vCenter Server Upgrade 17 APR 2018 VMware vSphere 6.7 vCenter Server 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware website at: https://docs.vmware.com/ If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to docfeedback@vmware.com VMware, Inc. 3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com Copyright © 2018 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright and trademark information. VMware, Inc.
Contents 1 About vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Overview of the vSphere Upgrade Process 6 vSphere 6.7 Component Behavior Changes that Affect Upgrade 11 Deployment Topologies with External Platform Services Controller Instances and High Availability 21 Moving from a Deprecated to a Supported vCenter Server Deployment Topology Before Upgrade or Migration 23 Example Upgrade Paths from vCenter Server version 6.x to version 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade GUI Migration of vCenter Server with an Embedded vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to an Appliance 161 GUI Migration of vCenter Server with an External vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to an Appliance 168 CLI Migration of a vCenter Server Installation from Windows to an Appliance 179 5 After Upgrading or Migrating vCenter Server 197 Verify Your vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or Migration Is Successful Log in to vCenter Server by Usin
About vCenter Server Upgrade 1 vCenter Server 6.7 provides many options for upgrading your vCenter Server deployment. For a successful vCenter Server upgrade, you must understand the upgrade options, the configuration details that impact the upgrade process, and the sequence of tasks. The two core components of vSphere are VMware ESXi™ and VMware vCenter Server™. ESXi is the virtualization platform on which you can create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances.
vCenter Server Upgrade Overview of the vSphere Upgrade Process vSphere is a sophisticated product with multiple components to upgrade. Understanding the required sequence of tasks is vital for a successful vSphere upgrade. Figure 1‑1. Overview of High-Level vSphere Upgrade Tasks Start vSphere upgrade Back up your configuration Upgrade vCenter Server Upgrade ESXi hosts Upgrade virtual machines and virtual appliances Upgrade to vSphere 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade 7 To ensure sufficient disk storage for log files, consider setting up a syslog server for remote logging. Setting up logging on a remote host is especially important for hosts with limited local storage. For detailed instructions, see ESXi Upgrade. 8 Upgrade your VMs and virtual appliances, manually or by using vSphere Update Manager, to perform an orchestrated upgrade. For detailed instructions, see ESXi Upgrade.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 1‑2. vCenter Server High-level Upgrade Tasks Start vCenter Server upgrade Verify you meet the upgrade requirements Prepare the upgrade environment Choose your upgrade method Upgrade vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade vCenter Server on Windows Migrate vCenter Server on Windows to vCenter Server Appliance Complete post-upgrade tasks Upgrade to vCenter Server 6.7 is complete High-level steps for upgrading or migrating vCenter Server: 1 Select your upgrade goal.
vCenter Server Upgrade You can connect vCenter Server instances with external Platform Services Controller instances in an Enhanced Linked Mode configuration. Important Although you can choose to join a vCenter Single Sign-On domain, you should consider vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller as a standalone installation and do not use it for replication of infrastructure data. Concurrent upgrades are not supported and upgrade order matters.
vCenter Server Upgrade vCenter Server Upgrade Compatibility The upgrade to vCenter Server 6.7 affects other software components of the data center. Table 1‑1 summarizes how upgrading vCenter Server can affect your data center components. vCenter Server 6.7 can manage ESXi version 6.0 or 6.5 hosts in the same cluster with ESXi 6.7 hosts vCenter Server 6.7 cannot manage ESXi 5.5 or earlier hosts. vSphere supports upgrades from vCenter Server 6.0 and later to vCenter Server 6.7.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 1‑1. Upgrading vCenter Server and Related VMware Products and Components (Continued) Product or Component Compatibility Auto Deploy To ensure compatibility and best performance, when you upgrade to vCenter Server 6.7, use Auto Deploy to upgrade ESXi hosts to the same version. vSphere Distributed Virtual Switch (DVS) You must upgrade to DVS version 6.0 or later prior to upgrading to vCenter Server 6.7. See Knowledge Base article KB 52826.
vCenter Server Upgrade vCenter Server Upgrade Methods vSphere supports multiple methods for upgrading vCenter Server to version 6.7. Supported Migration Path from vCenter Server for Windows to vCenter Server Appliance You can migrate from an existing vCenter Server for Windows configuration to a vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 deployment using a graphical user interface-based installer or a command line interface-based installer. See Differences between Upgrading and Migrating vCenter Server on Windows.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Upgrade and migration from a mixed mode IPv4 and IPv6 environment transfers configurations depending on the source deployment configuration. Table 1‑2.
vCenter Server Upgrade Upgrade or Migration Order and Mixed-Version Transitional Behavior for Multiple vCenter Server Instance Deployments When you upgrade or migrate a deployment with multiple vCenter Server instances, the upgrade or migration order matters. You upgrade or migrate externally deployedPlatform Services Controller 6.0 and 6.5 instances first. You temporarily leave the vCenter Server instances at version 6.0 or version 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 1‑3. Mixed-Version 6.0 and 6.7 Transitional Environment Virtual Machine or Physical Server Platform Services Controller 6.7 Virtual Machine or Physical Server Virtual Machine or Physical Server vCenter Server 6.0 vCenter Server 6.5 Important Mixed-version environments are not supported for production. Use these environments only during the period when an environment is in transition between vCenter Server versions.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 1‑5. Example vSphere 6.0 or 6.5 Deployment in Transition at Step 1 Transitional Upgrade Environment: Step 1 Platform Services Controller 6.7 Platform Services Controller 6.0 or 6.5 Operating System Operating System vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 1‑7. Example vSphere 6.0 or 6.5 Deployment in Transition at Step 3 Transitional Upgrade Environment: Step 3 Platform Services Controller 6.7 Platform Services Controller 6.7 Operating System Operating System vCenter Server 6.7 vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 Operating System Operating System Operating System After upgrading the first vCenter Server instance to 6.7, changes occur in the connectivity between the vCenter Server instances.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 1‑8. Example vSphere 6.0 Deployment After Step 5 with Upgrade Complete Transitional Upgrade Environment: Step 5 Platform Services Controller 6.7 Platform Services Controller 6.7 Operating System Operating System vCenter Server 6.7 vCenter Server 6.7 vCenter Server 6.7 Operating System Operating System Operating System After upgrading the third and final vCenter Server instance to 6.7, all the vCenter Server instances are connected with full vCenter Server 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade You can migrate with an embedded or external vCenter database. In either case, the database is converted to an embedded PostgreSQL database on the new appliance. For more about the database migration, see Preparing vCenter Server Databases for Migration. You can migrate a vCenter Server installation to an appliance using either the GUI method or CLI method. n When migrating vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller (version 6.0 or 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade For information about upgrading vCenter Server installations, see Chapter 3 Upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance or Chapter 2 Upgrading vCenter Server for Windows. For information about patching or updating vCenter Server, see Chapter 7 Patching and Updating vCenter Server 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade For a list of VMware products that support disabling TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1, see VMware Knowledge Base article 2145796. To learn how to manage TLS protocol configuration, and use the TLS Configurator Utility, see the VMware Security documentation.
vCenter Server Upgrade Platform Services Controller with Load Balancers Across vCenter Single Sign-On Sites Figure 1‑10.
vCenter Server Upgrade When you join two or more Platform Services Controller instances in the same site with no load balancer, you configure Platform Services Controller high availability with a manual failover for this site. Note If your vCenter Single Sign-On domain includes three or more Platform Services Controller instances, you can manually create a ring topology. A ring topology ensures Platform Services Controller reliability when one of the instances fails.
vCenter Server Upgrade Moving to a Supported Topology from vCenter Server instances with Embedded Platform Services Controller or vCenter Single Single-On in Replication Figure 1‑13. Deprecated Topology of vCenter Server instances with Embedded Platform Services Controller or vCenter Single Single-On in Replication Virtual Machine or Physical Server Virtual Machine or Physical Server Platform Services Controller Platform Services Controller vCenter Server vCenter Server To move a vSphere 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Moving to a Supported Topology from an Embedded Platform Services Controller and an External Platform Services Controller in Replication Figure 1‑15.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 1‑16. vCenter Server 6.0.x with Embedded Platform Services Controller Before and After Upgrade vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 vCenter Server vCenter Server Platform Services Controller Platform Services Controller Operating System Operating System The installer upgrades an external vCenter Server 6.0 and 6.5 instance to an external vCenter Server 6.7 instance and an external Platform Services Controller 6.0 and 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade You can migrate a vCenter Server version 6.0 or 6.5 instance on Windows to a vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 deployment on a Linux-based OS. The vCenter Server example migration paths demonstrate supported migration outcomes. You can migrate a vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller (version 6.0) to a vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade If you have a multi-site setup configured with replication, you can use vCenter Server to incorporate your common services into an external Platform Services Controller configuration as part of your upgrade process. For more information on mixed version transitional environments, see Upgrade or Migration Order and Mixed-Version Transitional Behavior for Multiple vCenter Server Instance Deployments. VMware, Inc.
