Upgrade from ESXi 3.5 (free) to ESX 4.1 (with license)

[larjona]

Hi

Can I Upgrade from ESXi 3.5 (free) to ESX 4.1 (with license)?

Yes, I need to change ESXi to ESX.

Is possible?

Thanks

[AndreTheGiant]

The vSphere licenses can be applied also to ESXi.

So you have to upgrade your ESXi to 4.0 or 4.1 version and then apply the license.

Andre

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

Can I Upgrade from ESXi 3.5 (free) to ESX 4.1 (with license)?

Yes, I need to change ESXi to ESX.

Is possible?

No, either way - ESX to ESXi and ESXi to ESX - requires a new installation of the OS, there's no way to upgrade (regardless of licensing). In case you have a VMFS datastore on the drive where you install the OS, you have to backup (or migrate) and restore the VM's.

I'd suggest you create separate logical volumes for the OS (~20 GB) and the VMFS. This way you can switch back from ESX to ESXi in the future without the need to evacuate the VMs. As you might know, ESX 4.1 is the last version with the Service Console.

André