can't get my head around the vCenter Upgrade!

[globrien]

Hi

I have a Vi 2.5 vCenter server that I am trying to upgrade to vcenter 4.1

I tried an in-place upgrade but it reported that 64-bit was only supported and the current server is 32-bit.

So, I built a Windows 2008 R2 64-bit Server with a view to installing vCenter 2.5, importing the database and then upgrading to 4.1.

vCenter 2.5 says that this OS is not supported, so I then install Windows 2003 server 64-bit, only to find that vCenter 2.5 does not support 64-bit either!

So, if vCenter 2.5 does not support 64-bit and vCenter 4.1 does not support 32-bit, how the heck do I upgrade my vCenter!?!?!?!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Gordon

[Troy_Clavell]

are you using a remote or local DB instance? If remote, why not just build a new x64 Host OS, copy over the SSL folders from your vCenter 2.5 instance and then perform a fresh install connecting back to the remote DB instance.

If using SQL Express, same thing, just use the migration tool

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1021635

[globrien]

We are using the bundled SQL Express, so I will check out that migration tool.

Many thanks for your prompt response.

Many hours of Googling came up blank!

[ROE]

Did you read the Upgrade Guide?

http://www.vmware.co.uk/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_upgrade_guide.pdf

Also remember, if you're using the Update Manager, that it still requires a 32-bit DSN as described in http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsp_vum_41_admin_guide.pdf (page 29)

or http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=101040...

Edit:

Just a thought.

When upgrading, we decided to move the database to a non-Express SQL2005 server, since our backup software didn't support 2005 Express. You might want to check that you have working backup software in place.

And if you decide to move your database, be aware that the performance statistics rely on some jobs running on the SQL server which arent automatically created when the database is moved: http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100438...