Windows vCenter 6.0 to VCMA 6.5 + HA

[packetboy]

Hi,

    I need to upgrade \ migrate an existing vCenter 6.0 Windows box.  Its got about 50 Nutanix hosts and 2500 VDI vm's.

I need to do the following:

Upgrade to VCSA 6.5

Move the VM to a different DC so it will get a new IP Address as well.

Possibly add vCenter HA to it.

It currently has an embedded PSC.

My plan is the following:

In place migrate upgrade to the VCSA 6.5 keeping the PSC embedded.

Move the VM to the other DC and change the IP address.

Reconnect all the hosts after the IP change? VMware Knowledge Base   Is this KB still applicable for 6.5?

Add HA to it another day under a different CR.

Does the above seem an OK plan?   Are there any other gotchas you guys can think about changing the IP of the appliance other than reconnecting hosts?

Cheers,

Packetboy.

[vijayrana968]

Have a look on this vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 Migration Walkthrough - VMware vSphere Blog

[daphnissov · Accepted solution]

Move the VM to the other DC and change the IP address.

There's a big caveat here of which you should be aware. If you have installed and configured this vCenter using an IP address rather than a hostname, you will not be able to change the IP address. The reason is described in this KB and has to do with the primary network identifier (PNID) used by vCenter during installation. The PNID is set equal to the value you provide in the "System Name" field during installation. An upgrade of 6.0 to 6.5 inherits this PNID. In general, I'd recommend not changing the IP address of vCenter even if this isn't the case as, more often than not, it causes lots of problems with auth and internal services.

[packetboy]

Hi Daphvissov,

                        Thank you for your reply.  Could you please tell me how can I confirm the current PNID that was used when vCenter was built?

Cheers,

Packetboy.

[daphnissov]

From the appliancesh on vCenter, run com.vmware.appliance.version1.networking.dns.hostname.get and it will either return an IP or a fully-qualified domain name. If it returns an IP address you're out of luck and will have to redeploy.

[packetboy]

Hi the vCenter is currently windows... Whats the command to run to get the above for windows?

Thanks for your help!