Upgrading ESXi 4.1.0 to 6.0. - upgarde and best practices

[hqsit]

Hi guys,

We are a small company with only one Physical server, with ESXi 4.1.0 installed and ca. 8 VMs. We are planning on buying ESXi 6.0 Essential Kit, as this is all we need at the moment. However, as VMWare says that an ugrade from 4.1.0 to 6.0 is NOT supported (VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes) , how do we upgrade our host and Virtual machines?

I guess the correct way will be to upgrade from 4.0. to 5.5 U3 first, and then to 6.0. However, if we purchase the license for 6.0 Essential Kit, will we be able to still download and install, and upgrade the Host and all virtual machines to 5.5 U3 and then to 6.0. Essentials?

Also, what are the best practices to upgrade a single host with several VMs? From what I have researched we should backup the important virtual machine files, all the critical data, etc. Any recommendations are welcomed. My understanding is that during the upgrade also the virtual machines will be upgraded automatically, is this correct - Methods for upgrading to ESXi 5.5 (2058352) | VMware KB

Best Regards,

D. Stanchev

[vHaridas · Accepted solution]

Hi,

As you mentioned, you cannot upgrade ESXi Host from 4.x to 6.x You need to first upgrade 4.x to 5.x and then upgrade to 6.x

Before upgrading to 5 or 6, make sure you ESXi Host is compatible with ESXi 6.

Check VMware Hardware Compatibility list and check if your server is listed there.

Though you will have ESXi 6 License kit, you can download ESXi 5.x and use it for upgrade process.

Only if you need to use 5.x permanently then you need to get your License keys downgraded for 5.x otherwise once you upgrade Host to 5.x, proceed and upgrade it to ESXi 6.x

Backup -

Before you start upgrade process, make sure you have backup of all critical VMs.

Either you can download/export all VMs as OVF or you can use free edition of Veeam to do the backup of VMs

Upgrade -

You can attach ESXi installer ISO to server and boot server form ISO and do upgrade.

During Installation process make sure you select 'PRESERVE VMFS and Upgrade ESXi Host'

if you do not preserve vmfs, all vms will get deleted during installation/upgrade process.

Once you get ESXi Host upgrade to 5.x Upgrade VMFS version so that it can support 6.

Then finally upgrade ESXi Host to 6.x, again make sure you PRESERVE VMFS during installation.

If you have vCenter and Update manager, Use update manage to perform upgrade that's easy way of upgrade.

Thanks,

Haridas

[hqsit]

Thanks a lot! This was short and very helpful. We are planning on kicking the upgrade next weekend, with backing all critical data on external drives.

Thanks again!

Best Regards,

Dragomir