vSphere Upgrade Guide ESX 4.1 ESXi 4.1 vCenter Server 4.1 vSphere Client 4.1 This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
vSphere Upgrade Guide You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at: http://www.vmware.com/support/ The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates. If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to: docfeedback@vmware.com Copyright © 2009–2011 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws.
Contents Updated Information 7 About This Book 9 1 About the Upgrade Process 11 2 System Requirements 13 ESXi Hardware Requirements 13 vCenter Server and the vSphere Client Hardware Requirements vCenter Server Software Requirements 17 vSphere Client Software Requirements 17 Support for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems 17 Requirements for Creating Virtual Machines 17 Required Ports 18 DNS Requirements for vSphere 19 Supported Remote Management Firmware Versions 19 15 3 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter
vSphere Upgrade Guide 6 Postupgrade Considerations for vCenter Server 45 Upgrade the vSphere Client 45 Join a Linked Mode Group After a vCenter Server Upgrade 46 Set the Maximum Number of Database Connections After a vCenter Server Upgrade 47 7 Upgrading Datastore and Network Permissions 49 Datastore Privileges 50 Network Privileges 50 Update Datastore Permissions 51 Update Network Permissions 52 8 Preparing for the Upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.
Contents Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Solaris Guest 78 Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools in a Netware Virtual Machine 79 Perform an Automatic Upgrade of VMware Tools 80 Upgrade VMware Tools on Multiple Virtual Machines 81 Configure a Virtual Machine to Automatically Upgrade VMware Tools 82 Upgrade Virtual Hardware 82 Upgrade Virtual Hardware on Multiple Virtual Machines 84 12 Example Upgrade Scenarios 85 Upgrading Environments with Host Clusters 85 Upgrading Environmen
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Updated Information This vSphere Upgrade Guide is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vSphere Upgrade Guide. Revision Description EN-000310-04 Minor change in “Update the vCenter Server Name for Plug-Ins,” on page 43 section. EN-000310-03 n n n n n EN-000310-02 n n Included a topic, “DNS Requirements for vSphere,” on page 19 in System Requirements section.
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About This Book ® The vSphere Upgrade Guide describes how to upgrade from earlier versions of VMware ESX™, ESXi, and VMware vCenter™ Server to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1 and vCenter Server 4.1. This guide includes the following tasks: n Upgrade to vCenter Server 4.1 from vCenter Server 4.0. n Install vCenter Server 4.1 on a different machine and keep a VirtualCenter 2.5 or higher database. You would do this if you are upgrading from a 32-bit server to a 64-bit server, for example. n Upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.
vSphere Upgrade Guide VMware vSphere Documentation The vSphere documentation consists of the combined VMware vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi documentation set. Technical Support and Education Resources The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
About the Upgrade Process 1 Upgrading is a multistage process in which procedures must be performed in a particular order. Follow the suggested process to ensure a smooth upgrade with a minimum of system downtime. CAUTION VMware recommends that you read about the upgrade process before attempting to upgrade. If you do not follow appropriate safeguards, you might lose data and lose access to your servers. Without planning, you might incur more downtime than is necessary.
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System Requirements 2 Systems running vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi instances must meet specific hardware and operating system requirements.
vSphere Upgrade Guide n RAID controllers – Dell PERC (Adaptec RAID or LSI MegaRAID), HP Smart Array RAID, or IBM (Adaptec) ServeRAID controllers. n SCSI disk or a local (non-network) RAID LUN with unpartitioned space for the virtual machines. n For Serial ATA (SATA), a disk connected through supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers. NOTE You cannot connect a SATA CD-ROM device to a virtual machine on an ESXi 4.1 host.
Chapter 2 System Requirements n Dedicated Fast Ethernet adapters for virtual machines – Place the management network and virtual machine networks on different physical network cards. Dedicated Gigabit Ethernet cards for virtual machines, such as Intel PRO 1000 adapters, improve throughput to virtual machines with high network traffic. n Disk location – Place all data used by your virtual machines on physical disks allocated specifically to virtual machines.
vSphere Upgrade Guide n Memory – 1GB RAM n Disk Storage – 1.5GB free disk space for a complete installation, which includes the following components: n Microsoft .NET 2.0 n Microsoft .NET 3.0 SP1 n Microsoft Visual J# Remove any previously installed versions of Microsoft Visual J# on the system where you are installing the vSphere Client. n vSphere Client 4.1 If you do not have any of these components already installed, you must have 400MB free on the drive that has the %temp% directory.
