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titom
Contributor
Contributor
‎05-08-2018 10:10 PM

Upgrading ESXi host installation

Hello everyone

I need some informations and help.

I used to have two standalone ESXi 5.0.0 servers with local storage and one SAN without any vCenter

On one server, we had some trouble, so I shutdown all the VM and I download them to an external Hard Drive, to re-upload to the second server (took me 4 days)

Now I reinstall my second server with ESXi 6.5, and I installed vCenter 6.5, but I cannot add my standalone server 5.0.0 on this vCenter.

The VM on this hosts, are the most important, AD, files server, Mails. So if I want to shutdown them it is must not took more than few hours.

I saw on Internet, a lot of solution to upgrade but I don't know if it is secure and if there is a risk of data lost ?
My ideai it is to follow one of them to upgrade from 5.0.0 to 5.5 so I can add the host on my vCenter.

The tutorial says to shutdown all the VM, donwload the zip file of ESXi 5.5 update 1 from myvmare website and upload it to the server.

Connect with SSH and lunch and esxcli commande :


1
esxcli software vib update -d "path to the zip file"

Moreover my license is an essential so I don't have the vMotion, do you know if it is possible to move a VM storage or hosts, when the VM is started (and to change to thin provisonning) ?

Is it possible to change the licence to just add the vMotion feature ?

Thank you very much for your help.

@+++

Hello everyone

I need some informations and help.

I used to have two standalone ESXi 5.0.0 servers with local storage and one SAN without any vCenter

On one server, we had some trouble, so I shutdown all the VM and I download them to an external Hard Drive, to re-upload to the second server.

Now I reinstall my second server with ESXi 6.5, and I installed vCenter 6.5, but I cannot add my standalone server 5.0.0 on this vCenter.

Moreover my license is an essential so I don't have the vMotion, do you know if it is possible to move a VM storage or hosts, when the VM is started (and to change to thin provisonning) ?

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership
‎05-10-2018 03:28 AM

Some thoughts/question:

  • is your server hardware supported for the new version (see VMware Compatibility Guide)
  • why do you consider using ESXi 5.5 Update 1 instead of using a later version/update?
  • did you already check whether you need a vendor specific installation image (with vendor specific drivers), or the default VMware ESXi image
  • the command that you posted is ok for updates/patches. For upgrades use the esxcli software profile command, or simply boot the ESXi host off the ESXi ISO/CD, and do an interactive upgrade.

In any case, ensure that you have an up-to-date backup prior to running the upgrade, in case something unexpected happens!

André

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