No direct upgrade from ESX to ESXi?

[taylorb]

Am I correct that you cannot run a simple update to go from ESX to ESXi?  Talking versions ESX 4.0 to ESXi 4.1 here.  I can do a fresh install pretty easily, but I'd rather not. 

Also, just as a side question, is there a way to see whether a host is ESX or ESXi from vCenter?  It seems like it should be obvious but I can't find it in there. 

Thanks.

[vmroyale · Accepted solution]

Hello.

Correct, there is no simple update to change versions.

If you select the host in vCenter, look at the area above the tabs to see the version information.

Good Luck!

[taylorb]

Wow, that is embarassing on the version info!  I knew I had seen it before, but of course it was hidden in plain sight!

Thanks for confirming that I can't upgrade.   That makes it easier in some ways and harder than others, I guess.

[DSTAVERT]

If you have any local storage that hosts VMs I wouldn't want to do a direct install unless you had previously created a separate LUN for ESX.

[taylorb]

Not sure exactly what you mean.   Obviously I would storage vmotion the VMs to a non-local volume before the upgrade if that is what you were getting at. 

[DSTAVERT]

That's all.