First-Time Setup (Setup Wizard)

The Carbon Setup Wizard runs on first launch after install. It walks Azure authentication, target hypervisor selection and connection, email notification setup, and licence registration — all in one flow. Expect to spend 15 to 20 minutes if you have the credentials and licence key ready.

Before you start

Have these on hand:

• Your Azure account credentials — the account needs RBAC permissions for VM and storage resource management. Owner on the relevant subscription is the simplest grant; narrower scoping works as long as the account can read VM configuration and disk content.
• Your target hypervisor credentials — vCenter / ESXi / SCVMM credentials, or Hyper-V host details. See the per-target sections below for the specific fields.
• For VMware vCenter targets: confirm the service account has the VMware permissions Carbon needs.
• Your SMTP server details if you want email notifications.
• Your Carbon licence key (or be ready to request a trial during the wizard).

Step 1: Launch Carbon

Double-click the Carbon desktop icon. A User Account Control prompt appears. Verify the publisher shows SmiKar Software Pty Ltd before clicking Yes.

Step 2: Setup Wizard initialisation

The Setup Wizard window opens with a welcome screen. Close other applications you do not need open during setup, then click Next.

Step 3: Read and accept the important information

A screen of requirements and caveats appears, covering:

• Internet connectivity to reach Azure.
• Sufficient disk space on the Carbon machine for VMware conversions — disks are downloaded from Azure and converted to VMDK locally before being pushed to the target.
• Hyper-V Management Tools with PowerShell module required if you are targeting Hyper-V.
• Appropriate Azure permissions — Owner on the Azure VMs being migrated, or equivalent RBAC for VM and storage resource management.
• Only stopped (deallocated) Azure VMs can be migrated. Running VMs cannot be migrated by Carbon; stop and deallocate the source VM in Azure first.
• A standard "Smikar cannot be held responsible for data loss" liability acknowledgement.

Tick Understood and accepted and click Next, or Decline and Exit to stop.

Step 4: Azure Active Directory authentication

Click the Azure Active Directory Login button. Microsoft's sign-in portal opens. Enter credentials for an Azure account with the required RBAC permissions. Complete any multi-factor authentication.

After successful sign-in, the Next button enables. Your accessible Azure subscriptions appear for selection. Tick the subscriptions that contain VMs you plan to migrate; click Next.

Step 5: Select the target hypervisor

Carbon supports four migration targets. Pick one:

• SCVMM — Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (for centrally-managed Hyper-V environments).
• Hyper-V (without SCVMM) — direct Hyper-V host connection for smaller estates.
• VMware (vCenter) — VMware vSphere environments managed by vCenter.
• VMware (ESXi) — direct ESXi host connection without vCenter.

Click Next.

Step 6: Configure the target hypervisor connection

The fields shown depend on what you picked in Step 5:

VMware vCenter

• Username — vCenter service account name.
• Password — service account password.
• Domain — the domain the service account belongs to (for AD-backed vCenter), or leave blank for local vCenter SSO accounts.
• vCenter server hostname or IP.

The service account needs specific vCenter privileges. See VMware permissions reference for the exact list.

VMware ESXi (direct)

• Username — typically root or a dedicated service account.
• Password.
• ESXi host hostname or IP.

SSH must be enabled on the target ESXi host. SSH is disabled by default on ESXi; enable it via the host's Security Profile in the ESXi web UI before running the Setup Wizard.

SCVMM

• Username — domain service account with SCVMM privileges.
• Password.
• Domain.
• SCVMM server hostname or IP.

Hyper-V (without SCVMM)

• Server hostnames or IP addresses — up to 10 Hyper-V hosts can be added in this step. Carbon connects to each as a potential migration target.

Click Next after filling in the appropriate fields.

Step 7: Email notification setup

Configure SMTP so Carbon can email you migration status updates:

• SMTP server — your outbound mail server hostname.
• Port — typically 587 (STARTTLS) or 25 (internal relay).
• SSL — tick if your server requires it.
• From address — what shows in recipients' inboxes.
• Username / password — if your mail server requires authenticated relay.

Recipients:

• Primary email — main recipient.
• Secondary email — optional cc.

Click Send test email to verify the configuration before relying on it. If you do not need notifications, click Skip.

Click Next.

Step 8: Licence registration

Verify your system date, time, and region are correct — licence activation depends on accurate system clock and locale.

Enter your licence key and click Activate. The status changes from "Pending Activation" to "Activated".

If you do not have a licence yet, click Request free trial key to send a trial request to Smikar, or email sales@smikar.com for a trial.

Step 9: Activation contact details

Provide:

• Name (required)
• Email (required)
• Company (optional)

Click OK to complete activation.

Step 10: Completion and reboot

The "Carbon Installation Process Complete" screen appears with a reboot prompt. Click OK on the prompt, then Finish on the wizard.

Restart your system to apply environmental variables and registry settings. After reboot, Carbon is ready — launch from the Start menu and the main VM list view loads with your Azure subscriptions already enumerated.

See also

• Install Carbon — the installer walkthrough that precedes this Setup Wizard.
• VMware permissions reference — exact privileges needed for vCenter service accounts.
• Migrate a VM — the canonical workflow once Setup is complete.

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Need help? support@smikar.com.