Tigera: Live Migration Done Right: What It Takes to Move VMs Between Nodes Without Breaking the Network
What does it take to move a running VM from one Kubernetes node to another without dropping connections, breaking network configurations or accidentally bypassing security policies? How do you reconcile the fixed IP and network configuration requirements of VMs with the dynamic nature of a Kubernetes cluster?
If you’re running KubeVirt in bridge mode, the answer involves IPAM that tracks VM identity across pod lifecycles, route convergence measured in milliseconds, and network policy pre-staged on the destination before the VM arrives. KubeVirt handles memory and disk migration. It does not handle any of this. That’s the CNI’s job.
Join us for a technical walk-through of what this actually means in practice, with a demo to show you the networking layer changes as a VM moves from one node to another.
What you’ll learn:- How default Kubernetes pod networking breaks DNS, load balancing and network policies during VM migrations.
- The three networking problems the CNI must solve during live migration: IP persistence across pod lifecycles, route convergence during the handover window, and policy continuity so VMs aren’t exposed mid-migration.
- What happens under the hood during a live migration, from the GARP packet that signals the cutover to the route priority override that steers traffic to the new node.
- How L2 bridge networking extends existing VLANs into the cluster so VMs keep their IPs, MACs, and subnet membership.
- A live demo of a VM migrating between nodes under a persistent TCP connection, showing unbroken connectivity and IP preservation in real time.
- Platform engineers evaluating KubeVirt for VM workloads and needing to understand the networking requirements.
- Infrastructure and virtualization practitioners coming from vSphere who want to see how live migration translates to Kubernetes.
- Network and security engineers responsible for maintaining connectivity and policy enforcement during VM migrations.
This is an educational session focused on the technical aspects of live migration, not a product pitch. Bring your questions.