Add a standalone ESX 3.5 Host to new vSphere 4 vCenter

[joshuamarshall]

Hi,

We've got a single ESX 3.5 host, unpatched, running about 5 VM's. We're a very small shop, and bought VI3, but never moved beyond a single stand-alone ESX host.

We've now got a new vSphere 4 Essentials package, and would like to 1) install vCenter 4 on a new physical server, 2) install a new ESX vSphere 4 host on new hardware we've purchased, and 3) add our existing ESX 3.5 box to the new vCenter 4.

Should we just set up the new vCenter 4, and vSphere ESX host machines from scratch, and then add the ESX 3.5 box to the new vCenter? I assume we have to change the licensing model on the ESX 3.5 host to join vCenter 4? I'm looking through a number of upgrade docs, but most assume you have an existing vCenter infrastructure. If anyone can point me to the best docs for our situation, I'd appreciate it.

[jordan57]

Hello,

You should setup your vCenter server and vSphere hosts in your planned configuration. Once this is done you need to download and install the VMware license server it's free. In stall this on your vCenter server or another. Then edit your settings in vCenter to point to the license server. You will add your Vi 3 license to the server during install.

Once this is done you will be able to join your 3.5 host to vCenter.

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[mittim12]

Jordan57 is right on with his post. Should be fairly simple and no downtime for any of your VM's.

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[joshuamarshall]

Thanks guys. I'll be picking this project up next week and will give it a shot, award points etc.

--

Cheers, Joshua Marshall.

[mittim12]

Good luck. Let us know if anything comes up.

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