Step-by-Step Guide on Installing Microsoft Migration Accelerator

Microsoft Migration Accelerator (MA) provides the ability to migrate workloads running in your enterprise to Azure. MA is currently available as limited preview.  In this article, I’ll step through the process of installing and configuring Microsoft Migration Accelerator.

Step 1) Understand the product

Before you start using MA, you must understand different components of the product and its functionality. In addition, learn about the Azure capabilities and limitations. 

• Read Introduction to MA to get an overview about the product.
• Read Prerequisite and Support Matrix will help you understand the capabilities and limitations. 

For more information, see Virtual Machine and Cloud Service Sizes for Azure and Azure Subscription and Service Limits, Quotas, and Constraints.

Step 2) Understand the prerequisites

• Azure Account subscription is required to migrate your source Enterprise servers to Azure. If you do not have Azure Account, get a free trial account.

• Sign Up for MA preview.

• After approval, you will receive an email (as shown below) with - login URL, User ID and Password for MA portal.

  

2.1 Capacity Plan

You need to plan for how to deploy the following components:

• • CS specification –  A3 size VM in Azure to install Configuration Server (CS)
  • MT specification – A4 size VM in Azure to install Master Target (MT).  You also need a dedicated data disk (of 1023 GB) for managing Retention Points.
  • Cores per subscription – Calculate the CPU core requirements for your migration project and compare it with the quota set by Azure.  For more information on how to request quota increase read Understanding Azure Limits and Increases.   For example , if you want to migrate 3 source VMs having 8GB RAM with dual core, then best match on Azure VM for all three VMs is A3 size (each with 4 cores). You will end up using 12 cores (3VMs x 4 cores), plus 4 (for A3 size CS) plus 8 (for A4 size MT) - i.e. you will need 24 cores to support above scenario.
  • Process Server specification – You need a dedicated virtual or physical instance for the Process Server (PS in Source Enterprise) to facilitate communication between the Mobility Service (agents) on source machines and the Master Target in Azure.   The specifications for this server depends on data change rate of source servers, use the below table as a reference: 

Data Change Rate	CPU	Memory	Boot Volume Capacity	Cache Directory Disk Size Including Cache Directory Based on Outage	Minimum Total Disk Throughput Required	NIC Details
Less than or equal to 300 GB per day	1 Quad core (2.2GHz, 4.0MB Cache or Higher)	8 GB Physical RAM	min 40 GB	Minimum of 400 GB (6 Hours Outage)	15 - 20 MBps	2 x 1 GigE NIC cards recommended with Static IP addressing scheme
Less than or equal to 700GB per day	2 Quad core (2.66GHz, 4.0MB Cache or Higher)	16 GB Physical RAM	min 40 GB	Minimum of 790 GB (6 Hours Outage)	34.9 - 46.6 MBps	2 x 1 GigE NIC cards recommended with Static IP addressing scheme
Less than or equal to 1 TB	2 Quad core (2.66GHz, 4.0MB Cache or Higher)	32 GB Physical RAM	min 40 GB	Minimum of 790 GB (6 Hours Outage)	51.2 - 68.27 MBps	2 x 1 GigE NIC cards recommended with Static IP addressing scheme

*for data change rate greater than 1TB, you have to scale out PS servers.

2.2 Network Plan

During migration, you have to set up network mapping between source Enterprise server and Azure. You can do this in two ways:

1. Using NAT IP.  To do this, A) Register NAT IP address of the PS to CS server in Azure. The Master Target, where initial VHDs are created for migrated VMs is registered to this CS server, B) Create vNet and subnet and use them during migration. You can plan to use the same vNet if you want to migrate particular site to same network. 
2. Using Site to Site VPN.  If you are using site-to-site VPN connectivity for secured data communication then NAT IP address is not required for PS server. For more information, see Connect an On-premises Network to Azure via Site to Site VPN and Extend Active Directory onto an IaaS VM DC in Azure ,  Microsoft Virtual Academy Course on Azure Site to Site VPN.

Step 3) Install Configuration Server (CS) in Azure

Follow the step-by-step instructions listed in HELP under 'Install and Configuration' > 'Create and Install Components in Azure' section.

In section ‘Register CS IP to MA’ you will be prompted for RX IP address and HTTPs port number. You can ping the MA portal URL (that was emailed to you) from cmd (command window) to the get the IP address for ex:

ping <url that sent to you>.cloudapp.net

Use 443 for the default HTTPS port address.

Note: Ensure the VM you choose to provision CS is at least of A3 size.

Step 4) Install Master Target (MT) in Azure

Follow the step-by-step instructions listed in HELP under 'Install and Configuration' > 'Install Master Target on Windows' section

Note: ensure the VM you chose to provision for MT is at least of A4 size.  This will ensure, MT can migrate source servers with data disks up to 15 (one is reserved by MT for storing Retention Points).

Step 5) Install Process Server (PS) in your Enterprise

Follow the step-by-step instructions listed in HELP under 'Install and Configuration' > 'Install Components in Source Enterprise' > ‘Install Process Server in Source Enterprise’ section.

If you are not using Site-to-Site VPN, then Configure your PS for NAT IP.  Follow the step-by-step instructions listed in HELP in under 'Install and Configuration' > 'Install Components in Source Enterprise' > ‘Configure NAT IP Address’ section.  

Ensure the out bound ports on the PS are configured for the MT to pull replication data.  Refer to  HELP under ‘Outbound Port Configuration’ to know which port to open.

To discover VMware based source Enterprise servers, follow the install instructions for vCLI on Process Server.

Step 6) Register your MA Account to Azure Account

Follow the step-by-step instructions listed in HELP in under 'Install and Configuration' > ‘Register your MA Account to Azure Account’ section.

 

That’s it!

Now that the product is installed and configured you can start Discovering, Protecting and Migrating workloads to Azure!   If you have any questions or comments post it to our forum.

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  Great article
• Anonymous
  January 01, 2003
  I am facing connecting PS to CX. Please advice.
  
  
• Anonymous
  November 20, 2014
  I have followed the install instructions as per https://ma-wus-01.cloudapp.net/help but when I go to deploy the Mobility Service to a source server in order to migrate it, within the MA Console the Push Server is empty. How do I add in the Push server?
• Anonymous
  January 19, 2015
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  February 08, 2015
  Great info !! got information how process flow
• Anonymous
  July 23, 2015
  Can the above suggestion will be implemented on Azure Free account? Please reply.