Upgrading vCenter Server for Windows 2 You can upgrade vCenter Server version 6.0 and version 6.5 deployments for Windows to vCenter Server version 6.7 deployments for Windows. The vCenter Server upgrade includes a database schema upgrade, upgrade of Platform Services Controller, and upgrade of the vCenter Server software.
vCenter Server Upgrade You cannot uninstall or reinstall individual services during the upgrade process. Note Starting with vSphere 6.5, the vCenter Server services are not standalone services under Windows SCM, instead they run as child processes of the VMware Service Lifecycle Manager service. vCenter Server for Windows Requirements To upgrade vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, your system must meet specific hardware and software requirements.
vCenter Server Upgrade Pre-Upgrade Checks for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows When you upgrade vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller on Windows, the installer does a pre-check, for example, to verify that enough space is available on the virtual machine or physical server where you are upgrading vCenter Server, and verifies that the external database, if any, can be successfully accessed. When you upgrade Platform Services Controller (version 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade You can upgrade vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller on the same virtual machine or physical server or on different virtual machines or physical servers. When you upgrade vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller, you upgrade vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller on the same virtual machine or physical server.
vCenter Server Upgrade During upgrade, you can select a folder other than the default C:\Program Files\VMware folder to upgrade vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller. You can also select a folder other than the default C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\ in which to store data. The following table lists the minimum disk space requirements for the different deployment models. The requirements change depending on the installed vCenter Server services and the vSphere inventory size. Table 2‑3.
vCenter Server Upgrade Required Ports for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller The vCenter Server system, both on Windows and in the appliance, must be able to send data to every managed host and receive data from the vSphere Web Client and the Platform Services Controller services. To enable migration and provisioning activities between managed hosts, the source and destination hosts must be able to receive data from each other.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 2‑4. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 80 TCP vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to HTTPS port 443. This redirection is useful if you accidentally use http://server instead of https://server. Windows installations and appliance deployments of WS-Management (also requires port 443 to be open).
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 2‑4. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 443 TCP The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to listen for connections from the vSphere Web Client. To enable the vCenter Server system to receive data from the vSphere Web Client, open port 443 in the firewall.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 2‑4. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 902 TCP/UDP The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to send data to managed hosts. Managed hosts also send a regular heartbeat over UDP port 902 to the vCenter Server system. This port must not be blocked by firewalls between the server and the hosts or between hosts.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 2‑4. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 2020 TCP/UDP Authentication framework management Windows installations and appliance deployments of Important You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows. 5480 TCP Appliance Management Interface Open endpoint serving all HTTPS, XMLRPS and JSON-RPC requests over HTTPS.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 2‑4. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 9084 TCP vSphere Update Manager Web Server Port Appliance deployments of vCenter Server No Appliance deployments of vCenter Server No Windows installations and appliance deployments of During migration only. The HTTP port used by ESXi hosts to access host patch files from vSphere Update Manager server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Assign a static IP address and host name to the Windows server that will host the vCenter Server system. This IP address must have a valid (internal) domain name system (DNS) registration. When you install vCenter Server and the Platform Services Controller, you must provide the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or the static IP of the host machine on which you are performing the install or upgrade. The recommendation is to use the FQDN.
vCenter Server Upgrade Before Upgrading vCenter Server Ensure that your system is prepared for vCenter Server upgrade by verifying compatibility and completing any necessary database, networking, or other preparation tasks. n Verify Basic Compatibility Before Upgrading vCenter Server Verify that all components meet basic compatibility requirements before upgrading vCenter Server. n Download the vCenter Server Installer for Windows Download the .
vCenter Server Upgrade Procedure 1 The installation path of the previous version of vCenter Server must be compatible with the installation requirements for Microsoft Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM/AD LDS). The installation path must contain only ASCII characters. Extended ASCII and non-ASCII characters are unsupported. If your previous version of vCenter Server does not meet this requirement, you must perform a fresh installation of vCenter Server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Procedure 1 Download the vCenter Server installer from the VMware Web site at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads. vCenter Server is part of VMware vCloud Suite and VMware vSphere, listed under Datacenter & Cloud Infrastructure. 2 VMware provides a sha-1 hash, a sha-256 hash, or an MD5 message digest for software downloads.
vCenter Server Upgrade Prerequisites Verify that you have confirmed basic upgrade interoperability before preparing your Oracle database for upgrading vCenter Server. See Database Requirements for vCenter Server on Windows. Verify that you have backed up your database. For information about backing up the vCenter Server database, see the Oracle documentation.
vCenter Server Upgrade Your database is prepared for the vCenter Server upgrade. What to do next After the upgrade is complete, you can optionally remove the following permissions from the user profile: create any sequence and create any table. By default, the RESOURCE role has the CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE SEQUENCE privileges assigned. If the RESOURCE role lacks these privileges, grant them to the vCenter Server database user.
vCenter Server Upgrade 3 If your existing database is Microsoft SQL Server, and you want to upgrade to a newly supported Microsoft SQL Server database, such as Microsoft SQL Server 2012, upgrade your Microsoft SQL Server database before upgrading vCenter Server. You do not need to install a new vCenter Server instance if your existing database is Microsoft SQL Server.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Run the following script to create roles and apply privileges. The script is located in the vCenter Server installation package at /installation directory/vCenter-Server/dbschema/DB_and_schema_creation_scripts_MSSQL.txt .
vCenter Server Upgrade GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_update_job TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobserver TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobschedule TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE go GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.
vCenter Server Upgrade When upgrading a Microsoft SQL database, the permissions must be set correctly. Table 2‑6. Microsoft SQL Database Permissions for vCenter Server Permission Description GRANT ALTER ON SCHEMA :: [VMW] TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE Mandatory when you work with SQL Server custom schema. GRANT REFERENCES ON SCHEMA :: [VMW] TO VC_ADMIN_ROLE Mandatory when you work with SQL Server custom schema.
vCenter Server Upgrade When upgrading an Oracle database, the permissions must be set correctly. Table 2‑7. Oracle Database Permissions for vCenter Server Permission Description GRANT CONNECT TO VPXADMIN Necessary for connecting to the Oracle database. GRANT RESOURCE TO VPXADMIN Necessary for creating a trigger, sequence, type, procedure, and so on. By default, the RESOURCE role has the CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE SEQUENCE privileges assigned.
vCenter Server Upgrade Verify That vCenter Server Can Communicate with the Local Database If your database is on the same machine on which vCenter Server is to be installed, and you changed the machine name, verify the configuration. Make sure that the vCenter Server DSN is configured to communicate with the new name of the machine. Changing the vCenter Server computer name impacts database communication if the database server is on the same computer with vCenter Server.
vCenter Server Upgrade n All the remote file system shares used as library backings must be accessible at the time of the upgrade. n No subscribed libraries are using file based subscription URI. If you are upgrading from vCenter Server 6.0 Update 1, no actions are necessary. If your environment does not meet the requirements, you must perform the following actions to prepare for upgrade.
vCenter Server Upgrade 4 Ensure that the ESXi host management interface has a valid DNS resolution from the vCenter Server and all instances of vSphere Web Client. Ensure that the vCenter Server has a valid DNS resolution from all ESXi hosts and all instances of vSphere Web Client. 5 If you intend to use Active Directory as an identity source, verify that it is set up correctly.
vCenter Server Upgrade Prerequisites To upgrade vCenter Server, your ESXi hosts must be at version 6.0. If your ESXi hosts are earlier than 6.0, upgrade them to 6.0. Read and follow all best practices when upgrading your hosts to ESXi 6.0. Procedure 1 To keep your current SSL certificates, back up the SSL certificates that are on the vCenter Server system before you upgrade to vCenter Server 6.7. The default location of the SSL certificates is %allusersprofile%\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCent
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Make sure that your pre-upgrade configuration is correct for the post-upgrade deployment you want to achieve. When upgrading from vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5, the software preserves your current deployment during the upgrade to vCenter Server 6.7. 3 Verify that the required services have started.
vCenter Server Upgrade Synchronize ESXi Clocks with a Network Time Server Before you install vCenter Server or deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, make sure all machines on your vSphere network have their clocks synchronized. This task explains how to set up NTP from the VMware Host Client. You can instead use the vicfg-ntp vCLI command. See the vSphere Command-Line Interface Reference. Procedure 1 Start the VMware Host Client, and connect to the ESXi host. 2 Click Configure.