Chapter 2 System Requirements Requirements for Installing vCenter Server on a Custom Drive If you install vCenter Server on any custom drive, note the following space requirements: n 1GB on the custom drive for vCenter Server n 1.13GB on the C:\ drive for Microsoft .NET 3.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Table 2-4. Requirements for Creating Virtual Machines Component Requirements Virtual processor One, two, four, or eight processors per virtual machine NOTE If you create a two-processor virtual machine, your ESXi machine must have at least two physical core in processor. Virtual chip set Intel 440BX-based motherboard with NS338 SIO chip Virtual BIOS PhoenixBIOS 4.
Chapter 2 System Requirements Table 2-5. Required Ports (Continued) Port Description 8443 Web Services HTTPS. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices. 60099 Web Service change service notification port If you want the vCenter Server system to use a different port to receive vSphere Client data, see the VMware vSphere Datacenter Administration Guide. For a discussion of firewall configuration, see the ESX Configuration Guide.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Table 2-6. Supported Remote Management Server Models and Firmware Versions (Continued) Remote Controller Make and Model Firmware Version Java ActiveX 1.45 (09.01.16) 1.6.0_11 2,1,0,14 1.3 1.6.0_11 2,1,0,14 1.33 1.6.0_11 2,1,0,13 DRAC 4 1.7 1.4.2_06 2,1,0,14 ILO .26 1.6.0_11 2,1,0,14 1.7 1.4.2_19 Not applicable 1.91 (07/26/2009) 1.6.0_07 2,1,0,14 1.29 (2/28/2007) 1.4.2_13 Not applicable 1.09 1.6.0_11 2,1,0,14 1.06 1.6.
Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server 3 Before you upgrade to vCenter Server, review the prerequisites. This chapter includes the following topics: n “About the vCenter Server 4.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Table 3-1. Upgrading vCenter Server Components (Continued) 22 Product Component Description NOTE See the release notes of the specific vCenter Server release to which you are upgrading for details on supported upgrade paths. VirtualCenter Server 2.0 Not supported VirtualCenter Server 2.5 Upgrade by using the data migration tool to upgrade to vCenter Server 4.1 on a different machine.
Chapter 3 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade Before you begin the upgrade to vCenter Server, make sure you have the vCenter Server system and the database are properly prepared. vCenter Server Prerequisites The following items are prerequisites for completing the upgrade to vCenter Server: n VMware vCenter Server 4.1 installation media.
vSphere Upgrade Guide n You must perform a complete backup of the VirtualCenter Server or vCenter Server database before you begin the upgrade. The VirtualCenter 2.5 database schema is not compatible with vCenter Server 4.1. The vCenter Server 4.1 installer upgrades your existing VirtualCenter Server database schema with extra fields, thus making the database unusable by VirtualCenter 2.5.
Chapter 3 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server n n Microsoft SQL Server Make sure that the database login has the db_owner fixed database role on the vCenter Server database and on the MSDB database. The db_owner role on the MSDB database is required for installation and upgrade only. You can revoke this role after the installation or upgrade process is complete. Also review “Database Scenarios,” on page 26.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Table 3-2. Configuration and Patch Requirements (Continued) Database Type Patch and Configuration Requirements Oracle 10g If necessary, first apply patch 10.2.0.4 (or later) to the client and server. Ensure that the machine has a valid ODBC DSN entry. For the Oracle Instant client, copy ojdbc14.jar to the vCenter Server tomcat directory (\Infrastructure\tomcat\lib) The Oracle 10g client comes with ojdbc14.
Chapter 3 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server Table 3-3. vCenter Server Upgrade Scenarios for Each Database Type (Continued) Supported in VirtualCenter 2.x Supported in vCenter Server 4.0 Supported in vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1 Supported in vCenter Server 4.1 Update 1 Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Yes Yes Yes Yes You can install or upgrade to vCenter Server. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Yes Yes Yes Yes You can install or upgrade to vCenter Server.
vSphere Upgrade Guide One way to test this is by pinging the computer name. For example, if the computer name is host-1.company.com, run the following command in the Windows command prompt: ping host-1.company.com If you can ping the computer name, the name is updated in DNS. Procedure 1 Update the data source information, as needed. 2 Verify the data source connectivity. Back Up VirtualCenter 2.5 or Higher You must back up a VirtualCenter 2.
