How to Migrate a Hyper-V VM to Proxmox (Step-by-Step Guide)

If you’re moving your home lab or production workloads from Hyper-V to Proxmox, this guide walks you through the entire migration process, including installing drivers, exporting, converting, and importing your virtual machine.

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Step 1 — Prepare the VM

1. Inside your Hyper-V VM, install the latest stable VirtIO drivers: Download VirtIO ISO

2. Mount the ISO, install all drivers, then shut down the VM.

3. Export the VM from Hyper-V:

   • Open Hyper-V Manager → right-click the VM → Export
   • Choose a destination folder.

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Step 2 — Convert the Disk

Use qemu-img to convert your .vhdx disk to .qcow2.

Windows download:

• https://cloudbase.it/qemu-img-windows/
• Direct ZIP: qemu-img-win-x64-2_3_0.zip

Run from Command Prompt:

qemu-img.exe convert -f vhdx -O qcow2 "C:\path\to\VM.vhdx" "C:\path\to\VM-converted.qcow2"

Linux example:

qemu-img convert -f vhdx -O qcow2 -o preallocation=off ./Win10test.vhdx /var/lib/vz/images/101/Win10-converted.qcow2

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Step 3 — Share the Converted Disk

1. On the Hyper-V host, share the folder containing the converted file.
2. In Proxmox, go to:
   • Datacenter → Storage → Add → SMB/CIFS
   • Enter your Hyper-V server IP, credentials, and share name.
   • Under Content, select Import.

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Step 4 — Create and Import the VM in Proxmox

1. Create a new VM → choose “Do not use any media”.
2. System:
   • Machine: q35
   • BIOS: OVMF (UEFI) for Gen2 or SeaBIOS for Gen1
3. Delete the default disk → click Import Disk.
4. Select your .qcow2 image, change Bus/Device to SCSI.

Once done, start your VM and enjoy your new Proxmox environment!

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Summary

• Install VirtIO drivers
• Export VM
• Convert VHDX → QCOW2
• Mount SMB share
• Import & boot in Proxmox

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Related Video

Watch the full tutorial on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@MylemansOnline

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