Upgrade Stage 2 - Fails immediately with - Error Source host is not reachable on address server.domain.local

[NetopaSupport]

When I initiate the migration from VCSA 6.5U2 to 6.7U1 I get the error message immediately after clicking finish to the second stage wizard:

I can ping the target host by FQDN name from another PC AND the old 6.5 VCSA appliance

I can also telnet on 443 from my PC to the HOST. I don't know the commands to try this from appliance cmd line via putty however

During the pre-checks, I had to run this fix to proceed to step two.

6.5U2c > 6.7U1 Pre-Upgrade Check Failed

The existing 6.5 VCSA is still online and has not yet been powered down

Q2: My evaluation license expires after tomorrow for old 6.5 VCSA. I only have one license for VCSA, if I license the OLD appliance will that too migrate to the new 6.7 appliance, giving me some time to troubleshoot this issue without the functionality being reduced?

Thanks for your help.

P.S. I just found out yesterday that an essentials license doesn't include any VMWARE technical telephone support... so help me Vmware community you are my only hope

[NetopaSupport]

I also checked the virtual network adapter is the same on both the old appliance and the new appliance

[NetopaSupport]

If I login to the new VCSA appliance on https://ipaddress:5480 I am greeted by this message:

This appliance cannot be used or repaired because a failure was encountered. You need to deploy a new appliance. Failure details

The failure details simply shows the error about unable to connect to the HOST.

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

When I initiate the migration from VCSA 6.5U2 to 6.7U1 ...

Just to make sure, the "Migrate" option is used for migration from vCenter Server for Windows to the vCSA. Since you are already using an appliance, you'll have to use the "Upgrade" option.

Also note that an "Upgrade from 6.5 patches post 6.5 U2, dated November 2018 or after, to 6.7 U1 are unsupported as it is considered back-in time" (see VMware Product Interoperability Matrices). This applies to vCSA 6.5 U2d (Build 10964411), and later.

If you do not have any 3rd party tools (e.g. backup, etc.) which do not already support vCSA 6.7 Update 2, it may be an option to upgrade to that version!?

Q2: Yes, you can assign the license to the current vCSA. It will be carried over to the new one during the upgrade.

André

[NetopaSupport]

Thanks, André

Yes, I used the upgrade option, sorry for the misunderstanding in terminology there. I see why you queried that.

I thought I had overcome the "back in time issue" during step 1 as this was the log from my SSH session?

Command> software-packages install --url --acceptEulas

[2019-04-25T09:27:54.115] : Evaluating packages to stage...

[2019-04-25T09:27:54.115] : Verifying staging area

[2019-04-25T09:27:54.115] : Validating software update payload

[2019-04-25T09:27:54.115] : Validation successful

[2019-04-25 09:27:54,620] : Copying software packages 134/134

[2019-04-25 09:30:57,662] : Running test transaction ....

[2019-04-25 09:30:58,699] : Running pre-install script.....

[2019-04-25 09:31:01,736] : Upgrading software packages ....

[2019-04-25T09:38:49.115] : Setting appliance version to 6.7.0.30000 build 13010631

[2019-04-25 09:38:49,603] : Running pre-patch script.....

[2019-04-25 09:38:50,612] : Running post-patch script.....

[2019-04-25T09:42:54.115] : Packages upgraded successfully, Reboot is required to complete the installation.

So, to summarise what I can do next:

I have three hosts in total:

These two are connected to VCSA 6.5 Appliance build 6.5.23000 and were recently upgraded from ESXi 5.5

HOST1 - ESXi 6.5U2 build 13004031

HOST 2 - ESXi 6.5U2 build 8294253

Currently standalone, new server

HOST3 - ESXi 6.7U1 build 10302608

Due to the failed install, I will now have to delete the step1 VCSA VM that now will not be used by the upgrade wizard?

If I use the installer for the most recent VCSA Appliance will that will work better and be ok adding the hosts on their current versions?

If I read the matrix correctly VCSA 6.5U2 is an edge case, If I had been going from VCSA 6.5U1 to VCSA 6.7U1 that would have been ok...

Thanks very much for your assistance especially answering the follow-up question about the license

Best,

Alan

[a_p_]

... Setting appliance version to 6.7.0.30000 build 13010631

Just to understand this log, did you try to update/patch the unsuccessfully provisioned vCSA6.7 U1 to U2 to see whether this helps?

Due to the failed install, I will now have to delete the step1 VCSA VM that now will not be used by the upgrade wizard?

Yes, if the original vCSA is still up, and running (i.e. the new one is not usable), then start the upgrade from scratch, this time running the v6.7 U2 upgrade wizard from the GUI.

Make sure that the the DNS resolution works (forward, and reverse), i.e. nslookup <vcsa fqdn>, and nslookup <vcsa IP address> should resolve properly.

If I use the installer for the most recent VCSA Appliance will that will work better and be ok adding the hosts on their current versions?

I hope so, at least the upgrade path is supported. vCenter Server 6.7 U2 supports ESXi host v6.0, and later.

If I read the matrix correctly VCSA 6.5U2 is an edge case, If I had been going from VCSA 6.5U1 to VCSA 6.7U1 that would have been ok...

Most likely yes. Any vCenter 6.5 build prior to the November U2d build (as mentioned in the martix) is supported.

Thanks very much for your assistance especially answering the follow-up question about the license

You are welcome.

André

[NetopaSupport]

That's the upgrade successful

I had a concern when, on Step two I went back a step to check login credentials and it re-did pre-checks then said it could not connect for a couple of tries. It finally re-connected and I got the upgrade completed.

VCSA 6.7U2 is very modern looking and nice to look at in HTML5

Thanks

Alan