vCenter Server Upgrade The user account must be an administrator on the local machine. In the installation wizard, you specify the account name as DomainName\Username. You must configure the SQL Server database to allow the domain account access to SQL Server. The Microsoft Windows built-in system account has more permissions and rights on the server than the vCenter Server system needs, which can contribute to security problems.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 2‑8. Information Required for Upgrading vCenter Server for Windows. Required Information Default Value Your Entry vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name administrator@vsphere .local You cannot change the default user name during upgrade. Important The user must be administrator@your_d omain_name.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Next you upgrade the vCenter Server instance to version 6.7. For upgrade steps, see Upgrade vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 on Windows. Figure 2‑1. vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 with Embedded Platform Services Controller Deployment Before and After Ugrade vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 vCenter Server vCenter Server Platform Services Controller Platform Services Controller Windows OS Windows OS Figure 2‑2. vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Concurrent upgrades of Platform Services Controller instances are not supported. When upgrading multiple instances of vCenter Server that share the same vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller, you can upgrade the vCenter Server instances concurrently after first upgrading the vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Complete the preparation to upgrade tasks. See Before Upgrading vCenter Server n Verify that you have made a backup of your vCenter Server configuration and database. n To verify that the VMware Directory Service is in a stable state and can stop, manually restart it. The VMware Directory service must be stopped for the vCenter Server upgrade software to uninstall vCenter Single Sign-On during the upgrade process. n Download the vCenter Server Installer.
vCenter Server Upgrade 10 Before clicking Finish, take note of the post upgrade steps. 11 Click Finish to complete the upgrade. Your vCenter Server for Windows upgrade is complete. What to do next Verify that your upgrade was successful. For verification steps, see Verify Your vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or Migration Is Successful. For information on post-upgrade steps, see Chapter 5 After Upgrading or Migrating vCenter Server. Upgrade vCenter Platform Services Controller 6.0 or 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade n To verify that the VMware Directory Service is in a stable state and can stop, manually restart it. The VMware Directory service must be stopped for the vCenter Server upgrade software to uninstall Platform Services Controller during the upgrade process. n Download the vCenter Server Installer. See Download the vCenter Server Installer for Windows Procedure 1 Download the vCenter Server for Windows ISO file. Extract the ISO file locally, or mount the ISO file as a drive.
vCenter Server Upgrade What to do next If you have multiple Platform Services Controller instances, you must upgrade all of them before upgrading any affiliated vCenter Server instances. After upgrading all Platform Services Controller instances to version 6.7, you can upgrade your vCenter Server instances. For information on upgrading vCenter Server instances on Windows, see Upgrade vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 on Windows.
vCenter Server Upgrade n vCenter Server appliance 6.5 and 6.7 support only the embedded PostgreSQL database. If you are migrating from avCenter Server 6.0 deployment using an external Oracle database, the upgrade installer automatically migrates the database from the Oracle database to the embedded PostgreSQL database included with vCenter Server. Note If you are using any external Platform Services Controller instances, you must upgrade them to Platform Services Controller 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Enter your credentials. n Enter your vCenter Server administrator credentials. n If vCenter Single Sign-On is present, enter the administrator@vsphere.local user credential and the vCenter Single Sign-On credential. The user must be administrator@your_domain_name. n Click Next. The installer runs checks in the background to detect any issues that can cause the upgrade to fail. You might receive a warning if the old certificates do not meet current VMware security standards.
Upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance 3 You can upgrade the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 or 6.5 and the Platform Services Controller appliance 6.0 to version 6.7. All of the installation files that are necessary for the upgrade are included in the vCenter Server Appliance installer, which you can download from the VMware Web site.
vCenter Server Upgrade The vCenter Server Appliance installer contains executable files GUI and CLI upgrades which you can use alternatively. n The GUI upgrade is a two stage process. The first stage is a deployment wizard that deploys the OVA file of the new appliance on the target ESXi host or vCenter Server instance.
vCenter Server Upgrade About the Upgrade Process of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance You can upgrade the vCenter Server Appliance from version 6.0 or 6.5 to version 6.7. You can upgrade the Platform Services Controller appliance from version 6.0 or 6.5 to version 6.7. When you run the GUI or CLI upgrade, the process includes: 1 Deploying a new appliance of version 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 3‑1.
vCenter Server Upgrade System Requirements for the New vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance The upgrade of the appliance is a migration of the old version to the new version, which includes deploying a new appliance of version 6.7. You can deploy the new vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance on an ESXi host 6.0 or later, or on a vCenter Server instance 6.0 or later. Your system must also meet specific software and hardware requirements.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑1.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑2.
vCenter Server Upgrade VMware uses designated ports for communication. Additionally, the managed hosts monitor designated ports for data from vCenter Server. If a built-in firewall exists between any of these elements, the installer opens the ports during the installation or upgrade process. For custom firewalls, you must manually open the required ports.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 88 TCP Active Directory server. This port must be open for host to join Active Directory. If you use native Active Directory, the port must be open on both vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Used for Node-to-Node Communication Port Protocol Description Required for 514 TCP/UDP vSphere Syslog Collector port for vCenter Server on Windows and vSphere Syslog Service port for vCenter Server Appliance Windows installations and appliance deployments of n vCenter Server Important You can change this port number during the vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 2012 TCP Control interface RPC for vCenter Single Sign-On Windows installations and appliance deployments of Platform Services Controller 2014 TCP RPC port for all VMCA (VMware Certificate Authority) APIs Important You can change this port number during the Platform Services Controller installations on Windows.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑3.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑3. Ports Required for Communication Between Components (Continued) Port Protocol Description Required for 9123 TCP Migration Assistant port Windows installations and appliance deployments of Only when you run the Migration Assistant on the source Windows installation. The Migration Assistant lets you migrate Windows installations of vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller to appliances.
vCenter Server Upgrade If you plan to use an FQDN for the appliance system name, you must verify that the FQDN is resolvable by a DNS server. You can use the nslookup command to verify that the DNS reverse lookup service returns an FQDN when queried with the IP address and to verify that the FQDN is resolvable.
vCenter Server Upgrade If the vCenter Server Appliance uses an external Oracle database, you must determine the size of the existing database. If vCenter Server Appliance uses an external Update Manager instance, you must run the Migration Assistant on the Update Manager machine.
vCenter Server Upgrade Prerequisites n Create a My VMware account at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/. n Verify that your client machine meets the system requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance installer. See System Requirements for the vCenter Server Appliance Installer. Procedure 1 From the VMware Web site at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads, download the vCenter Server Appliance ISO image. VMware-VCSA-all-version_number-build_number.iso 2 Confirm that the md5sum is correct.
vCenter Server Upgrade To synchronize ESXi clocks with an NTP server, you can use the VMware Host Client. For information about editing the time configuration of an ESXi host, see vSphere Single Host Management. Transferring Data from an Existing vCenter Server Appliance You can transfer data from an existing vCenter Server Appliance external database to the embedded PostgreSQL database in use by version 6.7 of the vCenter Server Appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑6. vCenter Server database support for data transfer after upgrade or migration (Continued) vCenter Server Versions Databases vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 Support for Data Transfer External Oracle or MS SQL database Supported Embedded PostgreSQL database Not supported Embedded PostgreSQL database Not supported External Oracle or MS SQL database Supported Embedded PostgreSQL database Not supported vCenter Server for Windows 6.0 vCenter Server Appliance 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 If you have Custom or Thumbprint certificates, see Host Upgrades and Certificates to determine your preparatory steps. 3 If you have vSphere HA clusters, SSL certificate checking must be enabled. If certificate checking is not enabled when you upgrade, vSphere HA fails to configure on the hosts. a Select the vCenter Server Appliance instance in the inventory panel. b Select the Manage tab and then the General tab.
vCenter Server Upgrade The recommended upgrade workflow depends on the current certificates. Host Provisioned with Thumbprint Certificates If your host is currently using thumbprint certificates, it is automatically assigned VMCA certificates as part of the upgrade process. Note You cannot provision legacy hosts with VMCA certificates. You must upgrade those hosts to ESXi 6.0 later.
vCenter Server Upgrade 4 Change the value of vpxd.certmgmt.mode to custom if you intend to manage your own certificates, and to thumbprint if you temporarily want to use thumbprint mode, and click OK. 5 Restart the vCenter Server service. Determine the Oracle Database Size and the Storage Size for the New Appliance Before upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance or migrating a vCenter Server on Windows that uses an external Oracle database, you must determine the size of the existing database.
vCenter Server Upgrade AND AND AND AND AND AND ti.tname ti.tname ti.tname ti.tname ti.tname ti.tname NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT NOT LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE 'VPX_TOPN%' 'VPX_SDRS_STATS_VM%' 'VPX_SDRS_STATS_DATASTORE%' 'VPX_TASK%' 'VPX_EVENT%' 'VPX_PROPERTY_BULLETIN%'); The script returns the database storage size in MB. 3 Determine the events and tasks table size by running the following script. SELECT ROUND(SUM(s.bytes)/(1024*1024)) SIZE_MB FROM user_segments s WHERE (s.segment_name,s.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Calculate the minimum storage size for the new appliance that you are going to deploy during the upgrade. a The size of the database (/storage/db) partition of the embedded PostgreSQL database must be at least twice the size of the Oracle core table returned in Step 2.
