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Mauricio888
Contributor
Contributor

Unable to upgrade from 6.5.0 to esxi 7.0.3 - An unexpected error occurred

Hello vmware community,


I am wondering if you could help with this issue I am having while upgrading a system from ESXi 6.5.0 to 7.0.0.

The system boots up correctly from the installer iso, The following is presented while scanning for available devices

---- An unexpected error occurred -----

See logs for details

UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xca in position 1: invalid continuation byte

I am attaching a screenshot of the error and another with the actual 6,5.0 configuration.
Any guidance will be highly appreciated.

Thanks

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LucianoPatrão

CPU E5-2430 v3 is not compatible with vSphere 7. It works on vSphere 6.5, maybe you can work in 6.7(never tested) but not vSphere 7.

Luciano Patrão

VCP-DCV, VCAP-DCV Design 2023, VCP-Cloud 2023
vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard
Solutions Architect - Tech Lead for VMware / Virtual Backups

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Blog: https://www.provirtualzone.com | Twitter: @Luciano_PT
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Mauricio888
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Thank you @LucianoPatrão 

I have however another similar server (same server/type of CPU) installed with vmware 7, I used the boot option

AllowLegacyCPU=True

For some reason this is failing. Is this error specifically related to the CPU?

 

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LucianoPatrão

Yes, AllowLegacyCPU=True should be added to bypass any CPU legacy issues.

Regarding the error itself, it complains about 'utf-8' codec can't decode I only see this a long time ago regarding ESXi 5.5, and was about bootbank issues.

Was this ESXi already upgraded from old 5.x to 6.x?

Can you post the upgrade logs for this?

Luciano Patrão

VCP-DCV, VCAP-DCV Design 2023, VCP-Cloud 2023
vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard
Solutions Architect - Tech Lead for VMware / Virtual Backups

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If helpful Please award points
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Blog: https://www.provirtualzone.com | Twitter: @Luciano_PT
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Mauricio888
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Hi @LucianoPatrão 

Yes, this was upgraded form 5.5 to 6.5.0, I removed the content of /altbootbank and replaced (only the file that was in /altbootbank) with the one in /bootbank but got the same error.

Here the logs,

 

Thank you for taking the time to review this.

Mauricio

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Alex_Romeo
Leadership
Leadership

Hi,

Hp DL 360 gen8 is not compatible with 6.7 and 7.0

https://techlibrary.hpe.com/us/en/enterprise/servers/supportmatrix/vmware.aspx

Notes: This server is supported with the Last Pre-Gen9 ESXi custom image for either 6.5, 6.5 U1, 6.5 U2 or 6.5 U3.

regards,

Alex_Romeo

Blog: https://www.aleadmin.it/
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LucianoPatrão

Even is not supported, we can use it. I use vSphere 7 U3 in my two DL360 G7

Luciano Patrão

VCP-DCV, VCAP-DCV Design 2023, VCP-Cloud 2023
vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard
Solutions Architect - Tech Lead for VMware / Virtual Backups

________________________________
If helpful Please award points
Thank You
Blog: https://www.provirtualzone.com | Twitter: @Luciano_PT
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Mauricio888
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Right, I have in fact another server with the exact CPU and brand and is working fine, not sure what is wrong with this one,

Mauricio888_0-1653943421374.png

 

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Mauricio888
Contributor
Contributor

Do you think I should move the whole content from /bootbank to /altbootbank?

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LucianoPatrão

Are you using a vSphere standard ISO right? Not a HPE customized ISO?

The previous installation was installed with an HPE or VMware ISO?

Luciano Patrão

VCP-DCV, VCAP-DCV Design 2023, VCP-Cloud 2023
vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard
Solutions Architect - Tech Lead for VMware / Virtual Backups

________________________________
If helpful Please award points
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Blog: https://www.provirtualzone.com | Twitter: @Luciano_PT
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Mauricio888
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I tried with both:

VMware-ESXi-7.0.3-19482537-HPE-703.0.0.10.9.0.11-Apr2022
VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0U3d-19482537.x86_64

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LucianoPatrão

First, never install a custom HPE ISO in a non-supported server. This will bring a lot of issues, always use the VMware ISO.

Luciano Patrão

VCP-DCV, VCAP-DCV Design 2023, VCP-Cloud 2023
vExpert vSAN, NSX, Cloud Provider, Veeam Vanguard
Solutions Architect - Tech Lead for VMware / Virtual Backups

________________________________
If helpful Please award points
Thank You
Blog: https://www.provirtualzone.com | Twitter: @Luciano_PT
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