vSphere /vCenter & SRM 6.5 upgrade

[tanny_man]

We are planning a vSphere & SRM 6.5.1 upgrade.  Our current setup is :-

Production site

vSphere / vCenter for Windows 5.5 update 3b (with a separate SQL server)

vSphere Replication appliance v5.8.1.1

SRM 5.8.1 with HDS SRA both installed on vCenter Windows server

DR site

vSphere / vCenter for Windows 5.5 update 3b (with a separate SQL server)

vSphere Replication appliance v5.8.1.1

SRM 5.8.1 with HDS SRA both installed on vCenter Windows server

Here is our rough plan for each site:-

• vSphere/vCenter: intended aim is to upgrade the vSphere/vCenter 5.5 servers to a 6.5.1 VCSA appliance which we believe should be straight forward
• vSphere Replicaiton: PROD: upgrade 5.8.1.1 to 5.8.1.3 then 5.8.1.3 to 6.1.2 then 6.1.2 to 6.5.1 DR: upgrade 5.8.1.1 to 5.8.1.3 then 5.8.1.3 to 6.1.2 then 6.1.2 to 6.5.1
• SRM: according to the VMware product matrix upgrade path the SRM upgrade order is 5.8.1 to 6.0.1 then 6.0.1 to 6.1.2 then 6.1.2 to 6.5.1 ? Does this rely on the vCenter version being the same version of the SRM version upon each upgrade or can the upgrades just be done consecutively?

Is the above achievable or is there alternate method for doing this?

Any assistance with this would help greatly!

[mhampto]

Please refer to the below upgrade plan:

vCenter -->> vSphere replication at protected site -->> SRM at protected site -->> Storage replication adapter(If using storage based replication) followed by upgrade of components in same order in recovery site.

ESXi hosts can be upgraded later at recovery site followed by protected site and in the end VM hardware version and tools.

Upgrade path for vSphere products: VMware Product Interoperability Matrices

1. vCenter 5.5 U3b can be directly upgraded to 6.5.1
2. vSphere replication upgrade path: 5.8.1.1 -->> 5.8.1.3 -->>  6.1.2 -->> 6.5.1
3. SRM upgrade path: 5.8.1 -->> 6.1.2 -->> 6.5.1