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the_xploit
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Upgrade ESXi 4.0 to 5.0

First of all part I: right topic?

Hy,

First of all part II: i'm new to VMware... be ready to explain basics... (i just learned by using and now need some more general information about the update process... to understand what the idea is)

I  have 2 physical Servers. One with ESXi 4.0 and one with ESXi  4.1. On  these ESXi systems i run a total of 10 Servers. To manage them  and alle  the servers on them i use two seperate vSphere-Clients.

Now i want to upgrade to ESXi 5.0 and i dont know which way i should choose...

The  easiest way seemes to be the update manager for  vCenter. But i dont  have a vCenter. The first question is: should i buy  one just save some  time on upgrading my virtual "sphere"....? (Q1) Is  there an update  manager for vSphere-Client? (Q2)

What are the other options? (Q3) if i have no vCenter i have to do this with the commandline? (Q4)

If you would recommend to buy a vCenter i have some more questions:

- vCenter cannot run on the ESXi that should be updated.... right? (bacause it cannot update it's own ESXi host) (Q5)

- i can run vCenter from an normal Dektop-PC (not as VM)... right? (Q6)

Some more Questions about the update process:

We  have always a ESXi Host with some Servers on it... So we have  to  update ESXi aswell as all servers that are running on it.. (moreover  we  need to update vCenter or vSphere-Client)

Here is how I would do it or how i understood the process: (with vCenter)

1) Install vCenter 5.1 (which is compatible with 4.x and 5.x) on an Dektop-PC & connect to my ESXi 4.0

2) Install Update Manager to my vCenter...

3) make updates ready for ESXi with UpdateManager

4) make updates ready for all VM's with UpdateManager

4) Start the Updates

Are these statements correct?

- i can update my ESXi and my VM's automaticly when i use and correctly setup the Update Manager (Q7)

-  the UpdateManager can automaticly roll back when an update  fails? (but  what when the ESXi Update was ok but some of the VM's could  not be  updatet? ) (Q8)

Or....Would you recommend to seperatly update?

- copy all VM's to a new location

- convert the VM's there to 5.0

-  update ESXi to 5.0 and bind the new datastore (where all 5.0  VM's are)  and then test the 5.0 VM's on the new ESXi 5.0... if ok delete  old 4.0  Datastore (and if desired move the 5.0VM's back to the old   Datastore).. if NOK reinstall ESXi 4.0 and bind old datastore where all   4.0 VM's are...

If you like you can use the "Qx" caption behind the question to answer to a specific Question...

Thanks alot in advance for your help!!

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