Introduction
Hello to all IT admins and anyone curious about useful tech tools!
Today’s topic is short but useful. Many of you already know the product, some may have only heard of it, and for others, this might be your first time learning about it. As you’ve probably guessed, we’re talking about StarWind V2V Converter.
We’ve already covered this tool in past articles, mostly focusing on its GUI. This time, we’ll walk through how to use StarWind V2V Converter via the command-line interface (CLI).
General V2V Parameters
Let’s start with the basic CLI command structure. A typical command looks like this:
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert parameter1=value1 parameter2=value2 …
The main command is “convert”, followed by a set of key-value parameters. Here’s a breakdown of what those parameters mean:
Source Parameters
- in_host_type=<esx/win/local/proxmox> — Type of the source host.
- in_host_address=<IP/localhost> — IP address or hostname of the source.
- in_host_username=<username> — Username for accessing the source host.
- in_host_password=<password> — Password for the above username.
- in_vm_name=<vm name> — Name of the source VM.
Target Parameters
- out_host_type=<esx/win/local/proxmox> — Type of the destination host.
- out_host_address=<IP/localhost> — IP address or hostname of the target.
- out_host_username=<username> — Username for accessing the target host.
- out_host_password=<password> — Password for the above username.
- out_vm_name=<vm name> — Name of the resulting VM.
- out_vm_path=<path> — Storage path on the target:
- For Hyper-V: E:\VMs
- For ESXi: [datastore_name]
- For Proxmox: not required (API parameters are used instead)
OS-Specific Parameters
If you’re converting to Hyper-V or ESXi, add:
- 1. out_vm_os=<Windows/Linux> — Target VM’s operating system.
- Default is Linux if not specified.
Proxmox-Specific Parameters
When converting to Proxmox, you’ll also need:
- out_proxmox_storage=<storage name> — Target storage location name in Proxmox.
- out_proxmox_node=<node name> — Node name in your Proxmox cluster.
- out_proxmox_vmid=<unique ID> — New VM’s ID. Make sure it’s not already used.
- out_file_type=<ft_raw_kvm/ft_qcow2_v3/ft_qcow2> — Disk format for output.
CLI Command Examples
Before running any command, make sure you’re in the directory where StarWind V2V Converter is installed:
cd "C:\Program Files\StarWind Software\StarWind V2V Converter"
Here are a few sample commands:
Hyper-V to ESXi
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=win in_host_address="192.169.57.108" in_host_username="admin" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="V2V-ESXi-Windows-test" out_host_type=esx out_host_address="192.169.57.198" out_host_username="root" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="V2V-ESXi-Windows-testCLI" out_vm_path="[ds1]" out_vm_os="Windows"
Hyper-V to Hyper-V
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=win in_host_address="192.168.54.184" in_host_username="admin" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="Windows10Machine" out_host_type=win out_host_address="192.168.54.167" out_host_username="admin" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="Windows10Machine" out_vm_path="E:\VMs" out_vm_os="Windows"
Hyper-V to Proxmox
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=win in_host_address="172.68.43.84" in_host_username="admin" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="CentOS" out_host_type=proxmox out_host_address="172.68.43.127" out_host_username="root" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="CentOSCLI" out_proxmox_storage="vms" out_proxmox_node="sw-v2w-prox" out_proxmox_vmid="1003" out_file_type="ft_raw_kvm"
ESXi to Hyper-V
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=esx in_host_address="172.28.4.1" in_host_username="root" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="V2V-ESXi-Ubuntu-2204-BIOS" out_host_type=win out_host_address="192.168.53.184" out_host_username="admin" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="V2V-ESXi-Ubuntu-2204-BIOS-CLI" out_vm_path="E:\VMs" out_vm_os="Windows"
ESXi to ESXi
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=esx in_host_address="192.168.53.198" in_host_username="root" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="CentOS" out_host_type=esx out_host_address="192.168.53.198" out_host_username="root" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="CentOS2" out_vm_path="[ds1]" out_vm_os="Linux"
ESXi to Proxmox
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=esx in_host_address="192.168.53.198" in_host_username="root" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="CentOS" out_host_type=proxmox out_host_address="192.168.52.127" out_host_username="root" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="CentOSProxCLI" out_proxmox_storage="vms" out_proxmox_node="v2w-prox" out_proxmox_vmid="1003"
Proxmox to Hyper-V
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=proxmox in_host_address="192.168.52.127" in_host_username="root" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="5017(CentOS)" out_host_type=win out_host_address="192.168.53.184" out_host_username="admin" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="CentOSProxCLI" out_vm_path="E:\VMs"
Proxmox to ESXi
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=proxmox in_host_address="192.168.52.127" in_host_username="root" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="5017(CentOS)" out_host_type=esx out_host_address="192.168.53.198" out_host_username="root" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="CentOSProxCLI" out_vm_path="[ds1]"
Proxmox to Proxmox
V2V_ConverterConsole.exe convert in_host_type=proxmox in_host_address="192.168.52.127" in_host_username="root" in_host_password="pass" in_vm_name="5017(CentOS)" out_host_type=proxmox out_host_address="192.168.52.127" out_host_username="root" out_host_password="pass" out_vm_name="CentOSProxCLI" out_proxmox_storage="vms" out_proxmox_node="sw-v2w-prox" out_proxmox_vmid="1002"
Conclusion
That’s it, folks! This guide should give you a solid start with StarWind V2V Converter using CLI. If you’re more into automation or scripting, CLI is a much more convenient way to get things done.
For more details about specific parameters, check the official documentation or explore more articles on our blog.
