vSphere 4.0 to 5.0 Upgrade Best Practices

[mike7645]

Hi all- I'm getting ready to upgrade our vmware infrastructure from 4.0 to 5.0. This is my first VMware upgrade, so I'm looking to get advice in the way of any major gotchas or snags that I may come across. All our production server run in this environment so needless to say, I want to avoid an extended outage and even moreso, data loss of course!

We have 2 IBM x3650 servers, running VMs from an IBM ds3300 iSCSI SAN. The SAN controller firmware & hdd firmwares will be upgraded before the vmware upgrade. I'm hoping it will be a pretty straightforward upgrade, but any advice appreciated...

[vmroyale]

Check out the VMware vSphere 5.0 Upgrade Best Practices and the following kb articles:

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2003866

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2005102

Both of which will refer to the vSphere Upgrade Guide.

[logiboy123]

Some general advice on top of what has already been posted;

1) vCenter has to be upgraded first, followed by the hosts, then VM Tools and Virtual Hardware, then LUNs.

2) Don't skip the VM tools upgrade like most people do. Also follow up with the virtual hardware upgrade.

3) Take a backup of SQL before you start.

4) When installing applications, log into the server as the service account that is used and perform the install, not your normal admin account.

Can't think of anything else, may the force be with you young padawan.

[mike7645]

Perfect, these articles are very helpful. Thanks!

[mike7645]

Nice, a little real-world step by step from others who have done this definitely increases my confidence level. Thanks for posting this advice.

[UmeshAhuja]

Hi,

Below attached document will guide you for the upgrade too. Request you to have a look