Step-by-Step: Migrating 2026 On-Prem Servers to AWS EC2 Graviton4 Using VMware HCX 4.0

As organizations modernize infrastructure in 2026, migrating legacy on-premises workloads to AWS EC2 Graviton4 instances delivers up to 40% better price-performance over x86-based alternatives. VMware HCX 4.0, the latest long-term support release, adds native support for ARM64 targets like Graviton4, enabling seamless lift-and-shift or re-platformed migrations with zero to minimal downtime. This guide walks through the end-to-end process for migrating 2026 on-prem servers to Graviton4 using HCX 4.0.

Why Migrate to Graviton4 with HCX 4.0?

AWS EC2 Graviton4 processors are built on ARM64 architecture, optimized for cloud-native and enterprise workloads including web servers, containerized apps, and databases. VMware HCX 4.0 simplifies cross-cloud migration with features including:

• Native ARM64 target support for Graviton4 instances
• Zero-downtime vMotion for mission-critical workloads
• Bulk migration for scheduled cutovers
• Network extension to preserve on-prem IP addresses
• Built-in compatibility validation for 2026-era OS builds

Prerequisites

Ensure the following requirements are met before starting migration:

On-Premises Environment

• VMware vSphere 7.0 U2 or later environment
• VMware HCX 4.0 Manager deployed, licensed for Enterprise Plus (required for cross-architecture migration and vMotion)
• Source 2026 on-prem servers running ARM64-compatible OSes: Windows Server 2025+, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS+, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.3+, or Amazon Linux 2026
• VMware Tools 12.0+ installed on all source VMs
• 1Gbps+ dedicated migration bandwidth; Direct Connect or VPN recommended for hybrid connectivity
• Outbound internet access to AWS service endpoints

AWS Environment

• AWS account with EC2, VPC, and IAM administrative permissions
• VPC with public subnet for HCX Connector deployment, private subnets for migrated workloads
• IAM role for HCX with permissions to EC2, S3, CloudWatch, and VPC resources
• Security groups allowing HCX traffic: TCP 443, 9443; UDP 500, 4500; TCP/UDP 4501
• Graviton4-compatible AMIs (or use HCX 4.0’s OS conversion tool for x86-to-ARM migration if needed)

Step 1: Prepare AWS Environment

Start by configuring the target AWS environment:

1. Deploy the VMware HCX 4.0 Connector from the AWS Marketplace as an EC2 instance in your public subnet. Select a Graviton4-based instance type (e.g., m8g.large) for the connector to align with target workload architecture.
2. Attach the pre-configured IAM role to the HCX Connector EC2 instance.
3. Assign the security group with HCX-required ports to the connector instance.
4. Log into the HCX Connector web interface, activate it with your VMware HCX 4.0 license key, and complete initial setup.

Step 2: Pair On-Prem HCX Manager with AWS HCX Connector

Establish a trusted connection between your on-prem and AWS HCX deployments:

1. Log into your on-prem VMware HCX Manager dashboard.
2. Navigate to Infrastructure > Site Pairing.
3. Enter the public URL of your AWS HCX Connector, then authenticate using the connector’s admin credentials.
4. Validate the site pairing: check that both sites show "Connected" status and all health checks pass.

Step 3: Configure Network Extensions (Optional)

For lift-and-shift migrations where VMs must retain on-prem IP addresses, use HCX Network Extension:

1. Navigate to Infrastructure > Network Extension in HCX Manager.
2. Select the on-prem VLANs/VXLANs to stretch to your AWS VPC.
3. Configure an L2VPN tunnel between on-prem and AWS edge devices.
4. Validate extended network connectivity by pinging an on-prem VM from the AWS VPC and vice versa.

Step 4: Create Migration Groups

Organize source VMs into logical groups to simplify migration:

1. Go to Migration > Migration Groups in HCX Manager.
2. Add your 2026 on-prem servers to a new group, tag them by workload type (e.g., "Web", "Database").
3. Set migration order and schedule (if using bulk migration).
4. Configure target settings for each VM: select Graviton4 instance type (e.g., m8g.xlarge for general purpose, r8g.2xlarge for memory-optimized), storage type (gp3 for general use, io2 for high IOPS), and target security groups.

Step 5: Run Pre-Migration Validation

Use HCX’s built-in tools to avoid cutover failures:

1. Select your migration group, then click Validate.
2. Review compatibility results: HCX will flag issues like unsupported OS versions, missing VMware Tools, or insufficient target capacity.
3. Fix all flagged errors: update VMware Tools, convert VM disks to supported formats, or resize target instance types as needed.
4. Re-run validation until all checks pass.

Step 6: Execute Migration

Choose the migration type that fits your workload requirements:

• Bulk Migration: For non-critical workloads with scheduled downtime. Select a cutover window, then start the migration. HCX will copy VM data to AWS, then shut down the source VM, sync final changes, and power on the target Graviton4 instance.
• HCX vMotion: For zero-downtime migration of mission-critical workloads (requires HCX Enterprise Plus). The VM runs on both on-prem and AWS simultaneously during sync, then cuts over with no perceptible downtime.

Monitor migration progress via the HCX dashboard. Check AWS CloudWatch logs for target instance errors if a migration fails.

Step 7: Post-Migration Validation

Verify migrated workloads before decommissioning on-prem resources:

1. Check that the target Graviton4 instance is running in the AWS EC2 console.
2. Log into the VM OS, verify network connectivity, and test application functionality.
3. Compare performance metrics (CPU, memory, disk IOPS) to on-prem baselines to confirm Graviton4 performance gains.
4. Update DNS records to point to the new AWS instance IP addresses (if not using network extension).

Step 8: Clean Up

Finalize the migration:

1. Decommission source on-prem VMs once validation is complete.
2. Remove the HCX site pairing and delete unused HCX components if no further migrations are planned.
3. Release on-prem compute, storage, and network resources.
4. Document the migration process and archive validation reports for compliance.

Troubleshooting Tips

• Check HCX logs at /var/log/hcx/ on both on-prem Manager and AWS Connector for error details.
• Validate network latency between on-prem and AWS: HCX requires <150ms latency for vMotion, <300ms for bulk migration.
• For OS compatibility issues, use HCX 4.0’s built-in OS conversion tool to migrate x86 VMs to ARM64-compatible builds for Graviton4.

By following this step-by-step process, you can migrate 2026 on-prem servers to AWS EC2 Graviton4 efficiently using VMware HCX 4.0, unlocking cost savings and performance improvements for your cloud workloads.