Press Release
Platform9 Hosts Live VMware Migration Webinar, Demonstrates Risk-Free VM Migration from vCenter to Private Cloud Director
Platform9 recently hosted a live webinar, “Escaping VMware: Risk-Free Migrations with vJailbreak,” demonstrating a real-time virtual machine migration from VMware vCenter to Private Cloud Director using vJailbreak, Platform9’s free, open-source migration tool. The session was led by Damian Karlson, Head of Technical Product Marketing, and Dave Gilinsky, Head of Professional Services and Cloud Support, and featured a live migration of a multi-tier application with audience Q&A throughout.
The webinar addressed what has become the central question for VMware teams in 2026: not whether to explore alternatives, but how to execute a migration safely and with minimal disruption to production environments.
A Five-Phase Approach to VMware Exit
A key theme of the session was Platform9’s five-phase sequencing model for a successful VMware exit: Assessment, Parity & Compatibility Mapping, Provisioning, Migration, and Maintenance. The model is designed to help teams avoid the most common migration failure mode — jumping straight into VM migration without fully mapping application dependencies, backup and DR integrations, storage relationships, and security tooling.
“The migration itself is usually the straightforward part,” said Karlson. “Where projects stall is in the planning — understanding multi-tier application dependencies, backup hooks, storage relationships, and security tooling before you touch a single VM.”
The five-phase approach is detailed in Platform9’s companion solution brief, “What to Expect When You’re Exiting,” which provides a step-by-step guide to scoping and executing a VMware exit, including risks at each phase and recommended KPIs to define before starting.
Live Demo: Non-Destructive Migration with vJailbreak
During the session, Platform9 demonstrated vJailbreak’s non-destructive migration process — the capability that resonated most strongly with the audience. The source VM remains untouched throughout the migration: vJailbreak takes a snapshot, copies the data, converts the disk format, and handles driver injection. If the destination VM doesn’t behave as expected, the source VM can be powered back on immediately with zero data loss.
Gilinsky showed the source VM sitting powered off in vCenter after migration completed, with the original VMDK fully intact — demonstrating the kind of reversibility that transforms a high-stakes cutover into a controlled, low-risk event.
The session also highlighted vJailbreak’s warm migration capability with change block tracking (CBT), which allows data copying to begin in the background while the source VM is still running. When it’s time to cut over, only the final incremental changes need to sync, reducing the actual switchover to a brief restart rather than a multi-hour data transfer. For organizations running applications across time zones and shifts, this scheduling flexibility can compress migration timelines from months to weeks.
No New Hardware Required
Another point that resonated with attendees was the confirmation that Private Cloud Director runs on existing x86 servers and SAN/NAS storage — no hyperconverged infrastructure purchase required. vJailbreak can also perform in-place host conversions, taking an ESXi host and converting it directly to a Private Cloud Director hypervisor, then migrating the VMs that previously ran on that host. This eliminates one of the biggest logistical bottlenecks in large migration projects: waiting for new hardware to arrive before work can begin.
Strong Practitioner Engagement and Clear Market Signal
Audience engagement during and after the session reflected a market that has moved decisively past the “should we leave VMware?” stage. Attendee questions focused on specific migration mechanics: preserving network identity (IP and MAC addresses), handling complex multi-tier applications, minimizing downtime, ensuring data integrity, and having a reliable rollback path. These are planning questions, not exploratory ones — a signal that VMware teams are actively scoping exit projects and looking for proven, low-risk approaches.
Resources
For teams evaluating a VMware exit or preparing to scope a migration project, Platform9 offers several resources referenced during the webinar:
- Watch the full webinar replay — Includes the complete live migration demo, five-phase migration model walkthrough, and audience Q&A.
- Read the top 5 takeaways — Damian Karlson’s breakdown of the key themes from the webinar and post-event feedback.
- Download “What to Expect When You’re Exiting” — Platform9’s solution brief covering the five-phase migration model, phase-by-phase risks, and KPIs to define before starting.
- Try vJailbreak — Free, open-source VMware migration tool. Available now.
- Register for an upcoming Hands-On Lab — Live, instructor-led sessions in NAM and EMEA time zones where teams can experience Private Cloud Director firsthand.
For organizations that want a guided walkthrough tailored to their environment, contact Platform9 to schedule a session.