Azure Migrate

Deploy and Configure Azure Migrate¶

Azure Migrate is a mandatory prerequisite for Dr Migrate. Successful assessments have Azure Migrate installed, configured and collecting data prior to Dr Migrate deployment.

Dr Migrate leverages the data collection capability of Azure Migrate. Ensure that you have:

1. Deployed an Azure Migrate Project.
2. Deployed an Azure Migrate Appliance.
3. Connected the Azure Migrate Project and Appliance.
4. Provided all necessary permissions to collect data.

Microsoft has robust and detailed guides on how to deploy and configure Azure Migrate here ↗, or refer to the deployment checklists above.

Create Azure Migrate Project and Connect Appliances¶

Prerequisites for Azure Migrate Project: - An active Azure subscription - Appropriate permissions to create resources in your Azure subscription - A resource group where the Azure Migrate project will be deployed

Create New Azure Migrate Project (If Required)¶

If you don't already have an Azure Migrate project, follow these steps to create one:

Click here for detailed instructions

Sign in to Azure Portal¶

• Navigate to Azure Portal ↗
• Sign in with your Azure account

Search for Azure Migrate¶

• In the search bar, type "Azure Migrate"
• Select Azure Migrate from the search results

Create New Project¶

• Click Create or Add to start creating a new Azure Migrate project
• Select your Subscription and Resource Group
• Choose a Project name (e.g., "MyMigrationProject")
• Select your Geography (the region where your project metadata will be stored)

Configure Project Settings¶

Starting November 2025, only users assigned the Azure Migrate Owner role (or a higher privileged role) can create Azure Migrate projects.

• Under Project Details, specify the Project name and Geography (the region where project metadata will be stored)
• Use the Advanced section during creation if you need to set up Private Endpoint connectivity; otherwise the project defaults to Public Endpoint, which is recommended for the smoothest experience
• Click Create to deploy the project

If Private Endpoint must be used, additional configuration steps are required, see Private Endpoints ↗ for more information.

Verify Project Creation¶

• Once deployed, navigate to your Azure Migrate project
• Note down the Project name and Resource Group for use with Dr Migrate

Verify Existing Azure Migrate Project (If Already Deployed)¶

If you already have Azure Migrate deployed, verify the following:

Verify Project Location¶

• Navigate to your existing Azure Migrate project in the Azure Portal
• Note the Subscription and Resource Group where it's deployed
• Ensure your Service Principal has access to the subscription/resource group where the Azure Migrate project is located

Verify Endpoint Settings¶

• Navigate to your Azure Migrate project
• Go to Properties in the left-hand menu
• Verify Connectivity method is set to Public endpoint

Connect Azure Migrate Appliances¶

After creating or verifying your Azure Migrate project, you must deploy and connect at least one Azure Migrate appliance to collect data from your infrastructure:

1. Deploy the appropriate appliance for your environment: - VMware: Deploy the VMware appliance - Hyper-V: Deploy the Hyper-V appliance
   - Physical servers: Deploy the physical server appliance

2. Configure the appliance with your Azure Migrate project details

3. Start discovery to collect data from your infrastructure

4. Verify data collection is working properly

Verify Appliance Status and Data Collection¶

• Check that at least one Azure Migrate appliance is connected to your project
• Verify the appliance is actively collecting data
• Ensure the appliance has discovered the infrastructure you want to assess
• Navigate to Servers, databases and web apps in your Azure Migrate project
• Confirm that servers are being discovered and data is being collected
• Ensure the data is recent and up-to-date

Azure Migrate Deployment Guides according to target infrastructure:

For detailed step-by-step instructions on deploying and configuring Azure Migrate appliances, see the deployment guides above or refer to the Microsoft Learn documentation ↗.

Create Service Principal¶

Dr Migrate requires a Service Principal be created to allow the Dr Migrate server to communicate with Azure Migrate.

When creating the SPN please observe the following:

• SPN Name - It is recommended to name the App Registration "drmigrate-spn". All other settings can be left as default
• Client Secret Creation - Dr Migrate requires a client secret to be created, it is recommended to set the expiry to 12 months.

For Microsoft documentation on creating a Service Principal in Entra ID, see here ↗

Configure SPN Access¶

Assign your Service Principal, the following permissions

Enable Cost Management Policy for EA Pricing¶

Audit Azure Policy¶

When Dr Migrate installs, it deploys Azure resources to a managed Resource Group, these resources may be subject to Azure policy. Dr Migrate allows certain policy enforcement during its installation, such as the inheritance of tags. However, it is possible Azure Policy may attempt to enforce an action on Dr Migrate resources during deployment that may be blocked. When this scenario occurs the application deployment will fail.

To mitigate this risk it's recommended that some policies be temporarily exempted at the Subscription level, prior to and for the duration of the Dr Migrate installation.

Different Azure policies have different effects:

Azure Policy Effects ↗

Temporarily exempt policies that are applied to the subscription that have the following effects.

• Append
• DeployIfNotExists
• Deny
• Modify

To learn how to exempt Azure Policy from resources, please see here ↗