VMware Cloud Community
Manieie
Contributor
Contributor

what are the steps and best practices to upgrade vSphere 4.0 to 5.1?

Hi All,

Currently we have a requirement to upgrade our vSphere from 4.0 to 5.1.

Presently our vSphere consists of:

  1. vCenter 4.0 build 258672
  2. Its windows 2008 R2 64 bit physical server
  3. SQL Server 2008 R2 64 bit physical server
  4. 30 ESX hosts running 4.0

Can someone help me in providing the steps to upgrade it and what are the best practices to upgrade it.

Thanks

S.Mani

Tags (3)
0 Kudos
6 Replies
raog
Expert
Expert

The most important part first: Do have a failback plan if the installation does not succeed.

  • Do a backup of your vCenter DB before attempting to upgrade.
  • If certs are involved be extra careful.
  • Note down all your permissions you have set.
  • Check compatibility with all installed plugins for 5.1
  • Do not use any non ASCII characters for passwords, usernames, hostname etc.

After the installation of SSO I would recommend that you open an elevated shell and do the following: # cd cC:\Program Files\VMware\Infrastructure\SSOServer\utils# ssocli manage-identity-sources -a list -u admin If domain users have permission on your vCenter server all the domains should be listed as an output, if they are not do not continue the installation# ssocli manage-identity-sources -a create -u admin This let's you add an identity source, for ease of use the Web Client can also be installed before installing the Inventory Service and upgrade vCenter Server to add the domains. If you omit this step permission loss will happen. SSO does not understand domain trusts. vCenter 4.x would allow a user that is defined in domain B and joined to a group in domain A to connect to vCenter server when the group does have the correct permissions. Both domains need to be defined in the SSO for that scenario to still work in vCenter server 5.1.

  • Install the Inventory Service
  • Upgrade vCenter server
  • Install the Web Client
  • Upgrade the vSphere client
  • Upgrade Update Manager

All the new features are only available in the Web Client, as is the GUI for SSO configuration.

Hope this helps you to have a smooth upgrade without any issues.

Regards

Girish

To Virtualization and beyond! PS::If you felt the answer as helpful, please mark it as helpful/answered so that it helps other users as well! Blog:: www.virtualtipsntricks.com
0 Kudos
MarVista
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thought it was explained above i would like to add this guide for your reference in case you need it .

http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-51-upgrade...

it will tell you everything you need to know about the upgrade .

Let me know if you need anymore help .

Regards

Yours,
Mar Vista

0 Kudos
weinstein5
Immortal
Immortal

I second reviewing VMware's Upgrade Guide - it will most if not all of your questions

If you find this or any other answer useful please consider awarding points by marking the answer correct or helpful
0 Kudos
TedH256
Expert
Expert

I will third that recommendation, with this caveat:

I sometimes find that the upgrade guides fail to take a step back to present the various paths. It helps me to have a 10,000 ft view of complex tasks - like looking at a map, before getting turn by turn directions.

Perhaps this is what the OP was asking for?

I do not have such a thing created, or I would post it, but:

1)Upgrade virtual center

a)figure out what to do with the existing db, or ... decide to create a new db. Virtual center is 64 bit only. So you will need to check compatibility of all components of the existing db.

2)Once you decide what to do about VC db, then determine which kind of install to use - simple (where SSO, inventory and VC and the sql DB are installed in one fell swoop on one server) or are you going to spread the pieces out on ore than one server

3)upgrade or install update manager new

4)import esxi image, and create update manager upgrade baseline, apply baseline to hosts

5)remediate using ugrade baseline, one host at a time

There - bare bones, and yes more detail would be nice, but I'm outa time!

Smiley Happy

PS - I would suggest NOT upgrading to 5.1, as 5.5 will be out soon, and SSO is much improved I hear. I would wait for that, and then wait a month or two, before doing the upgrade. JMO

0 Kudos
OscarDavey
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

HI,

I came across another article you may find useful...

updating vcenter 5.0

0 Kudos