Chapter 3 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server During a vCenter Server upgrade, the existing agent software is uninstalled and the updated agent software is installed in its place. If the upgrade fails, the updated agent software might not be installed and the host might become unreachable by VirtualCenter 2.x, vCenter Server 4.0, and by vCenter Server 4.1. To avoid this condition, you can run the vCenter Agent Preupgrade Check tool before you attempt to upgrade to vCenter Server 4.1.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 4 If the DSN requires a login for the credential type in use, enter a user name and password and click Next. 5 Select an option for scanning all hosts or specific hosts. 6 Option Action Scan all of the hosts Select Standard Mode and click Next. Specify hosts to scan a b Select Custom Mode and click Next. Select the hosts to scan and click Next. To select all hosts in a cluster, double-click the cluster. Click Run Precheck. The tool takes 30-40 seconds for each host.
Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.1 4 The upgrade to vCenter Server includes a database schema upgrade and an upgrade of vCenter Server 4.0 or higher. Upgrade to vCenter Server 4.1 Upgrade vCenter Server 4.0 to vCenter Server 4.1 on the same machine if the vCenter Server 4.0 instance is on a 64-bit machine. This procedure requires downtime for the vCenter Server that you are upgrading. You do not need to power off virtual machines.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 8 Enter the database password that corresponds to the user name and DSN that the installer displays and click Next. If you specify a remote SQL Server database that uses Windows NT authentication, the database user and the logged-in user on the vCenter Server machine must be the same. 9 Select whether to upgrade the vCenter Server database schema. n Select Yes, I want to upgrade my vCenter Server database to continue with the upgrade to vCenter Server.
Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Upgrade the Existing Database 5 When you upgrade to vCenter Server, you can migrate vCenter Server to a new machine. One reason for doing this is to move from a 32-bit machine to a 64-bit machine. You can also use the data migration tool to migrate a SQL Server Express database installed by the vCenter Server installer on the same machine as vCenter Server.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 2 Back Up VirtualCenter or vCenter Server Configuration with the Data Migration Tool on page 37 Use the data migration tool to back up VirtualCenter or vCenter Server configuration data such as port settings, SSL certificates, and licensing information. The data migration tool can restore these settings when you upgrade to vCenter Server on a new 64-bit machine. 3 Create a 64-Bit DSN on page 38 The vCenter Server system must have a 64-bit DSN.
Chapter 5 Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Upgrade the Existing Database What to do next Back up the VirtualCenter or vCenter Server configuration using the data migration tool. Back Up and Restore a Microsoft SQL Database Before you perform an upgrade to vCenter Server on a new machine, you might want to move the database.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Detach and Attach a Microsoft SQL Server Database Before you perform an upgrade to vCenter Server on a 64-bit machine, you can optionally detach the VirtualCenter or vCenter Server database on the source machine, copy the files to the destination machine, and attach the database on the destination machine. This detach-and-attach action is an alternative to the backup and restore operation.
Chapter 5 Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Upgrade the Existing Database Prerequisites Verify that you have a VirtualCenter 2.5 or vCenter Server 4.0 system running with a local or remote Oracle 10g or Oracle 11g database. Procedure 1 On the source machine, stop the VirtualCenter service. a Select Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Services. b Right-click VMware VirtualCenter Server and select Stop. 2 On the source machine, log in to Oracle SQL*Plus as the VirtualCenter 2.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Prerequisites n Verify that a supported version of VirtualCenter or vCenter Server is installed on the source machine: n VirtualCenter 2.5 and its update releases n vCenter Server 4.0 and its update releases n Stop the VMware VirtualCenter Server service before backing up the configuration. n If the \datamigration\data\ folder already exists from a previous backup attempt, backup cannot proceed. Remove or rename this folder before backing up the vCenter Server configuration.
