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petlab79
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Migrating from ESX4.0 update 1 to ESXi4.1

I'm looking for some assistance in the proper way to move from a 3 host ESX 4.0 update 1 cluster with a physical vCenter 4.0 server to a 3 host 4.1 ESXi cluster with a physical vCenter 4.1 server. I had a spare server that is exactly like the current vCenter server and have installed vCenter 4.1. What I would like to do is, remove one of the hosts from the cluster and install ESXi 4.1 on it. Is this the best way to approach migrating? Most of the documentation that I found speaks of upgrading. Anybody have some pointers?

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Troy_Clavell
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in order to manage an ESX(i)4.1 host, you'll first need to upgrade to vCenter 4.1.  From there you can vMotion your guests off to another host, and rebuild to ESXi 4.1

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Troy_Clavell
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in order to manage an ESX(i)4.1 host, you'll first need to upgrade to vCenter 4.1.  From there you can vMotion your guests off to another host, and rebuild to ESXi 4.1

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weinstein5
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Here is a link to VMware's upgrade - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_upgrade_guide.pdf - but definitely the steps are as Troy laid move to vCenter 4.1 and bring in the 4.0 hosts into the 4.1 vCenter vmotion the vms off - and since you are moving from ESX to ESXi this will require a complete reinstall -

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petlab79
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Thanks for responding so quickly Troy and Weinstein5. Just to set me straight. I have already created the 4.1 vCenter server. So now do I remove the 3 hosts (clustered) from the 4.0 vCenter server and add them to the 4.1 vCenter server? Or do I just add one at a time, vmotion VM's off, and then run the ESXi setup on the host?

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Troy_Clavell
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Add them all to your vCenter 4.1 Server by disconnecting and removing them from the 4.0 vCenter to the new 4.1 instance, then start the rebuild process.  With vMotion it's an easy rolling rebuild.

petlab79
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Troy,

Do I need to remove the cluster to get the hosts to be able to remove from vCenter? I tried removing one host that I migrated off the VM's and it said it needs to be in maintenance mode.  However if I try to remove the cluster, it just says "Removing this cluster will also remove all of its hosts and virtual machines. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Thanks,

Pete

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Troy_Clavell
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if the host is not in maintenance mode, you cannot "remove". You'll first have to disconnect, then you can remove.

However if I try to remove the cluster, it just says "Removing this  cluster will also remove all of its hosts and virtual machines. Are you  sure you want to do this?"

This is just an informative message.

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idle-jam
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Just follow Troy's advise, we've done it many times ignoring that message. Further more when you re add back the host all the virtual machines will reappear back. Just like host ESXi host continue to function even when vCenter server is down.

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bulletprooffool
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If you're replacing the VC, you can simply remove the hosts from one VC and them them to the other.

Once on the new VC, you should easily be able to move VMs around etc. If you are re-using old hardware, you can have all the ESX hosts in the same cluster (like before) and uyou can migrate VMs from one ESX host to another without any downtime.

One day I will virtualise myself . . .
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opbz
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Troy's advice is perfect here.

nice thing about doing it this way is you do not need to reboot or power off VMs. So major update 0 down time for VMs

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Kevin_S
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I am looking to do the same process this week by moving 3 Hosts from ESX 4.0 update 2 to ESXi 4.1. I have already updated vcenter to 4.1 and my concern is the networking configuration that was setup by a consultant last year. I don't want to wipe out a working ESX 4 host and load ESXi 4.1 and not have the networking and other configuration setup/working correctly. Should I look at creating a backup of the host configuration of the 3 hosts (i assume this is stored in vcenter) then as i wipe out a host and install esx4.1 i can simply apply that host configuration back to the host?  Any insight is much appreciated...

thanks

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petlab79
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I've got the first ESXi host up and running, going through the configuration now. With ESX I had 2 vmnic's for the Service console, 2 for iSCSI, and 2 for the VM Network. With ESXi, the service console goes away correct? So does that mean I will only be using 4 NICS?

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weinstein5
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You will still need the six virtual NICs - 2 for the vmkernel management NIC - 2 for iSCSI 2 for the VMs - 

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Kevin_S
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So i completed the migration from ESX 4.0 to ESXi 4.1 and it went smoothly using Host Profiles. I did have two questions and for one i attached an image. 

When i would edit the Service Console in ESX 4 i would get the message "Modifying your Service Console connection may disconnect all management agents, including this client." now i can edit it without the error. Can i delete the service console since esxi 4.1 doesnt need it (as far as ive read) ? I attached an image because we had consultants originally set this up and i dont want to edit/delete something i need.

I have also noticed Host Configured for FT is set to No , I assume it is ok to enable FT Logging?

thanks!

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petlab79
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Thanks everybody, escpecially Troy and Weinstein5 for your comments. They helped me implement Esxi4.1. Everything is converted over with the exception running Vmware tools to get those updated on a few remaining VM's.

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rterra
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I have a similar question/situation.  I have a completely seperate cluster running vCenter 4.1, currently with with two ESXi hosts that I disconnected/removed from vCenter4.0.  I have another one to do tomorrow.  I cannot vmotion because the two different clustershave different LUNs.

My question is this: do I need to shut down the VMs on the ESX4.0 host, or can I just disconnect/remove from vCenter4 (with the VMs live) and then bring them into the vCenterESXi4.1 in which case I would be able to vMotion the VMs and rebuild the host to ESXi 4.1.  I'm just curious if the VMs need to be off.  This would seem very practical, but I'd like some advice before shooting myself in the foot and making a long Monday even longer.

Thanks in advance!

- Bob

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