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smudge1977
Contributor
Contributor

ESX 3.0.1 - 3.5 upgrade plan

I have a plan to upgrade my 3.0.1 cluster that I would like to run past all you folks who have done this before.....

My plan is to do the following:

1) Put node2 in maint mode so all machines move over to node1

2) upload the unziped upgrade to /tmp

3) run esxupdate and boot box

4) This is the bit I am unsure of

VMotion all machines over to node2 - can you do this when the two halfs of the cluster are on different versions?????

5) put node1 in maint mode and run upgrae as above.

All nodes in cluster update, everybody happy - lets go down the pub!!!

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azn2kew
Champion
Champion

1. Make sure to backup everything you need.

2. Download latest builds and patches.

3. Use WinSCP or Veeam FastSCP uploaded to /var/updates folder

4. Migrate all your VMs to other ESX hosts. (Enter maintenance)

5. Putty to SC and cd to /var/updates folder

6. tar -zxvf yourpatchesfile to extract

7. cd to yourbuildfolder and run "esxupdate -n update" command

8. Wait until is completed with "Please come back again" status.

9. Reboot your host and exit maintenance mode.

10. Reconfigure or migrate your VMs back to load balance them out.

Make sure upgrade your Virtual center version to 2.5!

"The Power of Knowledge"

If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!! Regards, Stefan Nguyen VMware vExpert 2009 iGeek Systems Inc. VMware vExpert, VCP 3 & 4, VSP, VTSP, CCA, CCEA, CCNA, MCSA, EMCSE, EMCISA
Troy_Clavell
Immortal
Immortal

If you are going to upgrade to 3.5, you must upgrade virtual center first if you haven't already. VC 2.5 is the only version that can manage 3.5 hosts.

Also, my personal preference if you are going from 3.0.1 to 3.5 would be a fresh install, it's much cleaner.

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azn2kew
Champion
Champion

I don't know if he come back to this thread but its mandatory to upgrade his VC to 2.5 but never mention about it so I supposed he knew it. Smiley Happy Fresh install is the best since it only takes 10-15 minutes to install a single ESX host.

"The Power of Knowledge"

If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!! Regards, Stefan Nguyen VMware vExpert 2009 iGeek Systems Inc. VMware vExpert, VCP 3 & 4, VSP, VTSP, CCA, CCEA, CCNA, MCSA, EMCSE, EMCISA
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Kahonu84
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Aloha,

Can you upgrade to VC 2.5 and continue to cruise at 3.02 for awhile??

Mahalo,

Bill

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VirtualNoitall
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Yes, just make sure you are up to date on patches for your 3.02 hosts before you upgrade to VC 2.5.

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Kahonu84
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

That stopped me dead in my tracks.

Mahalo,

Bill

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leejfc
Contributor
Contributor

Curious why you would recommend patching your 3.0.2 host prior to a VC upgrade especially when the next step is to patch the host again to 3.5??

Lee

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VirtualNoitall
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

For supportability reasons. We upgraded a couple of months ago and I thought I came across a doc that mentioned being current on ESX patches for all versions before upgrading your VCMS. After a quick check of the doc mentioned below though it appears as though I either made this up or the recommendations have changed: .

Another good upgrade resource is the following:

I would also recommend a wipe and install of 3.5 over an upgrade from pre 3.5 to 3.5. a clean install takes little time and if you have good doc and track configuration data you can rebuild your server back up quicky and easily.

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smudge1977
Contributor
Contributor

Sorry folks I didn't say but I have already upgrade VC to 2.5

I do also like the fresh install option however....

Node A - 3.0.1 and all guests running on this node

Node B - Maintainance mode

Now lets delete Node B and build a new Node B ver 3.5

Can I now add Node B to VC -> Yes

Can I then add the 3.5 host to the cluster with only Node A 3.0.1???

And then can I VMotion all my machines over to Node B???

Or do I have to do a migrate from Node A to Node B that is either not in the cluster or unable to perform VMotion?

We have no resource pools etc so there is no setup like this to loose....

I guess the core of my question is can a cluster have a 3.0.1 and a 3.5 host in it and can you VMotion bettween hosts???

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smudge1977
Contributor
Contributor

To answer my own question:

It does seem that you can have a cluster with 3.0.1 and a 3.5 host and vmotion in BOTH directions bettween them

Shame I need to bounce the guest machines to upgrade VMTools - still all good Smiley Happy

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azn2kew
Champion
Champion

Welcome back, yes it will work just fine if you have Virtual Center 2.5 installed and I suggest you patch all your servers to ESX 3.0.2 Update 1 + all patches and for newest patches on ESX 3.5 out there. Also want to be consistent with your ESX builds and patches standardization. Unfortunately, with ESX 3.5 the Update Manager doesn't provide the quisce mechanism to update VMware Tools to the virtual machines. I wish VMware can come up with a quisce solution when patching Linux/Windows VMs doesn't require a reboot. People will come up with the solution just takes time!

Regards,

Stefan Nguyen

"The Power of Knowledge"

If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!! Regards, Stefan Nguyen VMware vExpert 2009 iGeek Systems Inc. VMware vExpert, VCP 3 & 4, VSP, VTSP, CCA, CCEA, CCNA, MCSA, EMCSE, EMCISA
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smudge1977
Contributor
Contributor

have just reread:

and page 41 implies you can have a mixed version cluster although it does not said it as such!

What is your reasons for going via 3.0.2 Update 1 plus all patches before the 3.5 upgrade?

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azn2kew
Champion
Champion

There's no reason for it if you immediately going straight to ESX 3.5 but if you have to manage both ESX 3.0.2/3.5 in VC 2.5 environment, it would be beneficial to you from security standpoint. If you need to ugprade ESX 3.5 it is best recommended to fully install ESX 3.5 from fresh and only takes about 10-15 minutes. Make sure to remove your SAN connection before you install it from scratch or remove HBA driver module being loaded during installation so you dont' accidenty destroy your LUN. You can find out guide for this at xtravirt.com

Regards,

Stefan Nguyen

"The Power of Knowledge"

If you found this information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful". Thanks!!! Regards, Stefan Nguyen VMware vExpert 2009 iGeek Systems Inc. VMware vExpert, VCP 3 & 4, VSP, VTSP, CCA, CCEA, CCNA, MCSA, EMCSE, EMCISA
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gdesmo
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Is there a reason you want to upgrade your 3.x hosts? I did a clean re-install on my 3.5 hosts. This is always a better path.

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smudge1977
Contributor
Contributor

What will I loose if I do a clean install instead of an upgrade from 3.0.1 or 3.0.2

Would I remove the nodes from in VC if doing a clean install or will VC see the same DNS name and then pick up all the historical statisitcs etc.?

Doing a fresh install I would need to reconfigure the networking which is not too big and issues if you screen shot the network config before hand, then recreate the admin account so you can ssh to the node + configure ntp.

You don't really need to remove the SAN just be aware not to install on one of the SAN LUNs!!!!!

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gdesmo
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Just make sure to have everthing documented before you wipe your old 3.x host. Then you will know which physical nic to use (SC) during the 3.5 install. Remove the old host from your vc inventory. Disconnect your hba's as mentioned. Update bios firmware etc... on hardware.

Re-add your new 3.5 host to vc 2.5. After the install re-connect your hba's and all lun's will be present. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy to not see the lun's at all during a re-install.

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