vMotion between two hosts with different version?

[Dongjianhua]

Hi,

Can we vMotion VM's between two hosts with different version? For example, vMotion a VM from esxi 6.0 to esxi 5.5, or  from esxi 5.5 to esxi 6.0.

Thanks.

[schepp]

Hi,

yes you can do that.

Otherwise you would have a problem when upgrading hosts

Tim

[Dongjianhua]

If i vMotion the VM from ESXI 6.0 to ESXI 5.5, is there any virtual machine hardware version compatibility problem ?

For example, hardware version 11 is supported by ESXI 6.0, but is not supported by ESXI 5.5, can i vMotion a VM with hardware version 11 from ESXI 6.0 to ESXI 5.5 ?

[schepp]

Hi,

your hardware version 11 VMs can only run on ESXi 6.0 and later. So only upgrade the VM hardware after all hosts are upgraded.

If you have some v11 VMs that have to run on ESXi 5.5, there are ways to downgrade the hardware version:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1028019

[Dongjianhua]

What will happen ?  If i have a VM with hardware version 11, and i attempt to vMotion it to a ESXi 5.5 host, will vCenter prevent this action?

[greco827 · Accepted solution]

Yes, it will prevent you from moving it.

[Dongjianhua]

Got it.

[Texiwill]

Hello,

You may also want to check out http://www.astroarch.com/2012/01/vsphere-upgrade-saga-all-about-evc/ for some ideas on how to setup EVC without needing to reboot your nodes. There are ways to make that happen.

Best regards,
Edward L. Haletky
VMware Communities User Moderator, VMware vExpert 2009-2015

Author of the books 'VMWare ESX and ESXi in the Enterprise: Planning Deployment Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2011 Pearson Education. 'VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing the Virtual Environment', Copyright 2009 Pearson Education.

Virtualization and Cloud Security Analyst: The Virtualization Practice, LLC -- vSphere Upgrade Saga -- Virtualization Security Round Table Podcast