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Migrate to Containers overview
Use Migrate to Containers to modernize traditional applications away from
virtual machine (VM) instances and into native containers that run on
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) or Cloud Run platform. You can migrate
workloads from VMs that run on VMware or Compute Engine, giving you the
flexibility to containerize your existing workloads with ease.
Migrate to Containers supports modernization of IBM WebSphere, JBoss, Apache,
Tomcat, WordPress, Windows IIS applications, as well as containerisation of
Linux-based applications.
The Migrate to Containers CLI is a lightweight tool that you can use on your local
machine for migrating your workloads to modernize application components that
run on VMs. It generates artifacts that you can deploy to GKE or
Cloud Run. The offline mode lets you perform migrations of your
Linux-based workloads locally and can work on your local network without pulling
resources from the internet during runtime.
You can migrate applications from supported source platforms to the following:
About Migrate to Containers integration with Cloud Code
The Migrate to Containers integration with the Cloud Code gives you the ability
to migrate applications from VMs to containers running on GKE,
directly in Visual Studio, using a Linux machine.
The extension is integrated with the Migration Center discovery client CLI and
Migrate to Containers CLI.
It provides a guided replatforming journey, technical fit
assessment, and automated artifact generation, which let you run existing
applications on GKE.
Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters provide secured and
managed Kubernetes services with autoscaling and multi-cluster support.
GKE lets you deploy, manage, and scale containerized
applications on Kubernetes, powered by Google Cloud.
Autopilot clusters:
this mode of operation in GKE provisions and manages the
cluster's underlying infrastructure, including nodes and node pools, giving
you an optimized cluster experience. For the benefits of using the simplified
Linux service manager, see
Migrating to Autopilot clusters and Cloud Run.
GKE Enterprise is an application management platform that provides a
consistent development and operations experience for cloud and on-premises
environments. GKE Enterprise includes a set of core components, including the
following:
GKE clusters: container orchestration and
management service for running Kubernetes clusters in both cloud and
on-premises environments. GKE Enterprise relies on
GKE clusters on Google Cloud or Google Distributed Cloud
to manage Kubernetes installations in the environments where you intend to
deploy your applications.
Config Sync:
continuously reconciles your clusters to a central set of configurations that
are stored in a source of truth, like one or more Git repositories.
Policy Controller:
defines, automates, and enforces policies across environments to meet your
organization's security and compliance requirements.
Config Controller:
a hosted service to provision and orchestrate Google Cloud resources.
Cloud Service Mesh: manages and secures traffic between
services while monitoring, troubleshooting, and improving application
performance.
GKE Enterprise security: secures your hybrid and
multi-cloud deployments by providing consistent controls across your
environments.
About Cloud Run
Cloud Run is a managed compute platform that lets you run
stateless containers using web requests or Pub/Sub events.
The simplified Linux service manager lets you deploy your migrated container
workloads on Cloud Run.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-25 UTC."],[],[],null,["# Migrate to Containers overview\n==============================\n\nUse Migrate to Containers to modernize traditional applications away from\nvirtual machine (VM) instances and into native containers that run on\nGoogle Kubernetes Engine (GKE) or Cloud Run platform. You can migrate\nworkloads from VMs that run on VMware or Compute Engine, giving you the\nflexibility to containerize your existing workloads with ease.\nMigrate to Containers supports modernization of IBM WebSphere, JBoss, Apache,\nTomcat, WordPress, Windows IIS applications, as well as containerisation of\nLinux-based applications.\n\nThe Migrate to Containers CLI is a lightweight tool that you can use on your local\nmachine for migrating your workloads to modernize application components that\nrun on VMs. It generates artifacts that you can deploy to GKE or\nCloud Run. The offline mode lets you perform migrations of your\nLinux-based workloads locally and can work on your local network without pulling\nresources from the internet during runtime.\n\nYou can migrate applications from supported source platforms to the following:\n\n- [Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)](/kubernetes-engine/docs) and [Autopilot clusters](/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/autopilot-overview)\n- [Cloud Run](/run/docs)\n\nAbout Migrate to Containers integration with Cloud Code\n-------------------------------------------------------\n\nThe Migrate to Containers integration with the Cloud Code gives you the ability\nto migrate applications from VMs to containers running on GKE,\ndirectly in Visual Studio, using a Linux machine.\n\n- The extension is integrated with the Migration Center discovery client CLI and Migrate to Containers CLI.\n- It provides a guided replatforming journey, technical fit assessment, and automated artifact generation, which let you run existing applications on GKE.\n\nTo learn more about the Migrate to Containers extension, see\n[Replatform Linux applications to containers](/code/docs/vscode/replatform-apps-to-containers).\n\nAbout GKE and GKE Enterprise clusters\n-------------------------------------\n\nGoogle Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters provide secured and\nmanaged Kubernetes services with autoscaling and multi-cluster support.\nGKE lets you deploy, manage, and scale containerized\napplications on Kubernetes, powered by Google Cloud.\n\n- [Autopilot clusters](/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/autopilot-overview): this mode of operation in GKE provisions and manages the cluster's underlying infrastructure, including nodes and node pools, giving you an optimized cluster experience. For the benefits of using the simplified Linux service manager, see [Migrating to Autopilot clusters and Cloud Run](/migrate/containers/docs/autopilot-overview).\n\nGKE Enterprise is an application management platform that provides a\nconsistent development and operations experience for cloud and on-premises\nenvironments. GKE Enterprise includes a set of core components, including the\nfollowing:\n\n- [GKE clusters](/anthos/clusters/docs): container orchestration and\n management service for running Kubernetes clusters in both cloud and\n on-premises environments. GKE Enterprise relies on\n GKE clusters on Google Cloud or Google Distributed Cloud\n to manage Kubernetes installations in the environments where you intend to\n deploy your applications.\n\n- [Config Sync](/anthos-config-management/docs/config-sync-overview):\n continuously reconciles your clusters to a central set of configurations that\n are stored in a source of truth, like one or more Git repositories.\n\n- [Policy Controller](/anthos-config-management/docs/concepts/policy-controller):\n defines, automates, and enforces policies across environments to meet your\n organization's security and compliance requirements.\n\n- [Config Controller](/anthos-config-management/docs/concepts/config-controller-overview):\n a hosted service to provision and orchestrate Google Cloud resources.\n\n- [Cloud Service Mesh](/service-mesh/docs): manages and secures traffic between\n services while monitoring, troubleshooting, and improving application\n performance.\n\n- [GKE Enterprise security](/anthos/docs): secures your hybrid and\n multi-cloud deployments by providing consistent controls across your\n environments.\n\nAbout Cloud Run\n---------------\n\nCloud Run is a managed compute platform that lets you run\nstateless containers using web requests or Pub/Sub events.\nThe simplified Linux service manager lets you deploy your migrated container\nworkloads on Cloud Run.\n\n- For the benefits of using the simplified Linux service manager, see [Migrating to Autopilot clusters and Cloud Run](/migrate/containers/docs/services-manager).\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- Learn about the [benefits of migrating to containers](/migrate/containers/docs/anthos-migrate-benefits)."]]