VMware Migration Readiness (Google Sheets Tool) vs. RVTools

Stage-0 baseline (vCenter + backup CSVs, local) and RVTools exports: how they fit together.

TL;DR

  • Purpose: Stage-0 = fast, local readiness baseline; RVTools = rich vSphere inventory export you can use as an input.

  • Inputs: Stage-0 uses vCenter + backup CSVs; RVTools exports vInfo/vTag/etc. as CSV/Excel.

  • Outputs: Stage-0 delivers per-VM readiness with reasons + exec rollups; RVTools delivers inventory & health extracts you can paste/map into Stage-0.

Looking for the page where you can download the VMware Migration Readiness (Google Sheets Tool) — Stage-0 readiness baseline? Click here.

What each does

Stage-0 Readiness Baseline (this tool)

  • Inputs: vCenter inventory CSV + backup job inventory CSV.

  • Runs locally: Google Sheets (and Excel) — no agents, no SaaS ingest.

  • Normalization: deduped VM names; OS family; any-tag production/critical/compliance; uptime class.

  • Backup posture: missing/stale backups, short retention, irregular frequency, no offsite.

  • Output: Per-VM readiness with reasons (only causes that apply) and exec-ready rollups by Cluster / OS family / Uptime / Backup posture.

  • Why first: quickly separates move-sooner vs stabilize/leave-for-now cohorts before heavier tools.

RVTools (brand)

  • Goal: extract detailed vSphere inventory into spreadsheets/CSVs (VMs, hosts, clusters, networks, snapshots, etc.).

  • How: connects read-only to vCenter and exports tabs (e.g., vInfo, vHW, vCPU, vMEM, vDisk, vTag, …).

  • Output: machine-readable tables you can analyze directly or feed into other workflows (like this Stage-0 baseline).

When to use each

  • Use Stage-0 when you need a vendor-neutral triage baseline in hours, with readiness + reasons and exec rollups, and when you want to keep all analysis local.

  • Use RVTools when you want a quick, comprehensive vSphere export and prefer to populate the Stage-0 VMware_Inventory input from RVTools instead of crafting your own vCenter CSV.

How they work together (handoff 1-2-3)

  1. Export from RVTools (CSV or XLSX), primarily vInfo (and vTag if available).

  2. Map the RVTools columns to the VMware_Inventory fields below; paste the backup system’s CSV into Backup_Inventory.

  3. Open Dashboard to see per-VM readiness with reasons and exec rollups; proceed to deeper tools only where needed.

Field Mapping (RVTools → Stage-0)

Paste into VMware_Inventory (headers must match the tool). If a field isn’t present in your RVTools export, leave it blank.

Required / core fields

  • Name ← vInfo.Name

  • Guest OS ← vInfo.OS (often labeled “OS according to the VMware Tools” or similar)

  • IP ← vInfo.IP Address (choose the primary/non-empty; multiple IPs can be concatenated if you wish)

  • Power State ← vInfo.Powerstate

  • Host ← vInfo.ESX hostname

  • Cluster ← vInfo.Cluster

  • Resource Pool ← vInfo.Resource pool

  • Instance UUID ← vInfo.Instance UUID (prefer Instance UUID over BIOS UUID if both exist)

  • uptime_seconds ← vInfo.Uptime (in days) × 86400

    • Sheets example: =IFERROR(INT(value_in_days*86400),)

Tags (optional but useful)

  • Tags ← join from vTag (if present): aggregate all tag names for the VM into a single cell

    • Sheets example (in VMware_Inventory!Tags), assuming A2 holds the VM Name:
      =IFERROR(TEXTJOIN(", ", TRUE, FILTER(vTag!B:B, vTag!A:A = A2)), "")

    • If you don’t have vTag, you can leave Tags empty or map a notes/annotation field as a weak proxy.

Tips

  • Keep Name consistent across RVTools and backup CSVs; the Stage-0 merge keys on normalized name.

  • If RVTools exports IPs across multiple columns, select the first non-blank; consistency matters more than completeness.

  • Don’t over-optimize: extra RVTools tabs (vCPU/vMEM/vDisk) are optional for Stage-0.

Reminder: Stage-0 still needs a backup inventory CSV (e.g., Veeam/Rubrik/Commvault exports) for last backup time, retention, frequency, offsite flags, etc.

What carries forward from Stage-0 (not throwaway)

  1. Deduped VM inventory (from RVTools or native CSV) with normalized names & OS family.

  2. Any-tag normalization for production / critical (DB/AD/DNS) / compliance.

  3. Backup posture flags (missing/stale/retention/offsite).

  4. Uptime class for change-averse systems.

  5. Cohort shortlist to focus dependency/capacity/cost work.

  6. Assumptions register and readiness rules table for governance.

  7. Optional CSV bundle to hand to downstream teams/tools.

Can we continue guiding beyond Stage-0?

Yes. If deeper assessment is useful, we’ll help scope the right next step, ensure Stage-0 artifacts are reused with downstream tools, and keep assumptions consistent across phases. Vendor-neutral.

What this page is not

A product review or endorsement. This page explains how RVTools exports complement a Stage-0 readiness baseline.

Micro-FAQ

  • No. RVTools is an excellent inventory export. Stage-0 is a readiness baseline that joins inventory with backup posture to produce per-VM readiness with reasons and exec rollups.

  • Yes. Map vInfo columns to the VMware_Inventory headers (see mapping above), optionally join vTag for tags, and still paste your backup inventory CSV.

  • Yes. RVTools doesn’t export your backup jobs. Stage-0 needs the backup CSV to flag missing/stale/short retention/no offsite and to compute readiness.

Legal & attribution

This page explains how VMware Migration Readiness (Google Sheets Tool) can use exports from RVTools. RVTools is a trademark of Rob de Veij. We are not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by Rob de Veij. Descriptions of RVTools export tabs (e.g., vInfo, vTag) reflect publicly available documentation and common usage as of September 2025 and may change.

Nothing here is legal, financial, or professional advice. Use of RVTools is governed by its own license and documentation. Our tool runs locally in your Google Drive; any RVTools usage follows RVTools’ terms and your internal policies.

If you represent RVTools and believe this page contains an inaccuracy or improper use of your marks, please contact questions@speediyo.com and we’ll review promptly.

Last reviewed: September 8, 2025.