How do I upgrade vCenter v5.0 to v5.1 ? (I'm using the VM version)

[Lasse_T]

I assume if I installed a new one it will lose all the settings/historic data, but upgrading does not seam strait forward.

Best regards

Lasse

[yannara]

Have you tried to launch 5.1 installation wizard on existing 5.0 server? Does it provide upgrade option?

[mephistopoa]

I'm checking the updates and there are no updates for the 5.1 yet, I would like to update some of my vcenter appliances to 5.1 but I can't install them from scratch, I would like to simplu update them.

Any idea when VMware will release an update for 5.1?

[MarekZdrojewski]

Hi Lasse,

You can easily upgrade to v5.1 with the vCenter Server installer. Just make sure you backup the database and SSL certificates. Also, read the vSphere Upgrade guide. For the upgrade process you can check this blog.

Regards.

[admin]

Hi  Lasse_T,

Welcome to the communities .

Please find same discussion from below .

http://communities.vmware.com/message/2113966#2113966

"Life is never easy for those who dream"

[mephistopoa]

Guys I think you really didn't ready the topic properly. this is about the vcenter appliance not the windows version.

[Lasse_T]

Ok so I have solved my problem.

1st there is a VCenter v5.1 appliance download (use the vSphere client to get it on your server. I suggest the same host thats running your 5.0 app), please note that the 5.1 app will take the IP of the old 5.0 app, so use the default of getting a DHCP adr. (The address it gets will be shown in the console window of the app)

2nd MAKE SURE you take a snapshot of your old 5.0 Appliance before you start, there is no roll back and I screwed it up !!!

Mine failed in the middle of the transfer between the old and new appliance, making both unable to function, so I ended up doing a fresh install of the vCenter Appliance. It worked, but I had to re-enter license keys and templates looks to have gone. The fault is most likely becasue my server was 6 months behind in date/time and it had issues creating a database. My servers are now setup correctly with the NTP demon, but if you just make sure the date/time is correct that is proberly all thats needed.

Good luck!

links:

http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc%2FGUID-6A5C596D-...

http://vmwire.com/2011/07/15/vsphere-vcenter-server-linux-virtual-appliance-quick-start-guide/

[mephistopoa · Accepted solution]

Prerequisites

■	Verify that the clocks of all machines on the vSphere network are synchronized. See Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network.
■	Back up the vCenter Server database.

Procedure

1	Deploy the new version of the vCenter Server Appliance. The new appliance has a default network configuration, and the vCenter Server service is unconfigured and disabled.
2	Connect to both the old and new appliances in separate browser windows.
3	In the new appliance, start the vCenter Server Setup wizard, and accept the end user license agreement.
4	In the new appliance, in the Configure Options panel, select Upgrade from previous version.
5	(Optional) Configure the vCenter Server Appliance to use an external vCenter Single Sign On instance instead of the default embedded Single Sign On. a Click Configure SSO. b On the SSO Settings page, set SSO deployment type to external. c Enter the information for the Single Sign On instance. The external Single Sign On instance must be hosted on another vCenter Server Appliance. It cannot be hosted on a Windows machine.
6	In the new appliance, click Next.
7	In the old appliance, in the Appliance Upgrade tab, select source for the appliance role, and click Set role.
8	In the old appliance, click Establish Trust.
9	In the new appliance, copy the local appliance key.
10	In the old appliance, paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field, and click Import remote key.
11	In the old appliance, copy the local appliance key.
12	In the new appliance, paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field and click Next.
13	In the new appliance, click Next. The new appliance shuts down the old appliance and assumes the network identity of the old appliance. If the old appliance was configured to use dynamic addressing, the new appliance will also use dynamic addressing. When the import is complete, the new vCenter Server Appliance starts.
14	Review the list of hosts managed by the source appliance and make sure that the hosts you want the new appliance to manage are checked.
15	Review the pre-upgrade check of the source appliance hosts and correct any errors before proceeding.
16	Confirm that you have taken a backup or snapshot of the source appliance and external database, and click Next.
17	When the upgrade is complete, click Close.

[mephistopoa]

worked like a charm for me