Question about migration path from ESXi 6.7 to 7.0.3o

[ldramirez14]

We have several ESXi host on 6.7 and want to migrate them to the latest 7.0.3 version (still cannot migrate them to 8 due to hardware compatibility issues that we are solving right now).   Based on the upgrade path.

Taking this into consideration https://interopmatrix.vmware.com/Upgrade?productId=1363&isHidePatch=false&isHideLegacyReleases=false I think that we have to migrate first to 7.0, then to 7.0.3n (that is the last ISO available), and then, apply the last patch.   Is that migration path correct?   There are several grey boxes there (unselect both hide legacy and patch releases), so I'm assuming for those boxes that I cannot migrate directly from 6.7 to 7.0.3n.

I think the path is quite clear on the webpage but would like to validate it with the community before working on the internal migration plan.

[markey165]

@ldramirez14 - Looking at the supported upgrade paths, 6.7 to 7.0 U2 and 7.0 U3 are both supported, so no need to go to base 7.0 first. However 7.0 U3 shows some warnings/issues upgrading to higher builds, so maybe go 6.7 to 7.0U2 then on from there.

Once on 7.0 U2, if your ESXi hosts have internet access, you could then patch straight to the latest 7.0 U3p using esxcli and the VMware online repos. See this post for an excellent guide - https://www.nakivo.com/blog/how-to-upgrade-from-vmware-vsphere-esxi-6-7-to-7-0

Finally, if you have vCenter 7, you could create a 7.0U3p baseline in Lifecycle Manager, then use that to remediate your cluster. No messing about with ISOs with either of the latter 2 options.

HTH 😊

[ldramirez14]

Thanks for your answer.   I was planning doing the upgrade 6.7 ---> 7.0.1c ----> 7.0.3n ----> 7.0.3p in order to use the HPE custom ISO files.

I'll check the link you sent me to validate the vCenter option (we have 7 installed, so it's a nice option).

[markey165]

@ldramirez14 - Ah ok yes, availability of the custom HPE ISOs may alter your path slightly.

One other consideration to bear in mind, You could just clean install each host and go 7.0 U3n with custom ISO then go straight to 7.0 U3p. I say this as some have experienced VIB errors with custom ISOs during 6.7 to 7.0 upgrades, so its another option to think about with less upgrade steps.

HTH

[ldramirez14]

Will consider this option.   The less upgrade steps is quite a nice option to check out and, as you mentioned, this can avoid errors that are still there from previous installs.

Based on that, I was thinking on doing this:

• Apply latest SPP to the HPE Servers.
• Move VMs to another server.
• Remove server from vCenter.
• Do a clean up install using 7.0.3n HPE custom.
• Add server again to vCenter.
• Move VMs to server and validate them.

[markey165]

Yep that looks good.

When we did our 6.7 to 7.0 upgrade, we actually stood up a brand new cluster. We used existing hosts, but performed clean installs, built new vCenters etc, documented everything, validated the platform, then used Advanced Cross vCenter vMotion (which is built into vSphere 7.0 from U1C on) to simply move everything across from old cluster to new cluster with no downtime. Worked perfectly and allowed us to ensure everything (storage/networking etc) was properly configured and fixed a bunch of things we didn't like on 6.7 (which you can't do so easily on a production platform, at least not without lots of change control).

Building a new platform allowed us to bypass all of that, and was the best solution for us.

Good luck with whatever option you choose 👍

[aurora-chase]

This article may help you migrate VMs between ESXi hosts: https://www.vinchin.com/vm-migration/move-vm-from-one-esxi-host-to-another.html 

[markey165]

@aurora-chase - Here's a 6th way using built in SCP 😊 - https://www.virt-ed.com/post/copying-a-vm-between-esxi-hosts

[LittleOne]

hello,

If you use HP server I would follow and use this doc http://vibsdepot.hpe.com/recipes/HPE-VMware-Recipe.pdf

I never had problems following that.

[ldramirez14]

@markey165 Thanks again for your help!

Based on this, and with the HPE ISO already loaded on vCenter 7, I'm planning this upgrade path:

• Update vCenter from 7.0.3o to 7.0.3p
• Apply HPE SPP Gen9/10 to ESXi host.
• ESXi 6.7 to 7.0.1C using a baseline with the HPE ISO attached.
• ESXi 7.0.1C to 7.0.3P using a baseline with the 3p patched attached.

That will remote a hop on the ESXi upgrades.