Chapter 5 Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Upgrade the Existing Database 3 Use the application to create a system DSN and test the connectivity. The system now has a DSN that is compatible with vCenter Server. When the vCenter Server installer prompts you for a DSN, select the 64-bit DSN.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 6 Select a language for the installer and click OK. The Welcome page informs you that an earlier version of vCenter Server is on the computer and will be upgraded to vCenter Server 4.1. 7 When the Welcome screen appears, click Next. 8 Review the End-User Patent Agreement and click Next. 9 Select I agree to the terms in the license agreement and click Next. 10 Select Install SQL Server 2005 Express instance (for small-scale deployments) and click Next.
Chapter 5 Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Upgrade the Existing Database Restore the vCenter Server Configuration and Install vCenter Server on the New Machine with a Nonbundled Database If you used the data migration tool to back up the configuration of a vCenter Server system connected to a nonbundled database, use the data migration tool to install vCenter Server and restore the vCenter Server configuration to the destination machine.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 11 Select how to upgrade vCenter Agent and click Next. Option Description Automatic vCenter Agent is upgraded on all hosts in the vCenter Server inventory. Manual All hosts are disconnected from vCenter Server. To upgrade vCenter Agent, reconnect the host to vCenter Server. Select this option if one of the following applies: n You need to control the timing of vCenter Agent upgrades on specific hosts.
Chapter 5 Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Upgrade the Existing Database n If a license server was installed on the source machine, install the license server on the destination machine and migrate the licenses. See “Migrate a License Server Installed on the Same Machine as vCenter Server,” on page 43. n See Chapter 6, “Postupgrade Considerations for vCenter Server,” on page 45.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 4 Update vCenter Server licensing settings with the license server machine name. a Connect to the vCenter Server using the vSphere Client. b Select Administration > vCenter Server Settings. c Select Licensing. d In the License Server text box, enter the port number and license server machine name as port@host. For example: 27000@license-3.companyname.com e Click OK. The license server and license configuration are migrated to the destination machine. 44 VMware, Inc.
Postupgrade Considerations for vCenter Server 6 After you upgrade to vCenter Server, consider the postupgrade options and requirements. n To view the database upgrade log, open %TEMP%\VCDatabaseUpgrade.log. n Install the vSphere Client and make sure you can access the vCenter Server instance. n Upgrade any additional modules that are linked to this instance of vCenter Server. Additional modules might include vCenter Update Manager, vCenter Converter, and vCenter Guided Consolidation, for example.
vSphere Upgrade Guide The vSphere Client upgrade operation requires no downtime. No virtual machines or clients need to be powered off for this process. Procedure 1 (Optional) Use Add/Remove Programs from the Windows Control Panel to remove any previous vCenter Server client. Older vCenter Server clients do not need to be removed and are useful if you need to connect to legacy hosts. 2 Install the vSphere Client 4.1. After you install the vSphere Client 4.
Chapter 6 Postupgrade Considerations for vCenter Server 6 If the vCenter Server installer detects a role conflict, select how to resolve the conflict. Option Description Yes, let VMware vCenter Server resolve the conflicts for me Click Next. The role on the joining system is renamed to vcenter_namerole_name where vcenter_name is the name of the vCenter Server system that is joining the Linked Mode group and role_name is the name of the original role.
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Upgrading Datastore and Network Permissions 7 In previous releases of vCenter Server, datastores and networks inherited access permissions from the datacenter. In vCenter Server 4.0 and higher, they have their own set of privileges that control access to them. This might require you to manually assign privileges, depending on the access level you require. In vCenter Server 4.x, users are initially granted the No Access role on all new managed objects, including datastores and networks.
vSphere Upgrade Guide This chapter includes the following topics: n “Datastore Privileges,” on page 50 n “Network Privileges,” on page 50 n “Update Datastore Permissions,” on page 51 n “Update Network Permissions,” on page 52 Datastore Privileges In VMware vSphere 4.0 and higher, datastores have their own set of access control privileges. As a result, you might need to reconfigure your permissions to grant the new datastore privileges.
