How to perform Hyper-V VM export and import (V2V)

This article explains how to export Hyper-V (Gen2) Guest OS and import it to the another hyper-V platform.

Caution: During conversion process, it takes at least 30 min or longer (depending on the target disk size and disk performance) and Server uses more resources (cpu, disk I/O and ram) than usual. we recommend to perform export/import during off peak hours.

1. How to export Hyper-V guest OS

1. Launch Hyper-V manager.

2. Select Guest OS to export and go to Action > Export.

3. Select location to export.

Caution: Make sure you have an enough disk space available. Otherwise, your export task will fail.

4. After export task is initiated, you can observe work progress (see below).

5. When completed, go to destination folder and you should see three folders (snapshots, Virtual Hard Disks and Virtual Machines).

END

2. How to import Hyper-V guest OS

1. Launch Hyper-V Manager (Gen2)

2. Go to Action > Import Virtual Machine.

3. Click Next.

4. Select the data to import (specify folder).

5. Hyper-V will automatically detect contents within the specified folder and displays target guest OS to import.

6. Choose the type of import to perform.

Hyper-V offers three import types: Reference Microsoft knowledge base

Register in-place – This type assumes export files are in the location where you'll store and run the virtual machine. The imported virtual machine has the same ID as it did at the time of export. Because of this, if the virtual machine is already registered with Hyper-V, it needs to be deleted before the import works. When the import has completed, the export files become the running state files and can't be removed.
Restore the virtual machine – Restore the virtual machine to a location you choose, or use the default to Hyper-V. This import type creates a copy of the exported files and moves them to the selected location. When imported, the virtual machine has the same ID as it did at the time of export. Because of this, if the virtual machine is already running in Hyper-V, it needs to be deleted before the import can be completed. When the import has completed, the exported files remain intact and can be removed or imported again.
Copy the virtual machine – This is similar to the Restore type in that you select a location for the files. The difference is that the imported virtual machine has a new unique ID, which means you can import the virtual machine to the same host multiple times.