Using VirtaMove Source Agent

Owned by Thomas Farley (Deactivated)
Last updated: Mar 25, 2022
3 min read

Table of Contents

What Is VirtaMove Source Agent?

The VirtaMove Source Agent is an optional service that can be installed on the source server, which enhances the migration process by encrypting (encryption is AES256-CBC-SHA) and compressing files. As a result, the Source Agent utility provides a faster and more secure way to transfer data from the source server to the destination server.

Running as a service on the source server, the Source Agent listens for broadcasts and requests from the VirtaMove software installed on the destination server.

Using the VirtaMove Source Agent removes the requirement for Administrator credentials (username and password) when connecting to the source server.

In addition to encrypting and compressing files during the migration process, the Source Agent also exports passwords for local user accounts to the destination server container. This includes passwords for domain accounts if those user accounts are associated with migrated services, COM+, or DCOM components. For information about changing the default password to a different password if required to migrate users not associated with services, see Default Password. For information about pre-requisites for COM+ and DCOM components, see Understanding Audit.

If you choose to install VirtaMove Source Agent on a source machine, it is enabled by default. The destination machine will automatically attempt to connect to Source Agent. For information about installing VirtaMove Source Agent on a source machine, see Installing VirtaMove Software | Installing VirtaMove Source Agent and Source Monitor in the Installation Guide.

Pre-Requisites

  • Port 9665 needs to be open in order to establish a connection to the VirtaMove Source Agent on the source machine.

  • Install VirtaMove Source Agent on the source machine.

VirtaMove Source Agent Service

The command line utility virtaagentsvc.exe is used to manage the service VirtaMove.Source.Agent. See virtaagentsvc for more information. The VirtaMove.Source.Agent service startup type is "Automatic" and the service is started automatically on reboot.

Configuring the TCP Port Number for VirtaMove Source Agent

VirtaMove Source Agent communicates through port 9665 by default, on both source and destination servers. If required, you can configure the TCP port number for VirtaMove Source Agent on source and destination servers as follows:

  1. Create a DWORD (32-bit) value "Port" under the registry key "HKLM\SOFTWARE\VirtaMove Settings\Controller\agent".

  2. Set the data of value Port to a new port number.

Configuring the Timeout Value for Receiving Data from VirtaMove Source Agent

The key "RecvTimeout" specifies the maximum amount of time that the destination machine will wait to receive data from the VirtaMove Source Agent. The setting helps V-Migrate determine whether disconnection from VirtaMove Source Agent has occurred, and what action to take if this should be the case. For example, if the disconnection is detected during the "Migrating Application Data" phase of Pre-populate, the Admin Console will attempt to reconnect to the Source Agent until the connection is restored and then resume the migration.

The key is created on the destination machine by the VirtaMove installer in the following folder:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\VirtaMove Settings\Controller\agent

The default value is 300 (in seconds).

You can change the value of the key to suit the latency of the network between the destination and source machines. Setting the value to 0 disables the timeout for receive operations, which means that the receive operation will be blocked forever if the connection with VirtaMove Source Agent is lost.

Source Assistant

The Source Assistant is a service that services requests from virtaasst.exe, which is a utility used to retrieve diagnostic information from the source server. The Source Assistant service listens on port 9666 by default. You can configure the TCP port number to a different value.

To configure the TCP port number for Source Assistant

  1. On both the source and destination machines, open Regedit and then navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VirtaMove Settings\Controller\agent".

  2. Create a DWORD value "AsstPort".

  3. Set the data of value AsstPort to a new port number.