Chapter 7 Upgrading Datastore and Network Permissions Table 7-3. Network Privileges Pair with Object Effective on Object VCenter Servers virtual machine network, virtual machine Configure a network. hosts, vCenter Servers network, network folder networks, virtual machines Delete Network Remove a network. hosts, vCenter Servers datacenter datacenters Move Network Move a network between folders in the inventory. NOTE Privileges are required on both the source and destination objects.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 8 Select the users and groups for whom to add the role. To select multiple names, control-click each additional name. 9 Click OK. All users are added to the Users and Groups list for this role. 10 Click OK. The datastore is saved with the new permissions. NOTE You need to set up permissions for new datastores that you create. By default, new datastores are created under the datacenter folder in the inventory. You can move it into a datastore folder, as appropriate.
Chapter 7 Upgrading Datastore and Network Permissions New networks that you create are added under the datacenter by default. NOTE You need to set up permissions for new networks that you create. By default, new networks are created under the datacenter folder in the inventory. You can move it into a network folder, as appropriate. VMware, Inc.
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Preparing for the Upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1 8 After completing the upgrade to vCenter Server, upgrade legacy VMware ESX/ESXi hosts to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1. These topics are intended for administrators who are upgrading ESX, ESXi, and virtual machines from ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1. To upgrade directly from ESX 3.5/ESXi 3.5 to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1, use VMware vCenter Update Manager. For information on upgrading from ESX 3.5/ESXi 3.5 to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.
vSphere Upgrade Guide About Host Upgrades To upgrade to vSphere 4.1, upgrade hosts with service consoles to ESX 4.1 (which also has a service console). Upgrade hosts without service consoles to ESXi 4.1 (which does not have a service console). You cannot use the upgrade tools to convert ESX hosts to ESXi hosts, or the reverse.
Chapter 8 Preparing for the Upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1 Table 8-1. Upgrade Support to ESX 4.1 (includes support to ESX 4.1 updates) (Continued) From ESX Version File Name Upgrade Tools Supported ESX 4.0 (offline bundle) These files are .zip files such as the following: n n n upgrade-from-esx4.0-to-4.1VersionInfo.zip pre-upgrade-from-esx4.0to-4.1VersionInfo.zip n vCenter Update Manager 4.1 - host upgrade baseline vihostupdateutility n esxupdate utility n n vCenter Update Manager 4.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Update Manager monitors hosts and virtual machines for compliance against your defined upgrade baselines. Noncompliance appears in detailed reports and in the dashboard view. Update Manager supports mass remediation. See the VMware vCenter Update Manager Installation and Adminstration Guide accessible on the VMware vCenter Update Manager Documentation page: http://www.configuresoft.net/support/pubs/vum_pubs.html.
Chapter 8 Preparing for the Upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1 ESX For ESX, the upgrade reuses the existing /boot partition to hold the ESX 4.1 boot files. For upgrades from ESX 3.5 to ESX 4.1 using vCenter Update Manager, the ESX 3.5 installation is mounted in the new ESX 4.1 installation under the /esx3-installation directory after the upgrade. The upgrade to ESX 4.1 preserves almost all configuration data, including your networking, security, and storage configuration. Specifically, the upgrade to ESX 4.
vSphere Upgrade Guide n /etc/motd n /etc/initiatorname.vmkiscsi n /etc/vmkiscsi.conf NOTE To migrate other files, consider using a postupgrade script. For example, you might want to create a script that copies the .ssh directory for root. Non-Preserved Configuration Components When you upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1, some components that might have been modified in the ESX 3.5/ESXi 3.5 or ESX 4.0/ESX 4.0 configuration are not preserved. ESXi For ESXi, if you modified certain files in the ESXi 3.
Chapter 8 Preparing for the Upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1 Back Up the ESXi Host Configuration Back up the host configuration before you begin a host upgrade. For more information about the VMware vSphere Command-Line Interface and the vicfg-cfgbackup command, see the vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Reference Guide Procedure 1 Install the vSphere CLI. 2 In the vSphere CLI, run the vicfg-cfgbackup command with the -s flag to save the host configuration to a specified backup filename.
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Upgrading to ESX 4.1 or ESXi 4.1 9 There a several tools available for upgrading hosts. You can use different upgrade tools based depending on the type of host you are upgrading (ESX or ESXi) and whether the hosts are managed by vCenter Server. In-place upgrades of hosts from ESXi 4.0 to ESXi 4.1 are supported using the vihostupdate command-line utility. vihostupdate requires the vSphere Command-Line Interface (vSphere CLI). In-place upgrades of ESX 4.0 to ESX 4.
vSphere Upgrade Guide vihostupdate supports https://, http://, and ftp:// downloads. You can specify the protocols in the download URL for the bundle. vihostupdate also supports local paths. To search a local depot where the vSphere CLI is installed, use /local/depot/metadata.zip without the file:/// parameter. Upgrade an ESX Host with the vihostupdate Utility You can use the vihostupdate utility to upgrade from ESX 4.0 to ESX 4.1.
