vcsa upgrade to 6.5

[andvm]

Hi,

Am checking the network requirements to upgrade from vcsa 6.0 and one of them is:

You can use the GUI installer to perform an interactive upgrade of a vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 or 6.0

that uses an embedded vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to

vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 with an embedded Platform Services Controller. You must run the GUI

upgrade from a Windows, Linux, or Mac machine that is in the same network as the appliance that you

want to upgrade.

Does this mean that the only option left is to login to the same ESXi host where the current vcsa is installed and deploy a new VM by using the new vcsa OVF file?

If so once created I will browse to the new vcsa temporary IP (Port:5480). Using the same host will probably facilitate/speed up the stage 2 transfer.

The current vcsa is connected to a distributed port, will the above step with OVF file setup on the ESXi allow me to connect the new vcsa VM to the same distributed port of the current vcsa so they can talk to each other before they switch over?

Document recommends to take a snapshot of the current vcsa, does this mean that at any stage in case of issues or failure to the new vcsa I should be able to revert back to using the old vcsa?

Is there anything from your experience that should be checked/done which might not be in the document?

Reference:

https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-652-upgrade-guide.pdf

Thanks

[daphnissov]

Does this mean that the only option left is to login to the same ESXi host where the current vcsa is installed and deploy a new VM by using the new vcsa OVF file?

No, where are you getting that idea? The "GUI upgrade" referenced is via the vCSA ISO that is downloaded and mounted to a workstation having access to the source vCSA. The wizard will walk you through the process of upgrading which involves an automated deployment of a new appliance and migrating the configuration to the new appliance.

The current vcsa is connected to a distributed port, will the above step with OVF file setup on the ESXi allow me to connect the new vcsa VM to the same distributed port of the current vcsa so they can talk to each other before they switch over?

See the first answer for context. You will want the vDS port group set to ephemeral mode so the newly-deployed appliance is able to connect to it.

Document recommends to take a snapshot of the current vcsa, does this mean that at any stage in case of issues or failure to the new vcsa I should be able to revert back to using the old vcsa?

In most cases, you just power on the source appliance since no changes occur to it. Snapshot is never a bad idea, however.

[andvm]

point 1 - so can run the "GUI upgrade" from a machine on a different subnet as long as it can connect to the vsphere environment.

point 2, "You will want the vDS port group set to ephemeral mode" - will this be a temporary or permanent change to the Port binding and is it mandatory? see below from same reference

"If the old vCenter Server Appliance uses a non-ephemeral distributed virtual port group, to preserve the port group setting, you can manually connect the new appliance to the original non-ephemeral distributed virtual port group."

thanks

[daphnissov]

point 1 - so can run the "GUI upgrade" from a machine on a different subnet as long as it can connect to the vsphere environment.

Yes

point 2, "You will want the vDS port group set to ephemeral mode" - will this be a temporary or permanent change to the Port binding and is it mandatory? see below from same reference

This can be temporary.

[TimCarfrey · Accepted solution]

Am checking the network requirements to upgrade from vcsa 6.0 and one of them is:

You can use the GUI installer to perform an interactive upgrade of a vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 or 6.0

that uses an embedded vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to

vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 with an embedded Platform Services Controller. You must run the GUI

upgrade from a Windows, Linux, or Mac machine that is in the same network as the appliance that you

want to upgrade.

The upgrade is run from a machine (laptop/desktop/server) that is on a network that can access vCenter. When I run the upgrade, I do it from my laptop. I download the ISO file and run it from the WIN32 directory because my system is Windows.

Does this mean that the only option left is to login to the same ESXi host where the current vcsa is installed and deploy a new VM by using the new vcsa OVF file?

If so once created I will browse to the new vcsa temporary IP (Port:5480). Using the same host will probably facilitate/speed up the stage 2 transfer.

No,

The current vcsa is connected to a distributed port, will the above step with OVF file setup on the ESXi allow me to connect the new vcsa VM to the same distributed port of the current vcsa so they can talk to each other before they switch over?

As long as your system can access vCenter you should be fine.

The document recommends to take a snapshot of the current vcsa, does this mean that at any stage in case of issues or failure to the new vcsa I should be able to revert back to using the old vcsa?

This is not really needed, because a new vCenter is created in step one based on the field you fill in in the menus. Then Stage 2 copies all the information to migrate the vCenter over. If the migration goes without error then the old vCenter VM is shut down. ANd the new one is updated to the old vCenter IP address and name. If something should go wrong in during the migration in step 1 or 2. you have not lost any information in the old vCenter and it will just work.

Is there anything from your experience that should be checked/done which might not be in the document?

I have done a lot of migration in the past year since 5.5 is coming to it's end of life. I have run into may issues. But have managed to find the answer to all of them on the web. Google will be your best friend.

[andvm]

TimCarfrey​ & daphnissov​ - thank you for your feedback.

One more think I would like to clarify is if the vCenter downtime begins at phase 2 of the upgrade? - (Meaning I can safely complete phase 1 anytime)

Thanks

[TimCarfrey]

Yes it does, but it usually very brief. about 5-10 minutes.