Running DMC
Pre-Requisites
Ensure you have downloaded the DMC package from your Dr Migrate instance. Windows Jumpbox
- DMC must be run from on a Windows-based VM with:
- Network access to vCenter and associated ESXi hosts.
- Sufficient storage (Minimum 20GB free space for collected data)
- For more details see the System and Access Requirements section
Running DMC
Launch DMC
Launch DMC.exe as Admin, from your installation directory
Enter Access Key
Enter the DMC Access Key supplied during the Downloading DMC step.
If running DMC.exe is blocked
- Right-click the .exe file you downloaded.
- Select Properties from the context menu.
- Under the General tab, look at the bottom for a section called Security.
- If you see a checkbox or button labeled Unblock, tick it or click it.
- Click Apply, then OK.
Execute the Scan
- DMC is specifically designed to allow a customer Administrator to securely utilise their admin credentials for a one-time operation.
- All credentials are stored in memory only and never persist beyond execution.
- Credentials requirements are tailored for one-time use, allowing administrators to securely employ their personal credentials.
Add vCenter Details
Begin by adding one or more vCenters that you wish to target for scanning.
Select Add vCenter button
Enter vCenter Credentials
Enter the vCenter Host and associated Username and Password with sufficient permission to perform the scan.
Initial vCenter connection screen
Click Next after you have added all target vCenters.
Add Guest Credentials
Now add credentials that will be used to connect to both Windows and Linux servers.
Select Add Windows / Add Linux buttons.
Enter the Username and Password with sufficient permission to collect guest metrics.
Important: DMC requires credentials that can access the guest operating system of each server, not just domain-level access. This means:
- For domain-joined servers: Use a domain account with local admin rights on the target servers, or a domain admin account
- For workgroup servers: Use a local administrator account
- For mixed environments: You may need to add multiple credential sets if servers span different domains or workgroups
If you have servers across multiple domains, you’ll need to add separate credential entries for each domain.
Validate Guest Credentials
Click Next. DMC will validate the entered credentials on a subset of your servers. Any invalid credentials are flagged.
Click Continue after you validation completes.
Settings
Customize scan settings as required.
Configure Settings
| Category | Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | Output Path | Directory where scan results and logs are saved. | C:\temp |
| Max Concurrent Servers | The number of servers that will be processed concurrently during discovery. | 20 servers | |
| Scan Thresholds | CPU Usage Threshold (0-90%) | Skips scanning if a server’s CPU usage exceeds this threshold. | 85% |
| Memory Usage Threshold (0-85%) | Skips scanning if a server’s memory usage exceeds this threshold. | 75% | |
| Windows C:\ Drive (1-10 GB) | Skips scanning if available disk space is below this threshold. | 5.0 GB | |
| Linux “/” Partition (1-10 GB) | Skips scanning if available disk space is below this threshold. | 5.0 GB | |
| Linux “/tmp” Partition (0.1-1.0 GB) | Skips scanning if available disk space is below this threshold. | 0.5 GB |
Continue to Scan
Click Next to proceed to the scan phase.
Scan
Review Servers
After configuring your scan settings, you will be presented with a list of all detected servers targeted for scanning. This screen provides flexible options to manage which servers are included in the scan:
Import/Export Servers
- Export CSV: Download a CSV file containing all detected servers. You can edit this file to remove any servers you do not want included in the scan. Once your changes are made, you can re-import the file to update your selections in bulk.
- Import CSV: Upload a CSV file listing the servers you want to include in the scan. Any server in your list that matches a detected server by name will be marked as in-scope for scanning.
This functionality is especially useful for managing large environments, allowing you to quickly select or deselect servers at scale.
Manual Selection
You can also manually select or deselect servers directly in the interface:
- Use the checkboxes next to each server to include or exclude them from the scan.
- Use the search bar to quickly find specific servers by name.
- Filter the list by operating system to focus on particular server types.
Filtering by Operating System
To help you quickly focus on specific server types, use the Filter OS dropdown located next to the search bar. This dropdown allows you to:
- Select or deselect all operating systems at once using the “Select All” option.
- Individually include or exclude servers by their operating system (e.g., CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Microsoft Windows Server 2016/2019/2022, etc.).
- Each OS option is accompanied by an icon for easy identification.
When you adjust these filters, the server list updates in real time to show only the servers matching your selected operating systems. This makes it easy to target or exclude certain platforms from your scan with just a few clicks.
This approach is ideal for conducting test scans or making quick adjustments to your scan scope.
Once you are satisfied with your selections, click Save to confirm your scan scope, then proceed by clicking Run Scan.
Monitor Progress
The scan’s overall progress will be updated in real time, accompanied by a Console Output that displays detailed logging information.
Scan Summary
Once the scan is complete, the final screen presents a summary of the virtual machine (VM) data collection results. This helps users understand what was collected, identify any issues, and determine whether further action is needed.
The summary provides a high-level breakdown of scan success and completeness across all VMs. It is designed to highlight how many VMs were fully scanned, partially scanned, or failed, and to assist with troubleshooting when issues occur.
| Section | Description |
|---|---|
| Scan Overview | Shows total duration, number of VMs scanned, and whether the scan completed successfully. |
| VM Scan Status | Categorizes VMs into Full, Partial, or Failed scans using a color-coded ring chart. |
| Error Summary | Lists the most common reasons for partial or failed scans (e.g. missing credentials, low disk space). A pie chart shows their relative frequency. |
| Scan Results per vCenter | Displays how many VMs were scanned under each connected vCenter, grouped by outcome. |
Notes
- Full scans include both guest-level and hypervisor-level data.
- Partial scans include only hypervisor-level data and typically result from missing credentials or agent/tooling issues.
- No VMs are scanned unless they pass pre-scan checks such as CPU/memory usage and minimum disk space thresholds.
Offline Troubleshooting Report
After the scan completes, clicking Download Offline Report generates a standalone .html file containing a full summary of the scan results. This file runs locally in your browser and is designed to support troubleshooting of scan issues during deployment.
Key capabilities include:
- Filtering VMs by scan status, operating system, vCenter, power state, and error reason.
- Viewing contextual error messages and scan phase icons.
- Exporting filtered results to
.csvfor handoff to application or infrastructure teams.
Finalize Scan
Once the Scan and troubleshooting has completed,
Click the Save and Encrypt Scan Results button It is very important that you record the ZIP Password and decryption key. For security reasons, you cannot recover them once DMC closes and will need to rerun the scan.
ZIP Password – encrypts the scan results ZIP (used for unzipping on any machine)
Decryption Key – used in the next step to decrypt the scan results when uploading to Dr Migrate