Chapter 9 Upgrading to ESX 4.1 or ESXi 4.1 Upgrade an ESXi Host with the vihostupdate Utility You can use the vihostupdate utility to upgrade from ESXi 4.0 to ESXi 4.1. Prerequisites Before you can upgrade an ESXi host from the command line, you must have access to a machine on which you can run the VMware vSphere Command-Line Interface (vSphere CLI).
vSphere Upgrade Guide 2 From the service console, log on to the ESX 4.0 host as user root. If you do not have direct access to the ESX 4.0 host, connect remotely to the service console using ssh. 3 Power off any virtual machines that are running on the host and place the host into maintenance mode. 4 Run the following command to enable an outgoing connection for the service console. esxcfg-firewall --allowIncoming --allowOutgoing 5 Install the esxupdate bulletin by running the following command.
Postupgrade Considerations for Hosts 10 A host upgrade is not complete until you have ensured that the host management, configuration, and licensing is in place. After you upgrade an ESX/ESXi host, consider the following tasks: n View the upgrade logs. For ESXi, you can use the vSphere Client to export the log files, or you can find the upgrade log file esxupdate.log at /locker/db on the host. For ESX, you can find upgrade log files at /var/log/vmware/ on the host.
vSphere Upgrade Guide This chapter includes the following topics: n “Restore vSphere Web Access on ESX Hosts,” on page 68 n “Evaluation Period Countdown,” on page 69 n “Clean Up the ESX Bootloader Menu After Upgrade,” on page 69 n “About the esxconsole.
Chapter 10 Postupgrade Considerations for Hosts Evaluation Period Countdown The ESX/ESXi 60-day evaluation period begins to count down immediately after the first time you power on the ESX/ESXi machine. The 60-day evaluation count down starts even if the host is licensed and you are not using evaluation mode. For example, suppose you decide 10 days after the first power-on to switch from licensed mode to evaluation mode. Only 50 days remain of the evaluation period.
vSphere Upgrade Guide About the esxconsole.vmdk A virtual machine disk file (.vmdk file) stores the contents of a virtual machine's hard disk drive. A .vmdk file can be accessed in the same way as a physical hard disk. In ESX 4.1, the service console's partitions are stored in a .vmdk file. These partitions include /, swap, /var/log, and all the optional partitions. The name of this file is esxconsole-system- uuid/esxconsole.vmdk. All .vmdk files, including the esxconsole.vmdk, are stored in VMFS volumes.
Chapter 10 Postupgrade Considerations for Hosts 7 Click OK. Roll Back an ESX Upgrade You might need to roll back to ESX 3.5 if the upgrade to ESX 4.1 does not work as expected in your environment. Optionally, you can remove the ESX 4.1 boot option from the ESX bootloader menu and perform a complete roll back to ESX 3.5. NOTE Roll backs are supported only for upgrades from ESX 3.5 to ESX 4.1 using vCenter Update Manager. Consider the following points: n Any changes made to the ESX 4.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Restore the ESX Host Configuration If you backed up your ESX service console and VMFS files, you can restore your original ESX host configuration. Procedure 1 Reinstall the original version of ESX on the host. See the Installation Guide. 2 Restore the backed-up service console and local VMFS files. See http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/610. Restore the ESXi Host Configuration If you created a backup of the ESXi host configuration, you can restore the configuration.
Upgrading Virtual Machines 11 After you perform an ESX/ESXi upgrade, VMware recommends that you upgrade all the virtual machines that reside on the host. The first step in upgrading virtual machines is to upgrade VMware Tools. If the virtual machines do not have VMware Tools installed, you can use the VMware Tools upgrade procedure to install VMware Tools. After you install or upgrade VMware Tools, upgrade the virtual machine hardware.
vSphere Upgrade Guide n “Upgrade Virtual Hardware,” on page 82 n “Upgrade Virtual Hardware on Multiple Virtual Machines,” on page 84 About VMware Tools VMware Tools is a suite of utilities that enhances the performance of the virtual machine’s guest operating system and improves management of the virtual machine. Although the guest operating system can run without VMware Tools, you lose important functionality and convenience.
