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tractng
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Accessing datastores from two different environments

Hello,

I have a current production environment consisting of vCenter/ESXi hosts version 6.5.  I am building a brand new environment with new vCenter/ESXi 7 hosts on new hardware.  The datastores (consisting of NFS & iSCSI) will remain the same.  My goal is once the configurations and testing are done, I will turn off the VMs from the 6.5 environment and add/register the VMs onto the new environment.  We try to attempt this in the 60 days evaluation period.

My question, when adding the existing datastores into the new environment, are there any other stuff I should be concern with besides allowing the new hosts access to LUN/disk/share from the SAN box?  Basically two environments with access to the same datastores; will this work?

 

 

 

Thanks,

TT

 

 

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e_espinel
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Hello.
Two different infrastructures with different versions of VMware vSphere with access to a common storage or different storage is the usual environment when upgrading the infrastructure.


About version 7, the most stable would be version 7.0 update 2. In general version 7 has problems with SD card and other devices in Boot.


Personally, if you still have time, I would recommend you to use version 6.7 Update 3 and if possible a customized ISO image from the server manufacturer.

 

 

Enrique Espinel
Senior Technical Support on IBM, Lenovo, Veeam Backup and VMware vSphere.
VSP-SV, VTSP-SV, VTSP-HCI, VTSP
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depping
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When it comes to the storage there should be no concerns, what you are planning is fully supported.

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e_espinel
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Hello.
Two different infrastructures with different versions of VMware vSphere with access to a common storage or different storage is the usual environment when upgrading the infrastructure.


About version 7, the most stable would be version 7.0 update 2. In general version 7 has problems with SD card and other devices in Boot.


Personally, if you still have time, I would recommend you to use version 6.7 Update 3 and if possible a customized ISO image from the server manufacturer.

 

 

Enrique Espinel
Senior Technical Support on IBM, Lenovo, Veeam Backup and VMware vSphere.
VSP-SV, VTSP-SV, VTSP-HCI, VTSP
Please mark my comment as Correct Answer or assign Kudos if my answer was helpful to you, Thank you.
Пожалуйста, отметьте мой комментарий как Правильный ответ или поставьте Кудо, если мой ответ был вам полезен, Спасибо.
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tractng
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Got it.  I am thinking off my head when bringing in the existing datastore onto the new environment, keeping the same vmfs 6, etc

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Ajay1988
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I don't see any issues with this plan. Make sure all your hardware are compatible to 7.0 (Will suggest to go till 7.0 U2 as of now).
The nic/hba drivers would be higher than what you would see on 6.5.
VM uuid might change depending on what option you select while powering them up on new environment.
https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/1541

 

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Mark this response as "Correct" or "Helpful".

Regards,
AJ
depping
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When it comes to the storage there should be no concerns, what you are planning is fully supported.

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tractng
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Thanks guys!  The new machines are Dell R840 with SAS drives as boot.  It came with ESXi 7.0 update 2 installed.

I was able to bring up one host and added NFS datastore from the existing SAN (now both environments share the same datastore).

Here is what I did below:

1) powered off one VM from production environment

2) removed from inventory (previously I skipped this step and somehow screwed it up and now its showing as orphaned for the first tested VM, now I can't do anything with right click since the files are gone).

3) in the new environment, i registered the new machine.  It prompted me for the following "moved it or copied it".  I chosen "moved it".  Then I chosen the appropriate network interface for the VM.

 

Question, since this first host (I plan to bring up vCenter and an additional host to run a complete test) will expire soon with the evaluation key, I plan to wipe it out and reinstall the OS.  Do I need to delete the datastore (NFS) from the host prior to the OS reinstall?  I prefer not to if I don't have..

TT

 

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e_espinel
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Hello.
You should use the same ISO that I use to install VMware vSphere, if you don't have it you can get it from the manufacturer's website.
If you need to keep the internal storage of the host, you must use the option Install ESXi, preserve VMFS datastore

e_espinel_0-1638390270744.png


You have to choose the correct disk, as it will show all the internal and external storages. The safest way would be to disconnect momentarily the external storage from the host. And when you finish installing VMware vSphere, reconnect them to the host.

 

 

Enrique Espinel
Senior Technical Support on IBM, Lenovo, Veeam Backup and VMware vSphere.
VSP-SV, VTSP-SV, VTSP-HCI, VTSP
Please mark my comment as Correct Answer or assign Kudos if my answer was helpful to you, Thank you.
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tractng
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Thanks e_espinel!

 

If I initiate the vCenter installation (the new environment is on the same network as the production environment), will there be any issues?

Basically both 6.5 & 7 environments are on the same network.

Thanks ahead.

TT

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e_espinel
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Hello.
If both infrastructures are on the same network this is great, if you want to migrate VMs.

 

 

Enrique Espinel
Senior Technical Support on IBM, Lenovo, Veeam Backup and VMware vSphere.
VSP-SV, VTSP-SV, VTSP-HCI, VTSP
Please mark my comment as Correct Answer or assign Kudos if my answer was helpful to you, Thank you.
Пожалуйста, отметьте мой комментарий как Правильный ответ или поставьте Кудо, если мой ответ был вам полезен, Спасибо.
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