You can move VM instances, custom images, or disks that are available in an existing environment, such as on-premises or on other cloud providers, to Compute Engine.
A variety of migration paths are available that support different formats. Choosing a migration path depends on whether you are moving a VM instance, disk, or image.
The following table summarizes the migration paths available on Compute Engine.
| What you want to migrate | Tool or procedure | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| VM instances (in OVA or OVF format) | Importing virtual appliances | Importing virtual appliances. A virtual appliance is a prepackaged virtual machine. |
| Virtual disks or images | Import virtual disks | Importing virtual disks or template disks from an on-premises or other cloud environment. These methods use the images import command. If you need to make advanced customizations or have source disks in a format that is not supported by the import command, you can manually import and configure disks. |
| Machine images | Importing a machine image from a virtual appliance | Importing machine images. A machine image is Compute Engine resource
that stores all the configuration, metadata, permissions, and data from one or
more disks required to create a VM instance. This method is best suited for creating machine images from virtual appliances. |