vCenter Server Upgrade Prerequisites for Upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller Appliance To ensure successful upgrade of the vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance, you must preform some required tasks and pre-checks before running the upgrade. General Prerequisites n Download and Mount the vCenter Server Appliance Installer. n Verify that the clocks of all machines on the vSphere network are synchronized.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Verify that port 443 is open on the source ESXi host on which the appliance that you want to upgrade resides. The upgrade process establishes an HTTPS connection to the source ESXi host to verify that the source appliance is ready for upgrade and to set up an SSH connection between the new and the existing appliance. n Verify that you have sufficient free disk space on the appliance that you want to upgrade so that you can accommodate the data for the upgrade.
vCenter Server Upgrade When you perform the GUI upgrade, you download the vCenter Server Appliance installer on a network client machine, run the upgrade wizard from the client machine, and provide the inputs that are required for the deployment and setup of the new upgraded appliance. Important For topologies with external Platform Services Controller instances, you must upgrade the replicating Platform Services Controller instances in a sequence.
vCenter Server Upgrade Required Information for Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 or 6.5 or Platform Services Controller Appliance 6.0 or 6.5 The GUI upgrade wizard prompts you for information about the vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 or 6.5, or Platform Services Controller appliance 6.0 or 6.5 that you want to upgrade, deployment information for the new 6.7 appliance, and the types of data that you want to transfer from the old to the new appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑7. Required Information During Stage 1 of the Upgrade (Continued) Required for Upgrade of Required Information Default All deployment types FQDN or IP address of the target server on which you want to deploy the new appliance. - Your Entry The target server can be either an ESXi host or a vCenter Server instance. Note The target server cannot be the vCenter Server Appliance that you want to upgrade. In such cases, use an ESXi host as a target server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑7. Required Information During Stage 1 of the Upgrade (Continued) Required for Upgrade of n vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 with an embedded Platform Services Controller n vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 with an external Platform Services Controller n n vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 with an embedded Platform Services Controller vCenter Server Appliance 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑7. Required Information During Stage 1 of the Upgrade (Continued) Required for Upgrade of n n vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 with an external Platform Services Controller vCenter Server Appliance 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑7. Required Information During Stage 1 of the Upgrade (Continued) Required for Upgrade of Required Information Default All deployment types Name of the datastore on which you want to store the configuration files and virtual disks of the new appliance - Your Entry Note The installer displays a list of datastores that are accessible from your target server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑8. Required Information During Stage 2 of the Upgrade Required for n vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 with an embedded or external Platform Services Controller n vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 with an embedded or external Platform Services Controller Required Information Default Data types to transfer from the old appliance to the new appliance - Your Entry In addition to the configuration data, you can transfer the events, tasks, and, performance metrics.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 3‑4.
vCenter Server Upgrade Procedure 1 In the vCenter Server Appliance installer, navigate to the vcsa-ui-installer directory, go to the subdirectory for your operating system, and run the installer executable file. n For Windows OS, go to the win32 subdirectory, and run the installer.exe file. n For Linux OS, go to the lin64 subdirectory, and run the installer file. n For Mac OS, go to the mac subdirectory, and run the Installer.app file. 2 On the Home page, click Upgrade.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Connect to the source appliance that you want to upgrade. a b Enter the information about the source vCenter Server Appliance that you want to upgrade, and click Connect to Source. Option Action Appliance FQDN or IP address Enter the IP address or FQDN of the vCenter Server Appliance that you want to upgrade. Appliance HTTPS port The default value (443) is displayed and cannot be edited. Enter the information about the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator and root user.
vCenter Server Upgrade 7 Connect to the target server on which you want to deploy the new vCenter Server Appliance. Option Steps You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the new appliance. 1 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. 2 Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host. 3 Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user. 4 Click Next. 5 Accept the certificate warning, if any, by clicking Yes.
vCenter Server Upgrade Deployment Size Option Description Large Deploys an appliance with 16 CPUs and 32 GB of memory. Suitable for environments with up to 1,000 hosts or 10,000 virtual machines X-Large Deploys an appliance with 24 CPUs and 48 GB of memory. Suitable for environments with up to 2,000 hosts or 35,000 virtual machines 10 Select the storage size for the new vCenter Server Appliance, and click Next.
vCenter Server Upgrade Option Network type Action Select the allocation method for the temporary IP address of the appliance. n Static The wizard prompts you to enter the temporary IP address, subnet mask or prefix length, default gateway, and DNS servers. n DHCP A DHCP server is used to allocate the temporary IP address. Select this option only if a DHCP server is available in your environment.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Wait for the pre-upgrade check to finish and read the pre-upgrade check result if any. n If the pre-upgrade check result contains error messages, read the messages and click Logs to export and download a support bundle for troubleshooting. You cannot proceed with the upgrade until you have corrected the errors.
vCenter Server Upgrade Upgrade a Platform Services Controller Appliance 6.0 by Using the GUI You can use the GUI installer to perform an interactive upgrade of a Platform Services Controller appliance 6.0 to version 6.7. You must run the GUI upgrade from a Windows, Linux, or Mac machine that is in the same network as the appliance that you want to upgrade. Important You must upgrade the replicating Platform Services Controller instances in a sequence. Figure 3‑5.
vCenter Server Upgrade Stage 1 - Deploy the OVA File of the New Platform Services Controller Appliance With stage 1 of the upgrade process, you deploy the OVA file of the new Platform Services Controller appliance 6.7. Procedure 1 In the vCenter Server Appliance installer, navigate to the vcsa-ui-installer directory, go to the subdirectory for your operating system, and run the installer executable file. n For Windows OS, go to the win32 subdirectory, and run the installer.exe file.
vCenter Server Upgrade 7 Connect to the target server on which you want to deploy the new Platform Services Controller appliance. Option Steps You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the new appliance. 1 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. 2 Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host. 3 Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user.
vCenter Server Upgrade 10 Configure the temporary network for communication between the Platform Services Controller appliance that you want to upgrade and the new Platform Services Controller appliance, and click Next. Option Action Choose a network Select the network to which to connect the new appliance temporarily. The networks displayed in the drop-down menu depend on the network settings of the target server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Stage 2 - Transfer the Data and Set up the Newly Deployed Platform Services Controller Appliance When the OVA deployment finishes, you are redirected to stage 2 of the upgrade process to transfer the data from the old appliance and start the services of the newly deployed Platform Services Controller appliance 6.7. Procedure 1 Review the introduction to stage 2 of the upgrade process and click Next.
vCenter Server Upgrade n If the Platform Services Controller appliance replicates the infrastructure data with other Platform Services Controller instances, you must upgrade all Platform Services Controller instances in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain to the same version. Upgrade a vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 or 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Stage 1 - Deploy the OVA File of the New vCenter Server Appliance With an External Platform Services Controller With stage 1 of the upgrade process, you deploy the OVA file of the new vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 with an external Platform Services Controller. Procedure 1 In the vCenter Server Appliance installer, navigate to the vcsa-ui-installer directory, go to the subdirectory for your operating system, and run the installer executable file.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Connect to the source appliance that you want to upgrade. a b Enter the information about the source vCenter Server Appliance that you want to upgrade, and click Connect to Source. Option Action Appliance FQDN or IP address Enter the IP address or FQDN of the vCenter Server Appliance that you want to upgrade. Appliance HTTPS port The default value (443) is displayed and cannot be edited. Enter the information about the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator and root user.
vCenter Server Upgrade 8 Connect to the target server on which you want to deploy the new vCenter Server Appliance. Option Steps You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the new appliance. 1 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. 2 Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host. 3 Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user. 4 Click Next. 5 Accept the certificate warning, if any, by clicking Yes.
vCenter Server Upgrade Deployment Size Option Description Large Deploys an appliance with 16 CPUs and 32 GB of memory. Suitable for environments with up to 1,000 hosts or 10,000 virtual machines X-Large Deploys an appliance with 24 CPUs and 48 GB of memory. Suitable for environments with up to 2,000 hosts or 35,000 virtual machines 11 Select the storage size for the new vCenter Server Appliance, and click Next.
vCenter Server Upgrade Option Network type Action Select the allocation method for the temporary IP address of the appliance. n Static The wizard prompts you to enter the temporary IP address, subnet mask or prefix length, default gateway, and DNS servers. n DHCP A DHCP server is used to allocate the temporary IP address. Select this option only if a DHCP server is available in your environment.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Wait for the pre-upgrade check to finish and read the pre-upgrade check result if any. n If the pre-upgrade check result contains error messages, read the messages and click Logs to export and download a support bundle for troubleshooting. You cannot proceed with the upgrade until you have corrected the errors.
vCenter Server Upgrade CLI Upgrade of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance You can use the CLI installer to perform an unattended upgrade of a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance on an ESXi host or vCenter Server instance.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Download and Mount the vCenter Server Appliance Installer. Procedure 1 In the vCenter Server Appliance installer, navigate to the vcsa-cli-installer directory, and open the templates subfolder. 2 Copy the upgrade templates from the upgrade subfolder to your workspace. Important The path to the JSON configuration files must contain only ASCII characters. Extended ASCII and non-ASCII characters are unsupported. 3 Open the template file for your use case in a text editor.