Chapter 11 Upgrading Virtual Machines Planning Downtime for Virtual Machines Plan downtime for each virtual machine during the upgrade process. Typically, this downtime occurs during the virtual machine upgrade and the VMware Tools upgrade. Depending on your upgrade plan, some virtual machine downtime might be required during the ESX upgrade. If an ESX/ESXi host is not managed by vCenter Server, you cannot use vMotion to move virtual machines.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Table 11-1 summarizes the downtime required by guest operating system and by upgrade operation. Table 11-1.
Chapter 11 Upgrading Virtual Machines 8 Follow the onscreen instructions. 9 Reboot to make the changes take effect. The VMware Tools label on the Summary tab changes to OK. What to do next (Recommended) Upgrade the virtual machine hardware to version 7. Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Linux Guest with the Tar Installer Upgrade VMware Tools to the latest version to enhance the performance of the virtual machine's guest operating system and improve virtual machine management.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 9 If you have a previous installation, delete the previous vmware-tools-distrib directory: rm -rf /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib The default location of this directory is: /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib. 10 List the contents of the /mnt/cdrom/ directory, and note the filename of the VMware Tools tar installer: ls /mnt/cdrom 11 Uncompress the tar installer, where is the build or revision number of the ESX/ESXi version. tar zxpf /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-4.0.0-.tar.
Chapter 11 Upgrading Virtual Machines 3 Click the Console tab to make sure that the guest operating system starts successfully, and log in if necessary. 4 Right-click the virtual machine, select Guest, and select Install/Upgrade VMware Tools. 5 Select Interactive Tools Upgrade and click OK. The upgrade process starts by mounting the VMware Tools bundle on the guest operating system.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 3 Click the Console tab to make sure that the guest operating system starts successfully, and log in if necessary. 4 Right-click the virtual machine, select Guest, and select Install/Upgrade VMware Tools. 5 Select Interactive Tools Upgrade and click OK. The upgrade process starts by mounting the VMware Tools bundle on the guest operating system. 6 In the virtual machine console, load the CD-ROM driver so the CD-ROM device mounts the ISO image as a volume.
Chapter 11 Upgrading Virtual Machines 3 Click the Console tab to make sure that the guest operating system starts successfully, and log in if necessary. Wait until the guest operating system starts. 4 Right-click the virtual machine, select Guest, and select Install/Upgrade VMware Tools. If the guest operating system has an out-of-date version of VMware Tools, the Install/Upgrade Tools dialog box appears. 5 Select Automatic Tools Upgrade.
vSphere Upgrade Guide 7 For Linux guest operating systems, execute the following commands to restore the network: /etc/init.d/network stop rmmod vmxnet modprobe vmxnet /etc/init.d/network start The VMware Tools label on the Summary tab changes to OK. What to do next (Recommended) Upgrade the virtual machine hardware to version 7. See “Upgrade Virtual Hardware on Multiple Virtual Machines,” on page 84.
Chapter 11 Upgrading Virtual Machines n Upgraded virtual machines cannot be powered on by an ESX 2.x host, even if relocated to a VMFS2 datastore. n To automate this process, consider using vCenter Update Manager for virtual machine upgrades. vCenter Update Manager takes automatic snapshots before performing virtual machine upgrades. See the vSphere Update Manager Administration Guide. n When you upgrade virtual hardware, no downtime is required for vCenter Server or ESX/ESXi hosts.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Upgrade Virtual Hardware on Multiple Virtual Machines You can upgrade virtual hardware on multiple virtual machines by using the Virtual Machines tab. Prerequisites n Create backups or snapshots of the virtual machines. See the vSphere Datacenter Administration Guide. n Upgrade VMware Tools. n Make sure that all .vmdk files are available to the ESX/ESXi host on a VMFS3 datastore. n Make sure that the virtual machines are stored on VMFS3 or NFS datastores.
