☐ | PM | Per-batch windows scheduled |
| Source VM holding period policy agreed | ☐ | All | Minimum 2 weeks recommended |