vCenter Server Upgrade JSON Templates for CLI Upgrade of the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance The vCenter Server Appliance installer contains JSON templates that are located in the vcsa-cliinstaller/templates directory. In the upgrade subfolder, you can find the JSON templates with the minimum configuration parameters for all upgrade types.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑9. Upgrade JSON Templates Included in the vCenter Server Appliance Installer (Continued) Location vcsa-cliinstaller\templates\upgrade\vcsa\6 .5 VMware, Inc. Template Description vCSA_on_VC.json Contains the minimum configuration parameters that are required for upgrade of a vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 with an external Platform Services Controller to vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 with an external Platform Services Controller on a vCenter Server instance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Upgrade Configuration Parameters When you prepare your JSON configuration files for CLI upgrade, you must set parameters and values to provide input data for the upgrade of a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance. Sections and Subsections of Configuration Parameters in the JSON Upgrade Files The configuration parameters in the JSON configuration files for CLI upgrade are organized in sections and subsections. Table 3‑10.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑10. Sections and Subsections of Configuration Parameters in the JSON Upgrade Files (Continued) Section Subsection Description source_vum - describes the run_migration _assistant Optional if the source vCenter Server Appliance that you want to upgrade is connected to a VMware Update Manager instance that runs on a Windows virtual machine. Use this subsection if you want to automatically run the Migration Assistant on the source VMware Update Manager instance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑11. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, esxi Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description deployment_network string The name of the network to which to connect the new appliance. The network must be part of the target ESXi host or vCenter Server Appliance instance (as identified by the managing_esxi_or_vc configuration parameter) network configuration.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑12. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, vc Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description password string The password of the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user on the target vCenter Server instance. deployment_network string The name of the network to which to connect the new appliance. The network must part of the target ESXi host or DRS cluster network configuration.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑12. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, vc Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description target string or array The target cluster, ESXi host, or resource pool on which you want to deploy the new appliance. This is the target you specified with the datacenter parameter. This path must end with a cluster name, ESXi hostname, or resource pool name. Important You must provide the name that is displayed in the vCenter Server inventory.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑13. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection Name Type Description thin_disk_mode Boolean Set to true to deploy the new appliance with thin virtual disks. deployment_option string The size for the new appliance. Note You must consider the database size of the appliance that you want to upgrade. For an external database, see Determine the Oracle Database Size and the Storage Size for the New Appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑13. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description n Set to large if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller for up to 1,000 hosts and 10,000 virtual machines with the default storage size. Deploys an appliance with 16 CPUs, 32 GB of memory, and 740 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑13. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description n Set to management-small-lstorage if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller for up to 100 hosts and 1,000 virtual machines with the large storage size. Deploys an appliance with 4 CPUs, 16 GB of memory, and 870 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑13. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description n Set to management-xlarge-xlstorage if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller for up to 2,000 hosts and 35,000 virtual machines with the x-large storage size. Deploys an appliance with 24 CPUs, 48 GB of memory, and 2110 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑14. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, temporary_network Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description prefix string Network prefix length for the temporary network of the new appliance. Use only if the mode parameter is set to static. Remove if the mode parameter is set to dhcp. The network prefix length is the number of bits that are set in the subnet mask. For example, if the subnet mask is 255.255.255.
vCenter Server Upgrade Configuration Parameters in the source_vc Section Table 3‑16. Configuration Parameters in the source_vc Section, managing_esxi_or_vc Subsection Name Type Description hostname string The IP address or FQDN of the source ESXi or vCenter Server host on which resides the appliance that you want to upgrade. username string A user name with administrative privileges on the source ESXi host, for example, root.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 3‑18. Configuration Parameters in the source_vum Section, run_migration_assistant Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description vum_os_password string The administrator password of the Windows virtual machine on which the source VMware Update Manager instance runs. If not provided, you are prompted to enter the password at the command console during the template verification. export_dir string Directory to export source configuration and data.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 (Optional) Run a basic template verification to verify that you prepared the upgrade template correctly. vcsa-deploy upgrade --verify-template-only path_to_the_json_file 3 (Optional) Run a pre-upgrade check to gather and validate the upgrade requirements. vcsa-deploy upgrade --precheck-only path_to_the_json_file The pre-upgrade check installs the Upgrade Runner on the source appliance that you want to upgrade without upgrading the appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Argument Description --accept-eula Accepts the end-user license agreement. Required for executing the deployment command. --acknowledge-ceip Confirms your acknowledgement of your VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) participation. Required if the ceip_enabled parameter is set to true in the JSON deployment template. -v, --verbose Adds debug information to the console output. -t, --terse Hides the console output. Displays only warning and error messages.
vCenter Server Upgrade Argument Description -h, --help Displays the help message for the vcsa-deploy upgrade command. --template-help Displays the help message for the use of configuration parameters in the JSON upgrade file. After the execution finishes, you can get the exit code of the command. Exit Code Description 0 Command ran successfully 1 Runtime error 2 Validation error 3 Template error VMware, Inc.
Migrating vCenter Server for Windows to vCenter Server Appliance 4 You can migrate a vCenter Server installation on Windows to a vCenter Server Appliance installation while upgrading to version 6.7.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑1. Supported vSphere Migration Paths Source Configuration vCenter Server 6.0 with an Platform Services Controller embedded instance on Windows vCenter Server 6.5 with an embedded Platform Services Controller instance on Windows Target Configuration vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 with an embedded Platform Services Controller appliance Platform Services Controller 6.0 instance on Windows External Platform Services Controller 6.7 appliance Platform Services Controller 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade Figure 4‑1. High-level Tasks for vCenter Server on Windows Migration to vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 Start vCenter Server on Windows migration Verify migration requirements Prepare for migration Embedded What is your deployment type? External Run Migration Assistant on the source vCenter Server. Leave it open during migration Run Migration Assistant on the source Platform Services Controller.
vCenter Server Upgrade n GUI Migration of vCenter Server with an External vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to an Appliance n CLI Migration of a vCenter Server Installation from Windows to an Appliance Important You cannot change your deployment type during migration. Migration of Update Manager from Windows to a vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 For vSphere 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade System Requirements for Migrating vCenter Server Deployments to vCenter Server Appliance Deployments Your source and target systems must meet specific software and hardware requirements before you can migrate a vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On, or Platform Services Controller deployment to a vCenter Server Appliance or Platform Services Controller appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Target System n Your target system must meet specific software and hardware requirements for vCenter Server Appliance. See System Requirements for the New vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance. n When you use Fully Qualified Domain Names, make sure that the machine you use for deploying the vCenter Server Appliance and the target ESXi host or vCenter Server instance are on the same DNS server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Target Environment Checks The pre-migration checker performs checks for the following aspects of the target environment: n Minimum processor requirements n Minimum memory requirements n Minimum disk space requirements n Administrator privileges on the target host n Any credentials that you enter Known Limitations The current release has several known limitations.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Prepare Managed ESXi Hosts for Migration n Download and Mount the vCenter Server Appliance Installer n Download and Run VMware Migration Assistant on the Source Windows Machine Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network Verify that all components on the vSphere network have their clocks synchronized.
vCenter Server Upgrade Each vCenter Server Appliance instance must have its own database. The bundled PostgreSQL database that is included in the vCenter Server Appliance supports up to 2,000 hosts and 35,000 virtual machines. To ensure your database is prepared for migration: n Verify that passwords are current and not set to expire soon. n (Optional) Reduce the database size. For more information, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2110031. n Verify that you have backed up your database.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Ensure that you have login credentials, the database name, and the database server name that the vCenter Server database is to use. Look in the ODBC system for the connection name of the database source name for the vCenter Server database. 3 Use the Oracle SERVICE_NAME instead of SID to verify that your Oracle database instance is available.
vCenter Server Upgrade 3 Verify that the sqljdbc4.jar file is added to the CLASSPATH variable on the machine where vCenter Server Appliance is to be migrated. If the sqljdbc4.jar file is not installed on your system, the vCenter Server Appliance installer installs it. 4 Verify that your system database source name is using the Microsoft SQL Server Native Client 10 or 11 driver. 5 Make a full backup of the vCenter Server database.
vCenter Server Upgrade n The source vCenter Server Content Libraries must be backed by either remote file system or datastores . You cannot use libraries backed by the local file system of the vCenter Server. n All the remote file system shares used as library backings must be accessible at the time of the migration. n No subscribed libraries are using file-based subscription URI. If you are migrating from vCenter Server 6.0 U1, no actions are necessary.