Example Upgrade Scenarios 12 Upgrade scenarios for vSphere 4.1 include cases with and without clustered hosts, hosts that you upgrade on the same machine on which they are currently running (in-place upgrades), and hosts that you upgrade using different machines (migration upgrades).
vSphere Upgrade Guide After the upgrade, the hosts are automatically connected to vCenter Server 4.1 if you select that option during the upgrade process. VMware High Availability (HA) and VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) clusters are automatically reconfigured. (Check to ensure that the automatic reconfiguration is successful. In some cases, you might need to reconfigure the clusters manually.) vCenter Server 4.1 is supported only on 64-bit systems.
Chapter 12 Example Upgrade Scenarios b Make sure that you have the required permissions to perform this procedure. See “Database Prerequisites,” on page 23. c Take a full backup of the vCenter Server 4.0 database. See your database documentation. d Back up the vCenter Server 4.0 SSL certificates. The downtime required for this upgrade is based on the amount of data in the database. During this time, you cannot perform provisioning operations, such as cloning or creating virtual machines.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Moving Virtual Machines Using vMotion During an Upgrade This scenario is known as a migration upgrade. The migration upgrade is a managed transition rather than a strict upgrade. By using vMotion to move virtual machines directly from one production host to another production host, you minimize downtime of the virtual machines. The following example provides a high-level overview of the upgrade process in an environment with ESX 3.5/ESXi 3.5 or higher and vCenter Server 4.
Chapter 12 Example Upgrade Scenarios 5 If your environment has vCenter Guided Consolidation, complete the consolidation plan and then upgrade it to the latest version. 6 If your environment has vCenter Update Manager, upgrade it to the latest version. Procedure 1 Use vMotion to evacuate the virtual machines from the ESX 3.5/ESXi 3.5 or higher host. 2 Upgrade to ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1, or perform a fresh installation of ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1. 3 Add the ESX 4.1/ESXi 4.1 host to vCenter Server.
vSphere Upgrade Guide Before you begin this procedure, complete the following tasks: 1 Upgrade to vCenter Server 4.1. a Make sure your database is compatible with vCenter Server 4.1. This release discontinues support for some database versions and adds support for other database versions. See the vSphere Compatibility Matrixes on the VMware vSphere documentation Web site. b Make sure that you have the required permissions to perform this procedure. See “Database Prerequisites,” on page 23.
Chapter 12 Example Upgrade Scenarios You can use either the vSphere Client or vCenter Update Manager to upgrade virtual machines. In a clustered environment, VMware recommends that you use vCenter Update Manager . See the vSphere Update Manager Administration Guide. If you are using the vSphere Client to upgrade virtual machines, see Chapter 11, “Upgrading Virtual Machines,” on page 73.
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Index Symbols / partition 70 Numerics 64-bit moving to 35, 36, 91 upgrading vCenter Server to 33 64-bit DSN requirement 38 A automatic upgrades, VMware Tools 82 automatic VMware Tools upgrade 80 B back up, ESX host configuration 60 backing up, vCenter Server configuration 37 backup host configuration 61 vCenter Server database 34 backup VirtualCenter 28 backup.
vSphere Upgrade Guide G N global data 46 groups 46 guest operating systems 17 Netware guest, VMware Tools upgrade 79 network permissions upgrade 52 upgrading 49 networks, permissions 50 H hardware requirements for ESXi 13 for vCenter Server 15 hardware requirements for the vSphere Client 15 hardware requirements, ESXi 14 host upgrade 63 host upgrades, about 56 hosts, upgrade 58 hosts firewall 18 hosts, configuration after upgrade 58, 60 optional partitions 70 Oracle 26 Oracle database changing the com
Index S SAS disks 13, 14 SATA disks 13, 14 scenarios 21, 74, 85 SCSI 13, 14 services, VMware Tools 73, 74 Solaris guest, VMware Tools upgrade 78 specifications ESXi hardware requirements 13, 14 performance recommendations 13, 14 SQL Server, changing the computer name 27 SQL Server Express database, back up 37 SSL certificates 45, 91 static IP addresses 58 supported upgrades, ESX 56 swap partition 70 system requirements, vCenter Server database 25 T tar installer 77 TCP/IP 23 technical support 9 U uninsta
vSphere Upgrade Guide installing 45 requirements 17 vSphere DNS requirements 19 vSphere Web Access 68 96 VMware, Inc.
