Upgrade Vcenter and ESXI hosts from 5.5 to 6.5

tuanguyen74 · ‎03-17-2022

Hi All,

i am trying upgrade our Vcenter and ESXI hosts from 5.5 to 6.5 and install update manager feature as well. What version of vcenter i need to download ? ESXI version for the hosts ? Could anybody provide any documents or videos on how to do an upgrade ? any helps are appricated.

fabio1975 · ‎03-18-2022

Ciao

The first thing to check is the compatibility of the HW at your disposal with ESXi to understand

if you can install ESXi version 6.5u3. (Normally the hardware vendor has compatibility matrices)

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

Then there is also the compatibility with any external storage (SAN, NAS, etc.) and with backup systems, to check if the current storage FW and backup SW support ESXi 6.5

Then we check the compatibility of the Guest OS with vSphere 6.5u3

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/pdf/VMware_GOS_Compatibility_Guide.pdf

Then we check the interoperability of vCenter 6.5u3 with your current versions of ESXi, which shows that the vCenter of 6.5u3 is compatible with ESXi 5.5.

https://interopmatrix.vmware.com/Interoperability?col=2,&row=1,&isHideGenSupported=false&isHideTechS...

Finally, you need to verify that you have the licenses for vSphere 6.x

At this point you can proceed with the update (if all HW compatibilities are verified) so:

- If necessary, update the backup SW

- Upgrade the vCenter from 5.5 to 6.5u3

https://interopmatrix.vmware.com/Upgrade?productId=2

At this stage it is necessary to understand if your current vcenter is a vCSA or installed on Windows.

- Update any FW of ESXi Hosts and External Storage

- Update ESXi hosts to 6.5 (With Update Manager or update package)

https://interopmatrix.vmware.com/Upgrade?productId=1

- Update VMware Tools and Virtual HW