vCenter Server Upgrade The instructions apply to vCenter Server 5.5 source deployments. In vSphere 6.0 and later certificates are stored in the VMware Endpoint Certificate Store. The migration process proceeds normally and preserves your certificates. For information about vCenter Server 6.0 certificates location, see http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2111411 Certificate Files Location The vCenter Server certificate files are located at %ProgramData%\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\SSL Supported Certificate Types If y
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑3. System Requirements for the GUI and CLI Installers Operating System Supported Versions Windows n Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 n Windows 2012 x64 bit n Windows 2012 R2 x64 bit n Windows 2016 x64 bit n SUSE 12 n Ubuntu 14.04 n macOS v10.9, 10,10, 10.11 n macOS Sierra Linux Mac Minimum Hardware Configuration for Optimal Performance 4 GB RAM, 2 CPU having 4 cores with 2.3 GHz, 32 GB hard disk, 1 NIC 4 GB RAM, 1 CPU having 2 cores with 2.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Determine the core table size by running the following script. SELECT ROUND(SUM(s.bytes)/(1024*1024)) SIZE_MB FROM user_segments s WHERE (s.segment_name,s.segment_type) IN (SELECT seg_name, seg_type FROM (SELECT t.table_name seg_name, t.table_name tname, 'TABLE' seg_type FROM user_tables t UNION SELECT i.index_name, i.table_name, 'INDEX' FROM user_indexes i ) ti WHERE (ti.tname LIKE 'VPX_%' OR ti.tname LIKE 'CL_%' OR ti.tname LIKE 'VDC_%') AND ti.
vCenter Server Upgrade (SELECT t.table_name seg_name, t.table_name tname, 'TABLE' seg_type FROM user_tables t UNION SELECT i.index_name, i.table_name, 'INDEX' FROM user_indexes i ) ti WHERE ti.tname OR ti.tname OR ti.tname OR ti.tname OR ti.tname LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE LIKE 'VPX_SAMPLE_TIME%' 'VPX_TOPN%' 'VPX_TASK%' 'VPX_EVENT%' 'VPX_HIST_STAT%'); The script returns the statistics storage size in MB.
vCenter Server Upgrade Procedure 1 Log in to a SQL Management Studio session with the vCenter Server database user. 2 Determine the core table size by running the following script. SELECT FROM JOIN ON WHERE AND AND AND AND AND AND AND AND SUM(p.used_page_count * 8)/1024 AS disk_size sys.dm_db_partition_stats p sys.objects o o.object_id = p.object_id o.type_desc = 'USER_TABLE' o.is_ms_shipped = 0 AND UPPER(o.name) NOT LIKE 'VPX_HIST_STAT%' UPPER(o.name) NOT LIKE 'VPX_SAMPLE_TIME%' UPPER(o.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Calculate the minimum storage size for the new appliance that you are going to deploy during the upgrade. a The size of the database (/storage/db) partition of the embedded PostgreSQL database must be at least twice the size of the Microsoft SQL Server core table returned in Step 2.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Copy the VMware Migration Assistant folder to the source Windows machine where either one of the following components runs: n Update Manager n vCenter Single Sign-On n Platform Services Controller n vCenter Server Caution If Update Manager runs on a different Windows machine than any other of the vCenter Server components that you are migrating, run VMware Migration Assistant on the Update Manager source machine first.
vCenter Server Upgrade General Prerequisites n Download and Mount the vCenter Server Appliance Installer. n Verify that the clocks of all machines on the vSphere network are synchronized. See Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network. Target System Prerequisites n Verify that your system meets the minimum software and hardware requirements. See System Requirements for the New vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade n If you plan to assign a DHCP IP address in the temporary network settings of the new appliance, verify that the ESXi host on which you want to deploy the new appliance is connected to at least one network that is associated with a port group which accepts MAC address changes. Note that the default security policy of a distributed virtual switch is to reject MAC address changes.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑4.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑4. Information Required for Migrating vCenter Server from Windows to vCenter Server Appliance (Continued) Required Information Default Value vCenter Server Appliance size. The options vary depending on the size of your vSphere environment. VMware, Inc.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑4. Information Required for Migrating vCenter Server from Windows to vCenter Server Appliance (Continued) Required Information Default Value Storage size of the vCenter Server Appliance for your vSphere environment. Your Entry Default Increase the default storage size if you want larger volume for SEAT data (stats, events, alarms, and tasks). n Default For tiny deployment size, deploys the appliance with 250 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑4. Information Required for Migrating vCenter Server from Windows to vCenter Server Appliance (Continued) Required Information Default Value Your Entry For medium deployment size, deploys the appliance with 1805 GB of storage. For large deployment size, deploys the appliance with 1870 GB of storage. For x-large deployment size, deploys the appliance with 1910 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade When you migrate from vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller (version 6.0 or 6.5) on Windows to vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller appliance, the entire deployment is migrated in only one step.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Set Up the Target vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller Important The user name that you use to log in to the machine from which you want run the GUI installer, the path to the vCenter Server Appliance installer, and your values including the passwords, must contain only ASCII characters. Extended ASCII and non-ASCII characters are unsupported. The installer: n Deploys a new target appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade n For Mac OS, go to the mac subdirectory, and run the Installer.app file. 2 On the Home page, click Migrate. 3 Review the Introduction page to understand the migration process and click Next. 4 Read and accept the license agreement, and click Next. 5 On the Connect to source page, enter the details for the source vCenter Server instance, and click Next. a Enter the IP address or FQDN.
vCenter Server Upgrade 9 Select the deployment size for the new vCenter Server Appliance for your vSphere inventory. Note You cannot select a deployment size that is smaller than the source deployment. Deployment Size Option Description Tiny Deploys an appliance with 2 CPUs and 10 GB of memory. Suitable for environments with up to 10 hosts or 100 virtual machines Small Deploys an appliance with 4 CPUs and 16 GB of memory.
vCenter Server Upgrade 12 Configure the temporary network for communication between the source vCenter Server and the target vCenter Server Appliance, and click Next. Option Action Choose a network Select the network to which to connect the new appliance temporarily. The networks displayed in the drop-down menu depend on the network settings of the target server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Set Up the Target vCenter Server Appliance with an Embedded Platform Services Controller When the OVA deployment completes, you are redirected to stage 2 of the migration process to transfer the data from the source vCenter Server and start the services of the newly deployed vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 with an embedded Platform Services Controller. Your window of downtime does not begin until you begin to set up the target appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade GUI Migration of vCenter Server with an External vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to an Appliance You can use the GUI to migrate vCenter Server with an external vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to an appliance. When you migrate from vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller (version 6.0 or 6.5) on Windows to vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller appliance, you migrate in two steps.
vCenter Server Upgrade When migrating vCenter Server Appliance instances in a mixed platform environment with a Platform Services Controller instance on Windows, you migrate the Platform Services Controller to an appliance before upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance instances to version 6.7. Important Concurrent migrations of Platform Services Controller instances are not supported. You must migrate the instances in a sequence.
vCenter Server Upgrade Deploy the OVA File for Migrating to a Platform Services Controller Appliance To start the migration process, you use the GUI installer to deploy the OVA file that is included in the installer ISO file as a Platform Services Controller appliance. Figure 4‑5. vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 with External Platform Services Controller Before and After Migration vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 vCenter Server 6.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Connect to the target server to which you want to migrate the source vCenter Server. Option Steps You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the target appliance. 1 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. 2 Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host. 3 Enter the user name and password of a user with administrative privileges on the ESXi host, for example, the root user. 4 Click Next. 5 Accept the certificate warning, if any, by clicking Yes.
vCenter Server Upgrade 12 Configure the temporary network for communication between the Platform Services Controller appliance that you want to upgrade and the new Platform Services Controller appliance, and click Next. Option Action Choose a network Select the network to which to connect the new appliance temporarily. The networks displayed in the drop-down menu depend on the network settings of the target server.
vCenter Server Upgrade Set Up the Target Platform Services Controller Appliance When the OVA deployment completes, you are redirected to stage 2 of the migration process to transfer data from the source vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller on Windows to the target appliance and start the services. Your window of downtime does not begin until you begin to set up the target appliance. You cannot cancel or interrupt the process until it completes with the shutdown of the source deployment.
vCenter Server Upgrade For the new Platform Services Controller appliance to replicate infrastructure data with other Platform Services Controller instances, you must migrate or upgrade all joined Platform Services Controller instances within the vCenter Single Sign-On domain to the same version. For information on upgrading Platform Services Controller instances on Windows, see Upgrade vCenter Platform Services Controller 6.0 or 6.5 on Windows.
vCenter Server Upgrade 3 Review the Introduction page to understand the migration process and click Next. 4 Read and accept the license agreement, and click Next. 5 Connect to the target server to which you want to migrate the source vCenter Server. Option Steps You can connect to an ESXi host on which to deploy the target appliance. 1 Enter the FQDN or IP address of the ESXi host. 2 Enter the HTTPS port of the ESXi host.
vCenter Server Upgrade 9 On the Connect to source instance page, enter the details for the source Windows installation that you want to migrate. Option Action vCenter Server IP Address/FQDN Enter the IP address or FQDN of the vCenter Server Appliance that you want to upgrade. vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name Enter the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name. vCenter Single Sign-On administrator password Enter the password of the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator.
