Installation and Configuration of the AWS Discovery Agent Tool for migration of VMs to AWS Cloud

We can all agree that migrating Virtual Machines to the AWS Cloud is a strenuous process but with the help of AWS Tools, it can make the migration process much easier. But even though after all the tools that are offered by AWS services you should take utmost care because even one mistake can cost you a lot of time and efforts. In this article, you will come to know the characteristics of the migration tools that can help in easy migration of the Virtual Machine to the AWS Cloud. 

Let’s get started..... Installation and Configuration

First, click on the AWS Migration Hub option in the migration section of the AWS Services as shown on the image down below. The Migration Hub Interface will open and then click on Get Started with Discovery Button. 

By doing so you will open an AWS Tools button where there are two different discovery tools. The first one is an AWS Discovery Connector and the second one is AWS Discovery Agent. The AWS Discovery connector is designed to work with the VMware vCenter so the Virtual Machine that you want to migrate exist in the VMware environment and if you are using the vCenter Server to manage the VMware host then AWS Discovery Connector is the best choice. 

AWS Discovery Agent is AWS software that allows you to install the on-premises servers and the Virtual Machines for migration and discovery. It keeps track of the system performance, configuration, detail of the network connections and the running processes. The AWS Discovery Agent is available in Linux and Windows version.

AWS Discovery Agent is used when the Virtual Machine is not running on VMware or runs in the smaller environment that does not utilize the vCenter Server. If you want to migrate the workloads to the AWS Cloud from the physical servers then you can use the Discovery Agent. To get started you need to install the x86 version of the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Redistributable before installing the agent. When you are installing the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Redistributable you will notice that it references the 2015 version but the newer versions also work. If you are facing any new challenges with the installation then see whether the system is up to date. 

After installing the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ Redistributable into the system you will then need to install the AWS Discovery Agent. It will be little difficult to install the Agent because of the agent consists of a standard setup wizard. If you just simply run the setup wizard the AWS Discovery Agent will get installed but it won’t function with the AWS account. So for this, you have to install the Discovery Agent from the Command line and specify the secret key and key ID. 

Now the command syntax will be mentioned like this:

msiexec.exe /i AWSDiscoveryAgentInstaller.msi REGION="us-west-2" KEY_ID="<aws key id>" KEY_SECRET="<aws key secret>" /q

Once you have downloaded the agent and copied to the AWS Discovery Agent you can then run the command syntax. To check the agent is been installed or no you have to go to the control panels and go to programs and check if the AWS Discovery Agent is been installed or no. It will take some time for the AWS Discovery Agent to upload data to the AWS Console so in that meantime you can open the Service Control Manager and enter Services.msc and check if the AWS Discovery Updater and AWS Discovery Agent are installed and running in the background. Once this process is been completed you can then start working on the migration. 

About Cloud.in:

Cloud.in is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner that delivers AWS managed services that cater every business need and aims in simplifying the AWS Cloud Journey. Our Team is the driving force behind Cloud.in with the experience, knowledge, and the skills that they behold in making cloud computing and AWS Cloud a pleasant experience.