VM Import and Export: How QuickInfra Moves Workloads to the Cloud Without Downtime

Migrating an on-premises virtual machine to AWS is one of the most common — and most dreaded — infrastructure tasks. QuickInfra's VM Import and Export feature wraps this entire process in a guided workflow with validation at each stage.

VM Import: On-Premises to AWS

QuickInfra's VM Import workflow supports VMware VMDK, Microsoft VHD/VHDX, and raw disk images. The process starts with an assessment: you provide details about the source VM — OS type, disk size, installed applications, network dependencies — and QuickInfra generates a migration plan with estimated timelines, network configuration requirements, and a compatibility check for your target instance type.

The Import Process

Once you approve the migration plan, QuickInfra guides you through the upload step — the disk image is transferred to an S3 staging bucket in your AWS account. From there, the platform calls the AWS VM Import service to convert the image to an AMI, monitors the conversion job, and registers the resulting image in the QuickInfra VM Images registry.

The imported AMI is then available to launch as a standard EC2 instance through an Infrastructure Project. QuickInfra provisions the instance with the same networking, security groups, and IAM configuration that would apply to any new instance.

Validation and Testing

Before cutting over production traffic, QuickInfra recommends a validation phase: launch the imported instance in a test subnet, run the application, verify connectivity to dependent services, and run your standard smoke tests. This phase can run in parallel with your production on-premises workload — no downtime required until you're confident the migrated instance is working correctly.

Cutover

When validation passes, the cutover involves updating DNS or load balancer configuration to point traffic at the new AWS instance. QuickInfra can execute this as a Deployment Project action, giving you the same blue-green or rolling cutover pattern you'd use for any other deployment.

VM Export

VM Export runs the reverse: taking a running EC2 instance and exporting it as a VMDK or VHD image. This is useful for creating on-premises backups of cloud workloads, migrating between cloud providers, or archiving instances before decommissioning.

Licensing Considerations

Windows Server and SQL Server workloads may have licensing implications when imported to AWS. QuickInfra flags Windows-based source VMs during the assessment phase and provides guidance on Bring Your Own License (BYOL) vs AWS-provided licensing.