I recently had the pleasure of upgrading one of my older environments running VMware vCenter 6.5 U2 to vCenter 6.7 U3 and thought i would share my experience. I know a lot of people who are planning for this upgrade by the end of the year so I hope this helps everyone out.
If you came to this article by mistake and looking for a way to upgrade your vCenter from 6.7 or 6.7 U1 or 6.7 U2 or 6.7 U3 to 6.7 U3f please view my other blog article:
https://digitalthoughtdisruption.com/2020/04/11/how-to-upgrade-vmware-vcenter-6-7-u1-u2-u3-to-6-7-u3f/
Prerequisites
- Need temp FQDN & IP with valid DNS registration for deployment process, will be released when upgrade completes.
- If vCenter Server Appliance uses an external Update Manager instance, you must run the Migration Assistant on the Update Manager machine.
- Your source and target ESXi hosts must not be in lockdown or maintenance mode, and not part of fully automated DRS clusters.
- Review your environment’s Certificate Authority (CA) signed SSL certificates.
- ESXi hosts must be at version 6.0 or later.
- Check VMware interoperability for all external components: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php
Food for thought:
- 6.7 disables the TLS 1.0 and 1.1 protocols for improved security.
**Warning**
If you have VxRail — Due vCenter API changes in 6.7 you must be at VxRail 4.0.520 / VxRail 4.5.215 or later prior to upgrading your vCenter to 6.7 U1 or later. If you are below these minimums then upgrade your VxRail first followed by your vCenter.
Step 1. Take a snapshot or a clone of your existing vCenter server
I personally like to take a clone, some prefer a snapshot, others a backup.
Step 2. Deploy new VCSA Appliance
Select Upgrade —- DO NOT SELECT INSTALL!
Next
Accept the License Agreement and then next
Enter the information for the Source (Original) VCSA Appliance
Enter the source (original) Username and password and root password
Enter the standalone ESXi host or vCenter server that manages your source (original) appliance
Yes
This is where you enter the standalone ESXi or vCenter that will manage the new vCenter appliance
Enter username and password of the ESXi or vCenter
Select the folder to deploy the new appliance in – I always put it in the folder of the original
Select the compute resource you want to place the new appliance – I always put it in the cluster of the original
This is where you enter the temp name or IP
Remember to enter your source (original) appliance username/password as it is not copied over during the migration
Pick the size of the appliance to fit your environment.
Select the datastore you want the new appliance to be deployed on
Finish filling in the network information of the new appliance
Confirm all the information is correct and click finish
Step 3 / Stage 2 – Migrate old VCSA persona to new VCSA
Next
Fix any errors or document any warnings from the check
I select the configuration and historical data.
Join the CEIP
Confirm the configuration is correct and then click finish and let the fun begin
OK
Click on the URL link to go to the login page
Enjoy the new HTML-5 feature rich UI
Login with your credentials.
Summary:
It is a very lengthy process but a whole lot of sit and wait. However, the features that come in 6.7 U3 are too good to wait on. I hope everyone found this article useful.