vCenter Server Upgrade 12 Select the storage size for the new vCenter Server Appliance, and click Next. Storage Size Option Description for Tiny Deployment Size Description for Small Deployment Size Description for Medium Deployment Size Description for Large Deployment Size Description for XLarge Deployment Size Default Deploys an appliance with 300 GB of storage. Deploys an appliance with 340 GB of storage. Deploys an appliance with 525 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade 16 Wait for the OVA deployment to finish, and click Continue to proceed with stage 2 of the deployment process to set up and start the services of the newly deployed appliance. Note If you exit the wizard by clicking Close, you must log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface to set up and start the services. The newly deployed target vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 with an external Platform Services Controller is running on the target server but is not configured.
vCenter Server Upgrade 8 Wait for the data transfer and setup process to finish. Click OK to go to the vCenter Server Getting Started page. The vCenter Server is migrated from Windows to a newly deployed target appliance. The source vCenter Server is powered off and the target appliance starts. . What to do next Verify that your vCenter Server instances have migrated successfully. For verification steps, see Verify Your vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or Migration Is Successful.
vCenter Server Upgrade Prepare JSON Configuration Files for CLI Migration When you use the CLI to migrate a source vCenter Server installation to a target vCenter Server Appliance, you must prepare a JSON template with the configuration values for the new appliance. You can migrate vCenter Server or Platform Services Controller instances from Windows to an appliance by setting values to the configuration parameters in the templates that are available in the installer ISO file.
vCenter Server Upgrade 4 Fill in values for the required configuration parameters and, optionally, enter additional parameters and their values. Important To set a value that contains the backslash (\) or quotation mark (") character, you must precede the character with the backslash (\) character. For example, "password":"my\"password" sets the password my"password, "image":"C:\\vmware\\vcsa" sets the path C:\vmware\vcsa. The boolean values must contain only lowercase characters.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑5. Sections and Subsections of Configuration Parameters in the JSON Migration Templates Section Subsecti on Description new_vcsa - describes the esxi Use only if you want to deploy the appliance directly on an ESXi host. target appliance that you want to migrate to Contains the configuration parameters that describe the target ESXi host. Note You must fill in either the esxi or the vc subsection.
vCenter Server Upgrade Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section Table 4‑6. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, esxi Subsection Name Type Description hostname string The IP address or FQDN of the target ESXi host on which you want to deploy the appliance. username string A user name with administrative privileges on the target ESXi host, for example, root. password string The password of the user with administrative privileges on the target ESXi host.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑7. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, vc Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description deployment_network string The name of the network to which to connect the appliance. Note The network must be accessible from the target ESXi host or DRS cluster on which you want to deploy the appliance. Ignored if the target ESXi host or DRS cluster has only one network.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑7. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, vc Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description target string or array The target cluster, ESXi host, or resource pool on which you want to deploy the new appliance. This is the target you specified with the datacenter parameter. This path must end with a cluster name, ESXi hostname, or resource pool name. Important You must provide the name that is displayed in the vCenter Server inventory.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑8. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection Name Type Description thin_disk_mode Boolean Set to true to deploy the appliance with thin virtual disks. deployment_option string The size of the appliance. n Set to tiny if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller for up to 10 hosts and 100 virtual machines with the default storage size.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑8. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description n Set to large-lstorage if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded Platform Services Controller for up to 1,000 hosts and 10,000 virtual machines with the large storage size. Deploys an appliance with 16 CPUs, 32 GB of memory, and 1090 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑8. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description n Set to management-small-xlstorage if you want to deploy a vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller for up to 100 hosts and 1,000 virtual machines with the x-large storage size. Deploys an appliance with 4 CPUs, 16 GB of memory, and 1750 GB of storage.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑8. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, appliance Subsection (Continued) Name Type image string Description Optional. A local file path or URL to the vCenter Server Appliance installation package. By default the installer uses the installation package that is included in the ISO file, in the vcsa folder. name string The VM name for the appliance. Must contain only ASCII characters except a percent sign (%), backslash (\), or forward slash (/) and must be n
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑10. Configuration Parameters in the new_vcsa Section, temporary_network Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description dns_servers string or array IP addresses of one or more DNS servers. To set more than one DNS server, use a comma-separated list of strings or a commaseparated list as a single string to provide the path. For example, ["x.y.z.a", "x.y.z.b"] or "x.y.z.a, x.y.z.b" Required only if you use static assignment, that is, if you set the mode parameter to static.
vCenter Server Upgrade Requirements for the Automatic Invocation of Migration Assistant You use the run_migration_assistant subsection to automate the invocation of Migration Assistant. Automatic invocation works only if the source Windows installation is running as a virtual machine. The user account that you specify in the os_username or vum_os_username parameters needs privilege elevation to Administrator.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑12. Configuration Parameters in the source_vc Section, vc_win Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description active_directory_passwo rd string Administrator password of the Active Directory domain to which the source vCenter Server instance is joined. Note The installer verifies the entered credentials, but does not check the required privileges to add the target machine to the Active Directory domain.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 4‑14. Configuration Parameters in the source_vum Section, run_migration_assistant Subsection (Continued) Name Type Description vum_os_username string Administrator user name for the source Windows machine. vum_os_password string Administrator user password for the source Update Manager Windows machine. If left blank, or omitted, you will be prompted to enter it at the command console during template verification.
vCenter Server Upgrade What to do next Perform a CLI Migration of vCenter Server from Windows to an Appliance. Perform a CLI Migration of vCenter Server from Windows to an Appliance You can migrate vCenter Server to an appliance from a machine that is in your vSphere network. Prerequisites n See Prerequisites for Migrating vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller n Create a snapshot of the deployment that you want to migrate as a precaution in case of failure during the migration process.
vCenter Server Upgrade The migration template is deployed. You can Verify Your vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or Migration Is Successful. Syntax of the CLI Migrate Command You can use one or more command arguments to set the execution parameters of the migrate command. You can add a space-separated list of arguments to the CLI upgrade command.
vCenter Server Upgrade Optional Argument Description --no-ssl-certificate-verification Prohibits SSL verification of ESXi connections. The CLI verifies that a server's security certificate is signed by a Certificate Authority (CA), and establishes a secure connection. If the certificate is self-signed, the CLI will stop the upgrade unless you specify that the CLI ignore the self-signed certificate using the --no-ssl-certificate-validation command parameter.
After Upgrading or Migrating vCenter Server 5 After you upgrade to vCenter Server, consider the post-upgrade options and requirements. n You can review the database upgrade logs. See Collect Database Upgrade Logs. n Complete any component reconfigurations that might be required for changes during upgrade. n Verify that you understand the authentication process and identify your identity sources.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Roll Back a vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or vCenter Server on Windows Migration n Monitor and Manage Historical Data Migration Verify Your vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or Migration Is Successful You can verify the success of your vCenter Server Appliance upgrade or migration. You must be logged into the upgraded or migrated vCenter Server instance.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Enter the credentials of a user who has permissions on vCenter Server, and click Login. 3 If a warning message about an untrusted SSL certificate appears, select the appropriate action based on your security policy. 4 Option Action Ignore the security warning for this login session only. Click Ignore. Ignore the security warning for this login session, and install the default certificate so that the warning does not appear again.
vCenter Server Upgrade Prerequisites If you use Microsoft Internet Explorer, disable Protected Mode. Procedure 1 Open a Web browser and type the URL for the vSphere Web Client. 2 At the bottom of the vSphere Web Client login page, click Download Enhanced Authentication Plug-in. 3 If the browser blocks the installation either by issuing certificate errors or by running a pop-up blocker, follow the Help instructions for your browser to resolve the problem.
vCenter Server Upgrade Collect vCenter Server Log Files After you install vCenter Server, you can collect the vCenter Server log files for diagnosing and troubleshooting purposes. Note This procedure provides information about how to collect the log files for a Windows installation of vCenter Server. For information about exporting a support bundle and browsing the log files in the vCenter Server Appliance, see vCenter Server Appliance Configuration.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Active Directory over LDAP. vCenter Single Sign-On supports multiple Active Directory over LDAP identity sources. This identity source type is included for compatibility with the vCenter Single SignOn service included with vSphere 5.1. Shown as Active Directory as an LDAP Server in the vSphere Client. n OpenLDAP versions 2.4 and later. vCenter Single Sign-On supports multiple OpenLDAP identity sources. Shown as OpenLDAP in the vSphere Client. n Local operating system users.
vCenter Server Upgrade What to do next Go to the solution registration page and register. Roll Back a vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or vCenter Server on Windows Migration You can roll back a vCenter Server Appliance upgrade or migration by reverting to the source appliance or vCenter Server on Windows.
vCenter Server Upgrade 3 A status bar at the top of the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface displays the percentage of data that has been copied from the source vCenter Server to the embedded PostgreSQL database in use by the target vCenter Server Appliance. 4 Click Manage to pause or cancel the data migration. Option Description Pause During the data migration, vCenter Server performance may not be optimal.
