Cloud Migration Guide

⚠️ Please Note: This guide is still work in progress.

⚠️ IMPORTANT SHUTDOWN NOTICE: The Gen2 infrastructure will be permanently shut down in September 2026 (refer to the bwCloud-OS website for the exact date). All projects and data that have not been migrated to Gen3 by this date will be irrevocably deleted. To use Gen3, you must clarify and apply for your entitlements (which are subject to costs) in a timely manner.

In a Nutshell

There is no automatic migration path: Gen2 and Gen3 are completely separate environments. Migration requires a new entitlement. Security Groups and IP addresses will change and must be reconfigured manually. Recommended approach: Start a new, fresh instance (VM) in Gen3 and copy your old data over the network (e.g., via rsync).

General Information

This guide explains how to migrate your resources from the old bwCloud-OS Gen2 environment to bwCloud-OS Gen3. Because the two environments are completely separated, there is no automatic migration path. You will need to manually export your resources from the old cloud, download them locally, and upload them to the new cloud. Please note that network settings and Security Groups cannot be copied and must be reconfigured manually in the new environment.

Important Prerequisites: Entitlements and Quotas

The new bwCloud-OS Gen3 will become a paid infrastructure platform. Therefore, it is necessary for each participating university or institution to actively assign the corresponding entitlements to its users. You cannot simply transfer your old projects directly without this authorization.

• Missing Entitlement? If you have not yet been assigned an entitlement, please get in touch directly with your local institution or university's IT support.
• Quota Allocation: Please note that the allocation of resource quotas is entirely managed and regulated through your respective institution.

Details can be found here.

ℹ️ Note on Group Projects: Currently, there is no established process for complex group projects and their corresponding quota allocation. If you require resources for such a project, we kindly ask for a little more patience until the procedures are fully defined.

Dashboard Login

• Old bwCloud-OS Gen2
• New bwCloud-OS Gen3

Networks

The new infrastructure includes not only new networks but also new network-related features such as load balancers. You can find an overview here.

Network-specific differences between regions and details about the individual networks can be found in the following guide.

➡️ Guide: Network Configuration by Region

Transferring Data and VMs

There are basically two ways to transfer your data to the new bwCloud-OS (Gen3): The rsync method over the network and the snapshot method.

Transferring Volumes

While it is technically possible to migrate a Cinder volume by converting it to an image and uploading it to the new cloud, we do not recommend this approach. The process is extremely slow, and depending on the backend configuration, the upload may silently fail entirely.

Our recommendation: create a fresh volume and copy your data over the network.

• In the new environment, create a new empty volume of the appropriate size and attach it to a new VM.
• Format and mount the volume on the new VM. Detailed instructions can be found here.
• Make sure your old VM (with the old volume mounted) is reachable from the new VM via SSH (either by exchanging SSH keys or setting a password in the VM).
• Sync your data directly over the network using rsync.

rsync -avz --progress /path/to/old/data/ root@<NEW_VM_IP>:/path/to/new/destination/

Transferring VMs

Prerequisites

• Access to both bwCloud-OS environments and
• Application Credentials, as described here and
• OpenStack Client installed, as described here.

Procedure

When transferring a VM, you create a snapshot of its current state, download it, and use it as a base image in the new environment.

Step 1: Create a Snapshot

First, source your old bwCloud-OS Gen2 credentials and find the ID of the instance (VM) you want to migrate:

source old-creds.sh 
openstack server list 
openstack server image create --name <snapshot_name> <instance_id>

Step 2: Download the Snapshot

The Image ID should have been prompted in the previous step. However, it is also possible to find the ID of your created snapshot and download it to your local computer later:

openstack image list
openstack image save --file myimage.img <snapshot_id> 

Step 3: Upload to the New Environment (bwCloud-OS Gen3)

Source your new cloud credentials and upload the image file. Important: Always set the visibility to Private so other users cannot use your image as a base for their services.

source new-creds.sh
openstack image create --file myimage.img --private myimage

Alternative: You can also upload the downloaded .img file using the new Horizon GUI by navigating to Compute -> Images.

Step 4: Start the Instance

You can now start a new instance using this uploaded image. Remember to reconfigure your Security Groups and note that you will receive a new IP address.

To start a new instance:

• Log in to the bwCloud-OS Gen3 Dashboard.
• Navigate to Project --> Compute --> Images. The uploaded snapshot should be listed there.
• Click on "Start", choose an instance name, and select the network and SSH key (or create a new one).