Upgrading to vCenter Server for Windows 7 from 6.5 on Hyper-V

[DaveGY]

I am preparing to upgrade our current vSphere 6.5 to 7.0. We currently have a single 6.5 ESXi host running on an HP ML350 G6 server, and vCenter Server is running on a Windows 2016 VM on a Hyper-V host.

I have installed ESXi 7 host on a new HP DL360 G10 and plan to migrate the existing 4 VMs on 6.5 to the new host.

I understand vCenter on 7.0 is now only a linux VM, but it appears that it MUST run on a ESXi host, not Hyper-V. This concerns me because I learned a few years ago that it's impossible to install updates on an ESXi host when the vCenter is on the same host, which is why it is now on Hyper-V.

Is this true, and does that mean I need at least 2 ESXi hosts to ugrade to 7? If not, how do I install vCenter or VCSA on the single host and still do updates?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[ashilkrishnan]

Hi Dave,

vCenter would require  downtime if the ESXi host where it resides requires any upgrades or maintenance.

vCenter holds good to manage multiple ESXi hosts from centralized management interface plus to use other VMware and 3rd party solutions. What is the role of vCenter here --> Is it to manage a single host or you have other solutions that require a vCenter server ?

[DaveGY]

vCenter's role here is just to manage a single host.

We also use Veritas BackupExec for on-Prem backups, and that is what I have Backup Exec attach to perform the backups

[scott28tt]

Moderator: Thread moved to the vSphere Upgrade & Install area.

[sudeshnas]

Hi DaveGY,

If you have only one esxi host and vcsa vm is placed on the same esxi , when ever you are planning to perform an upgrade/update on the esxi which will involve the host to be placed in maintenance mode , which will require to power off the vm running on the hosts. This will involve an outage for the vc and the other vm's running.

So incase if you can add another hosts then you can migrate the vm's and proceed with any operation with any downtime.

Regards,

Sudeshna Sarkar

Install-Upgrade Specialist

[Lalegre]

Hey Dave!

If i understood well you have two ESXi hosts, one that is currently 6.5 and it holds some productive VMs and you are planning to install a new one.

What i would do in this case is just install the new ESXi host in version 6.5 and attach it to the existing vCenter Server. Once you have the new ESXi configured i would do a vCenter Migration with the installer that comes by default to version 7 and point all the deployment to the newly created host or even the previously existing one (vCenter Server 7 supports to be deployed on ESXi 6.5 or later)

After the migration you can update your ESXi hosts to version 6.7 or 7, depends about the Hardware Compatibility of them. Also having two ESXi you will be able to migrate the VMs to avoid downtime during the ESXi upgrade process.

[DaveGY]

Thanks for your reply Sudeshna.

I have no problem with the vcsa vm being offline during the host updates, but how are ESXi updates/upgrades scheduled or performed if the vcsa is offline? I thought host updates require the vCenter/VCSA VM to be online to perform the update, thus causing a Catch-22 situation, unless I am mistaken.

Thanks,

Dave

[DaveGY]

Thanks Laegre,

I like that approach, except that we will be retiring the old ESXi 6.5 host. It's a 10 year old HP ML350 Gen6 server that's no longer supported, and is also experiencing some memory faults, so I cannot put vCenter/VCSA on it.

Once the upgrade is complete and the VCSA is on the new ESXi host, how do I perform updates to the host when the VCSA has to be offline in maintenance mode? Is it even possible?

Thanks in advance,

Dave

[ashilkrishnan]

Dave,

vCenter gives you the leverage to use update manager to patch/upgrade ESXi hosts. If vCenter is unavailable, you can still upgrade these hosts directly by attaching a ISO through ILO/KVM or physically mounting ISO via CD drive or USB drive.

Please refer this document for different methods: Upgrading ESXi Hosts

[Lalegre · Accepted solution]

Hey DaveGY,

But as far as i understood this ESXi you mention is the existing one that holds the productive VMs. What i am saying is this:

1. Re-install the ESXi 7 with version 6.5
2. Add it to vCenter Server.
3. Execute the migration of vCenter Server to version 7 pointing to this ESXi
4. Update the new ESXi to version 7 using vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
5. Migrate the VMs from the old ESXi to the new ESXi.
6. Decommission the old ESXi 6.5

Take into account that this new ESXi even if it is standalone you will need to put it in a cluster (unless you do not have one configured) with the EVC in the CPU level of the older ESXi so you can vMotion the VMs without powering them off.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Did you find this helpful? Let us know by completing this survey (takes 1 minute!)"

[DaveGY]

Thanks Lalegre​,

I have started on that path. I deactivated the ESXi 7 license on the new server and installed 6.5, after a few boot issues (because it required legacy BIOS boot to be enabled on the Gen10 server), I was able to add it to vCenter. I will be working on the other steps today, as time permits.

Dave