Changing a vCenter Server Deployment Type After Upgrade or Migration 6 You can change your vCenter Server deployment type after upgrade or migration to version 6.7. Repoint vCenter Server to Another External Platform Services Controller in the Same Domain Joining external Platform Services Controller instances in the same vCenter Single Sign-On domain, ensures high availability of your system.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 If the vCenter Server instance runs on Windows, in the Windows command prompt, navigate to C:\Program Files\VMware\vCenter Server\bin. 3 Run the cmsso-util repoint command. cmsso-util repoint --repoint-psc psc_fqdn_or_static_ip [--dc-port port_number] where the square brackets [ ] enclose the command options. Here, psc_fqdn_or_static_ip is the system name used to identify the Platform Services Controller. This system name must be an FQDN or a static IP address.
Patching and Updating vCenter Server 6.7 Deployments 7 You can update the vCenter Server Appliance with patches by using the software-packages utility available in the vCenter Server Appliance shell. You can update the Java components and vCenter Server for Windows tc Server with VIMPatch.
vCenter Server Upgrade n You can configure the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller appliance to use a repository URL as a source of available patches. The appliance is preset with a default VMware repository URL. You can download the patches in ZIP format from the VMware Web site at https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads and build a custom repository on a local Web server. The download filename is VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-product_versionbuild_number-updaterepo.zip.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Log in as root. The default root password is the password that you set while deploying the vCenter Server Appliance. Check for and Stage Patches to the vCenter Server Appliance Before you install available patches, you can stage the patches to the appliance. You can use the Appliance Management Interface to stage patches either from a local repository by attaching an ISO image to the appliance, or from a remote repository directly by using a repository URL.
vCenter Server Upgrade 5 Click the staging option you would like to use. Option Description Stage Only Stages the selected patches to the appliance for installation at a later time. Stage and Install Stages and installs the selected patches to the appliance. For more information on installing patches, see Install vCenter Server Appliance Patches.
vCenter Server Upgrade 4 Select the Repository settings. Option Description Use default repository Uses the default VMware repository URL that is preset for the build profile of the appliance. Use specified repository Uses a custom repository. You must enter the repository URL, for example, http://web_server_name.your_company.com/vc_update_repo. If the repository policy requires authentication, enter a user name and password. 5 Click OK.
vCenter Server Upgrade 2 Select the range of stages patches to apply, and click Install Updates. Important Some updates might require a reboot of the system. You can see information about these updates in the Available Updates pane. 3 Read and accept the End User License Agreement. 4 After the installation completes, click OK. 5 If patch installation requires the appliance to reboot, click Summary, and click Reboot to reset the appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade To perform ISO-based patching, you download an ISO image, attach the ISO image to the CD/DVD drive of the appliance, optionally stage the available patches from the ISO image to the appliance, and install the patches. To perform URL-based patching, you optionally stage the available patches from a repository URL to the appliance and install the patches. The vCenter Server Appliance is preset with a default VMware repository URL for the build profile of the appliance.
vCenter Server Upgrade Configure URL-Based Patching For URL-based patching, the vCenter Server Appliance is preset with a default VMware repository URL for the build profile of the appliance. You can use the update.set command to configure the appliance to use the default or a custom repository URL as the current source of patches and enable automatic checks for patches. By default the current repository for URL-based patching is the default VMware repository URL. Note You can use the proxy.
vCenter Server Upgrade 4 Configure the current repository for URL-based patching. n To configure the appliance to use the default VMware repository URL, run the following command: update.set --currentURL default n To configure the appliance to use a custom repository URL, run the following command: update.set --currentURL http://web_server_name.your_company.com/vc_update_repo [--username username] [--password password] where the square brackets [] enclose the command options.
vCenter Server Upgrade Prerequisites n If you are staging patches from an ISO image that you previously downloaded from https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch, you must attach the ISO image to the CD/DVD drive of the vCenter Server Appliance. You can configure the ISO image as a datastore ISO file for the CD/DVD drive of the appliance by using the vSphere Web Client. See vSphere Virtual Machine Administration.
vCenter Server Upgrade 3 (Optional) To see information about the staged patches, run the following command: software-packages list --staged Each patch includes a metadata file that contains information such as patch version, product name, whether a restart of the system is required, and so on.
vCenter Server Upgrade n If you are installing patches directly from an ISO image that you previously downloaded from https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch, you must attach the ISO image to the CD/DVD drive of the vCenter Server Appliance. You can configure the ISO image as a datastore ISO file for the CD/DVD drive of the appliance by using the vSphere Web Client. See vSphere Virtual Machine Administration.
vCenter Server Upgrade Patch a vCenter High Availability Environment This procedure describes how to patch the Active, Passive, and Witness node if your vCenter Server Appliance is configured in a vCenter High Availability (HA) cluster. A vCenter High Availability cluster consists of three vCenter Server Appliances that act as an Active, Passive, and Witness node. For information about configuring vCenter High Availability, see vSphere Availability.
vCenter Server Upgrade 6 Initiate a vCenter HA failover manually. a Log in to the Active node with the vSphere Web Client and click Configure. b Under Settings, select vCenter HA and click Initiate Failover. c Click Yes to start the failover. A dialog offers you the option to force a failover without synchronization. In most cases, performing synchronization first is best.
vCenter Server Upgrade n Stop any vCenter Server component operations, as when you apply the patch, all running services will be stopped. Procedure 1 Mount the VMware-VIMPatch-6.5.0-build_number-YYYYMMDD.iso to the system where the vCenter Server component is installed. 2 Double-click ISO_mount_directory/autorun.exe. A vCenter Server Java Components Update wizard opens. 3 Click Patch All.
Troubleshooting a vSphere Upgrade 8 The installation and upgrade software enables you to identify problems on the host machine that can cause an installation, upgrade, or migration to fail. For interactive installations, upgrades, and migrations, the errors or warnings are displayed on the final panel of the installer, where you are asked to confirm or cancel the installation or upgrade. For scripted installations, upgrades, or migrations, the errors or warnings are written to the installation log file.
vCenter Server Upgrade You can choose the Installation Wizard method or the manual method for saving and recovering log files for a vCenter Server for Windows installation failure. You can also collect deployment log files for vCenter Server Appliance. Collect Installation Logs for vCenter Server Appliance You can collect installation log files and check these files to identify the source of a failure if vCenter Server Appliance stops responding during initial startup.
vCenter Server Upgrade Procedure 1 Leave the check boxes selected and click Finish. The installation files are collected in a .zip file on your desktop, for example, VMware-VCS-logstime-of-installation-attempt.zip, where time-of-installation-attempt displays the year, month, date, hour, minutes, and seconds of the installation attempt. 2 Retrieve the log files from the .zip file on your desktop. What to do next Examine the log files to determine the cause of failure.
vCenter Server Upgrade n For export details, review the %TEMP%\..\vcsUpgrade\vcdb_export.out file. The vcdb_export.err file contains errors that were identified during the export phase of the upgrade. n For import details, review the ProgramData\Vmware\CIS\logs\vmware\vpx\vcdb_import.out file. The vcdb_import.err file contains errors that were identified during the import phase of the upgrade process. n For in-place upgrade log details, review the ProgramData\Vmware\CIS\logs\vmware\vpx\vcdb_inplace.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 8‑1. Error and Warning Codes That Are Returned by the Installation and Upgrade Precheck Script (Continued) Error or Warning Description DISTRIBUTED_VIRTUAL_SWITCH If the Cisco Virtual Ethernet Module (VEM) software is found on the host, the test checks that the upgrade also contains the VEM software. The test also determines whether the upgrade supports the same version of the Cisco Virtual Supervisor Module (VSM) as the existing version on the host.
vCenter Server Upgrade Table 8‑1. Error and Warning Codes That Are Returned by the Installation and Upgrade Precheck Script (Continued) Error or Warning Description SPACE_AVAIL_CONFIG vSphere Update Manager only. The host disk must have enough free space to store the legacy configuration between reboots. SUPPORTED_ESX_VERSION You can upgrade or migrate to ESXi 6.7 only from version 6.0 ESXi hosts. TBOOT_REQUIRED This message applies only to vSphere Update Manager upgrades.
vCenter Server Upgrade Roll Back a vCenter Server Instance on Windows When vCenter Server Upgrade Fails You can roll back or restore a vCenter Server instance on Windows when an upgrade of vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller fails after the export stage and the legacy environment has been uninstalled. Prerequisites The roll back or restore of vCenter Server applies when all of the following conditions apply: n You must have access to the vCenter Server on Windows machine.
vCenter Server Upgrade d n Ensure that the vCenter Server services are up and running. Use Rollback Method 2. a Restore the Platform Services Controller instance from a snapshot to the point where you were about to start vCenter Server upgrade. You can use a backup for a Windows configuration or use another backup and restore approach to revert the snapshot. b Restore the vCenter Server instance from a snapshot. c Restore the vCenter Server database from a snapshot.
vCenter Server Upgrade 3 Retrieve the log files from the .tgz file. VMware, Inc.
