Perform VCenter patch update without update hosts

[ITankwell]

Hey everyone,

I'm pretty new to vmware, so I would ask a stupid question 😊

Can anyone help me understand the difference between VCenter updates and VCenter patches?

When I apply new patches, do I change the 'Update' level of the VMware VCenter?
Do I need to update Each of My ESXi hosts? or is it enough to update only the VCenter server?

I do have a pretty old VCenter (VC 6.5) that I want to update without udpate the ESXi hosts.So, I need to find out the "minimal" patch level which in I can update the VCenter without a necessary host update. How can I figure out which patch level I can apply to accomplish this?

Thanks for understanding 🙂

Tankwell

[pdirmann01]

Compare Updates to Windows Build releases (like Windows 10 Version 20H2 versus 1909). They usually contain major overhauls, e.g. deprecating the Flash client in favor of HTML5, functionality enhancements, introduction to new features, etc.

Patches are normally the ones that are put out for bug fixes, security vulnerability remediation, etc., just like regular Windows Updates.

Your vCenter will always need to be higher than or equal to your hosts. Example - You cannot manage vSphere 7.0 hosts with vCenter 6.7. You would need to upgrade you vCenter to 7.0 first, then your hosts.

I would recommended to always rely on VMware's Hardware Compatibility List to see what version of vSphere your hardware can be supported on, and their Interoperability Matrices to see what versions of their product work together. Links below:

VMware - HCL

VMware Product Interoperability Matrices

Consider marking this as a solution or giving kudos if this post assisted you in any way. 

[ITankwell]

Your vCenter will always need to be higher than or equal to your hosts. Example - You cannot manage vSphere 7.0 hosts with vCenter 6.7. You would need to upgrade you vCenter to 7.0 first, then your hosts.

Of course I thought this would be the situation....
My concerns are mainly about minor updates.

E.g If I update VCenter 6.7 with some new patches / update, is the ESXi hosts needs to be updated as well?

Also - is it possible of a data / configuration loss when updating a VCenter server (from update to update)?

Thanks
Tankwell

[pdirmann01]

No, they can technically run on different patch levels, but to me there's a reason those patches were released so I try to stay up to par with them. Personal choice.

As far as data loss when patching, there's always that risk that something goes awry. For me, it has been extremely rare, even less so in the later releases of (vCenter 6.x+). I would recommend taking a backup of the VCSA first either via VAMI out to a file system, snapshot, or both just in case.