vSphere 5.5 to 6.0 upgrade

[nem1s1s]

Current vSphere 5.5U3 environment. I would like to upgrade the infrastructure to 6.0U1 which will include a decommission of a vCenter 5.5 server running on Dell hardware and virtualizing a vCenter6 server in it's place. I am not sure where to begin.

1. Spin up a Windows 2012 R2 VM
2. Install vCenter Server 6 and configure
3. <<Lost here>> Do I need to re-create Datacenters, Clusters on the vCenter 6 server then place 5.5U3 hosts in Maintenance mode, then add them into the newly created Datacenters, Clusters on the vCenter 6 server?
4. If above true, then use Update Manager to upgrade the hosts from 5.5U3 to 6.0U1?

[rcporto · Accepted solution]

About the step #3, you will need to create all the new items on the new vCenter and then move the hosts from old vCenter to the new one, take a look here for detailed steps on how to do this move: VMware KB: Moving a managed ESXi/ESX host from one vCenter Server to another vCenter Server

And once with hosts on the new vCenter, you can user Update Manager to upgrade them to version 6 Update 1 or install from scratch.

[nem1s1s]

OK, thanks for that. Will the VMs need to be registered on the new vCenter server, or will they just work?

As well as this, is there a good upgrade/migration plan for vSphere 5.5 to 6 which involves commissioning a new vCenter server?

[nem1s1s]

One thing I can't wrap my head around.

So I install a new vCenter 6 Server and it's hosted on a 5.5U3a ESXi host. I login to the new vCenter 6 Server and create a new Datacenter. I evacuate one of the 5.5U3a ESXi hosts and make sure the only guest on it is the vCenter 6 Server. This is where it appears muddy. To remove the host from any cluster/datacenter, I have to place it onto maintenance mode, but if I do that, I will lose connection to the new vCenter 6 Server (which is hosted on the host I just placed into maintenance mode).

[rcporto]

Instead put the host in maintenance mode, disconnect the host and then remove from vCenter as documented here: VMware KB: Moving a managed ESXi/ESX host from one vCenter Server to another vCenter Server

To remove the ESXi/ESX host from vCenter Server:

1. Click Inventory in the navigation bar, expand the Inventory as needed, and click the appropriate managed host.
2. Right-click the managed host icon in the inventory panel and select Disconnect (wait for the task to complete).
3. Right-click the managed host icon in the Inventory panel and select Remove.
4. Click Yes to confirm that you want to remove the managed host and all its associated virtual machines.

Like described on KB, change the DRS mode to Manual or Disabled first.

Here is another blog post showing the same procedure: http://www.itdiversified.com/removing-host-from-drs-cluster/

[nem1s1s]

Yup, I just found that

Removing Host from DRS Cluster | IT Diversified

[rcporto]

Nice... it's the same link I posted on my previous post.

[nem1s1s]

What about Storage LUNS. Will they remain attached to each ESXi host when I migrate them to the new vCenter server?

[rcporto]

Yes 🙂

[nem1s1s]

Is there a recommendation from VMware re: the vCenter Server being Virtual or Physical? I can't find there recommendation?

[rcporto]

Run it virtualized 🙂 Here you can find a lot of advantages: VMware KB: Running vCenter Server in a virtual machine

Deploying vCenter Server in a virtual machine has these advantages:

• Rather than dedicating a physical server to the vCenter Server application, you can install vCenter Server in a virtual machine registered to an ESXi/ESX host in the environment.
• You can provide high availability for the vCenter Server system by using VMware HA.
• You can migrate the virtual machine containing the vCenter Server system from one host to another, enabling maintenance and other activities.
• Provides the ability to use snapshots for virtual machine-level backup utilities (such as VMware Data Recovery) and for restore points before installing update packages.

[nem1s1s]

Anything else to consider?

[nem1s1s]

Found this blog where the preferred installation route for vCenter is to separate Platform Services Controller from the vCenter services?

http://www.derekseaman.com/2015/02/vsphere-6-0-install-pt-6-install-psc.html

Now that we’ve gotten some background and best practices behind us, now it’s time to start the actual software installation. As previously mentioned, in all but the smallest environments it’s recommended to have a dedicated Platform Services Controller (PSC), rather than an embedded one. So first up here will be provisioning a new Windows Server 2012 R2 VM which will be dedicated to the PSC role. No other vCenter roles or services will be installed on here. Then further along in this series we will provision a second VM, which will run all of the vCenter services. So let’s roll up our sleeves and get started with installing the PSC.

[rcporto]

This is a good recommendation, but I will suggest you first understand the advantages and disadvantages of this model: vCenter Server Deployment Models

[nem1s1s]

Do I need to do anything with certificates? Or will the fresh install generate these for me?

[nem1s1s]

bump?

[rcporto]

You don't need to worry about certificates since the new vCenter installation will have brand new generated certificate for all components.

And don't forget mark answers as helpful or correct.