Proxmox VE: Import Wizard for Migrating VMware ESXi VMs

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Broadcom/VMware Pricing & Impact

  • VMware price hikes (sometimes 10x+) and the end of free ESXi/perpetual licenses are driving many to seek alternatives.
  • Some report renewals going from tens to hundreds of times more expensive; several say “there won’t be another year” at new prices.
  • Others argue revenue won’t crater immediately: big enterprises have huge inertia and deep integration with VMware tooling, so Broadcom can “squeeze” for years.

Why Proxmox Is Attractive Now

  • The new ESXi import wizard is seen as a well-timed move to capitalize on VMware unrest.
  • Multiple commenters report smooth migrations and reliable operation, especially for home labs and small deployments.
  • Proxmox is praised for ease of initial setup, a clear web UI, strong ZFS/Ceph support, and built‑in HA/clustering.

Proxmox vs VMware: Features & Ecosystem

  • VMware is credited with long‑term reliability on diverse hardware and leading SDN features (NSX‑T), though APIs are widely described as dated and unpleasant.
  • Some say VMware scales poorly to thousands of VMs and feels like deep technical debt; others maintain it remains simpler and more mature in some areas.
  • Proxmox is positioned as more than “just a UI on KVM/LXC”: it offers a full REST API, storage/network plugins, HA, auth/SSO integration, and its own kernel/qemu builds.
  • Ecosystem lock‑in is a major theme: backups, vSAN, hybrid cloud, ServiceNow, and VMware‑certified outsourcing all slow exits.

Migration & Compatibility Concerns

  • Prior tools (virt‑v2v, cloud migration tools) have existed for years; the Proxmox wizard is part of a broader tooling landscape.
  • Questions arise about handling virtio driver injection for Windows; Linux is usually easier but initramfs/boot‑device issues still matter.
  • OVF/OVA import is supported via CLI; UI integration is planned but not fully there yet.

Storage & Networking Discussion

  • LVM/LVM‑thin confuse some admins coming from VMDK/VHD; explanations frame LVM as Linux’s logical volume system, with raw volumes used for performance.
  • Proxmox’s Ceph integration is highlighted as a vSAN alternative; its SDN stack is “close enough” for most except very large multi‑tenant setups, though multi‑tenant self‑service is noted as missing.

Containers, Performance, and Home‑Lab Experiences

  • Many run Proxmox at home for mixed workloads (databases, dev apps, home automation) and report strong stability over years.
  • Common pattern: unprivileged LXC containers running Docker/Podman inside, mapped carefully with uid/gid ranges; some debugging stories around rootless containers in unprivileged LXC.
  • Resource usage is reported as low with this model, even with dozens of containers.

3D Graphics, macOS, and GPU Passthrough

  • ESXi is still favored by some for macOS guests and relatively good virtual 3D support for build agents and tooling.
  • Proxmox can run macOS VMs (usually via OpenCore) and supports PCI GPU passthrough; users report near‑bare‑metal macOS performance with AMD GPUs.
  • Paravirtual 3D on KVM (virgl/virtio‑gpu) is seen as immature compared to VMware’s 3D; remote viewing solutions around virtio‑gpu remain awkward.

Licensing, Support, and Security Motivations

  • Proxmox subscriptions are optional; many use the free/no‑subscription repos, while paid plans start relatively low for basic enterprise repos and tickets.
  • Some mention recent VMware ransomware incidents as an additional motive to move away, alongside cost and lock‑in, though details are not elaborated.