topic Upgrade from 6.7 to 7 on Dell server in ESXi Discussions

Upgrade from 6.7 to 7 on Dell server

DrorAmbar — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 20:27:43 GMT

Hello everyone,

We have a standalone Dell PowerEdge server that was purchased from Dell with custom image ESXi 6.7 on it.

We want to upgrade it to ESXi 7.

My CIO wants to take this opportunity and move away from the Dell's custom image to a standard ESXi installation.

Is there a best practice or are there any recommendations on how to perform this task successfully that will allow me to keep the current guests without having to recreate them?

Thanks!

Re: Upgrade from 6.7 to 7 on Dell server

Kahonu84 — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 21:13:55 GMT

Wow, I'm completely oblivious to the logic of this decision. The Dell image has drivers specific to Dell. Why in god's name would you want to move away from that??

Re: Upgrade from 6.7 to 7 on Dell server

DrorAmbar — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 21:57:02 GMT

As I mentioned in my original post, my CIO wants it and that is a discussion for another time

Re: Upgrade from 6.7 to 7 on Dell server

IRIX201110141 — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 22:46:18 GMT

I install and uprade >100 PowerEdge per year and cant say something wrong about the Dell Custom ISO. Compared to others Dell doesnt modified or add unwanted stuff that much. They even havent added the OpenManage Server Administrator which can really usefull.
We never have a problem with VMware Support when it comes to using a non VMware ISO.

But to answer your Question... just use the VMware ISO when performing the upgrade or the VMware offline Bundle combined with the esxcli software vib install .... command.

Regards,
Joerg

Re: Upgrade from 6.7 to 7 on Dell server

maksym007 — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 22:51:10 GMT

Even if you open an SR to VMware they will give you a million reasons why you should still use Custom Image

Re: Upgrade from 6.7 to 7 on Dell server

DrorAmbar — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 00:06:40 GMT

Thank you everyone. I appreciate your feedback.

Kudos to you all!