Clean install not upgrade of 5.5 tp 6

[jprovine7]

What do you loose when you do a clean install of vcenter server 6.0 and do not migrate an existing database from you vcenter 5.5 server install

[daphnissov]

Well...everything, basically. You have to set up the new vCenter completely from scratch including clusters, folders, roles and permissions, DRS rules, etc. Additionally your SEAT data (stats, events, alarms, and tasks) is gone for all objects.

[jprovine7]

daphnissov​

So none of that configuration information is stored at the esxi servers at all? I was having this discussion with my coworkers and they thought that we would only looses history.

[daphnissov]

The VMs, their configuration, and of course the ESXi hosts and their configuration are accessible through the hosts, but entities that live in vCenter like what I mentioned you would lose. The hosts don't function as a backup or journal for vCenter-related objects.

[jprovine7]

daphnissov​

I HA configured, only about 5 DRS rules, two separate clusters, a 2 virtual distributed switch(1 for each cluster),  4 esxi hosts, about 40 portgroups/vlans and I am running fully automated

[daphnissov]

Your clusters will need to be recreated and HA reconfigured, DRS rules recreated, distributed switches recreated (or a backup imported), distributed port groups recreated, and VMs will need to be migrated to that new vDS. By the way, if you are doing a migration and not an upgrade, vCenter will not allow you to disconnect hosts that are members of a vDS. You will have to migrate your hosts to vSSs first, disconnect from source, connect to destination, and reverse the process.

[jprovine7]

daphnissov​

sounds like it would be easier to do an in place upgrade from 5.5 to 6 than to try to recreate everything manually. Then we want to upgrade from 2008 to 2012 and I would think that I could do a clean install of 2012, install 6 and the import the upgraded database. The downside is the servers would have to be named the same and then the old one removed

[daphnissov]

There is absolutely no reason to continue using the vCenter for Windows application. If you can't go to vSphere 6.5 for whatever reason, you should still upgrade to 6.0 using the vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA). The installer has a migration wizard built-in which will copy your vCenter for Windows identity to the appliance and put it on version 6.

[jprovine7]

daphnissov​

we have decided not to go with the appliance because it limits our access in the cause of network or power issues we would be unable to login to vcenter

[daphnissov]

How does running vCenter on Windows (which, by the way, is deprecated and will not be available in the future.) somehow absolve you of providing networking and power to a piece of infrastructure?

[jprovine7]

daphnissov​

so can the appliance be installed on a physical server, I got the impression it could not be. We want a physical server that we can access though kvm in the event alot of the network is down

[daphnissov]

No, it cannot be installed on a physical server. If the only reason you want to go with Windows is because you'll have a physical server "in the event alot of the network is down" then you should probably focus on stabilizing your networks. Additionally, your ESXi hosts should really have remote console abilities and redundant networking making them more robust and manageable anyhow. Windows-based vCenter is at the end of the line and I'd recommend you not continue to go down that path, because that path ends with the next release.