VMware ESX 4.0 - GETTING STARTED UPDATE 1 General instructions

vSphere Upgrade Guide
Update 1
ESX 4.0
ESXi 4.0
vCenter Server 4.0
vSphere Client 4.0
This document supports the version of each product listed and
supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced
by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this
document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
EN-000259-02

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You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:
http://www.vmware.com/support/
The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.
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[email protected]
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VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other marks
and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.
VMware, Inc.
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Contents
Updated Information 7
About This Book 9
1Changes to the Upgrade Process 11
vCenter Server Upgrade 11
Host Upgrade 11
Datastore Upgrade 12
Virtual Machine Upgrade 12
Licensing 13
2Example Upgrade Scenarios 15
About the Upgrade Process 15
Upgrading Environments with Host Clusters 16
Upgrading Environments Without Host Clusters 17
Upgrading by Moving Virtual Machines Using VMotion 18
Upgrading by Moving Virtual Machines Using Upgrade VMotion 20
Upgrading by Moving Powered Off or Suspended Virtual Machines (with vCenter Server) 22
Upgrading by Moving Powered Off or Suspended Virtual Machines (Without vCenter Server) 23
Upgrading to vCenter Server on a New Machine 24
3Changing Host Types 27
Change ESX to ESXi Installable 27
Change ESXi Embedded to ESX 27
Change ESXi Embedded to ESXi Installable 28
4System Requirements 29
ESX Hardware Requirements 29
ESXi Hardware Requirements 32
vCenter Server and vSphere Client Hardware Requirements 34
vCenter Server Software Requirements 35
vSphere Client Software Requirements 36
Support for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems 36
Requirements for Creating Virtual Machines 36
Required Ports 36
Supported Remote Management Firmware Versions 38
5Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server 39
About the vCenter Server 4.0 Upgrade 39
vCenter Server Upgrade Summary 39
Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade 40
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vCenter Server Database Patch and Configuration Requirements 42
Database Scenarios 43
Configure vCenter Server to Communicate with the Local Database After Shortening the Computer
Name to 15 Characters or Fewer 44
Back Up VirtualCenter 2.x 45
Run the vCenter Agent Preupgrade Check Tool 45
Downtime During the vCenter Server Upgrade 47
6Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.0 49
About the Database Upgrade Wizard 49
Upgrade to vCenter Server 49
7Upgrading to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Keeping the Existing
Database 53
Back Up and Restore a Microsoft SQL Database 53
Detach and Attach a Microsoft SQL Server Database 54
Back Up and Restore an Oracle Database 55
Create a 32-Bit DSN on a 64-Bit Operating System 56
Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine 56
8Postupgrade Considerations for vCenter Server 59
Upgrade to the vSphere Client 60
Using a License Server to Manage ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 Hosts 60
License Server Scenarios 61
Join a Linked Mode Group After a vCenter Server 4.0 Upgrade 61
Set the Maximum Number of Database Connections After a vCenter Server Upgrade 62
Restore VirtualCenter 2.x 63
9Upgrading Datastore and Network Permissions 65
Datastore Privileges 66
Network Privileges 66
Update Datastore Permissions 67
Update Network Permissions 68
10 Preparing for the Upgrade to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 71
About Host Upgrades 71
vSphere Host Update Utility 72
vCenter Update Manager 72
Recommendation for Static IP Addresses 73
List of Upgraded vSphere Components 73
List of Preserved Configuration Components 74
Back Up the ESX Host Configuration 75
Back Up the ESXi Host Configuration 75
Release Upgrade Support for ESX/ESXi 76
11 Upgrade to ESX 4.0 or ESXi 4.0 79
Upgrade ESX Hosts 79
Upgrade ESXi Hosts 81
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12 Postupgrade Considerations for Hosts 83
Restore vSphere Web Access on ESX Hosts 84
Evaluation Period Countdown 85
Clean Up the ESX Bootloader Menu After Upgrade 85
About the esxconsole.vmdk 86
Uninstalling the VMware License Server 86
vSphere Host Update Utility Support for Rolling Back ESX/ESXi Upgrades 87
Roll Back an ESX Upgrade 87
Roll Back an ESXi Update, Patch, or Upgrade 88
Restore the ESX Host Configuration 88
Restore the ESXi Host Configuration 88
13 Upgrading Virtual Machines 89
About VMware Tools 90
About Virtual Machines and ESX/ESXi Upgrades 90
Orchestrated Upgrade of Virtual Machines Scenario 90
Planning Downtime for Virtual Machines 91
Downtime for Upgrading Virtual Machines 91
Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Microsoft Windows Guest 92
Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Linux Guest in an X Terminal 93
Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Linux Guest with the RPM Installer 94
Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Linux Guest with the Tar Installer 96
Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Solaris Guest 97
Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools in a Netware Virtual Machine 98
Perform an Automatic Upgrade of VMware Tools 99
Upgrade VMware Tools on Multiple Virtual Machines 100
Configure a Virtual Machine to Automatically Upgrade VMware Tools 101
Upgrade Virtual Hardware 101
Upgrade Virtual Hardware on Multiple Virtual Machines 102
14 About Host Updates and Patches 105
Best Practices for Updates 105
About Patching Hosts with vSphere Host Update Utility 105
About the vihostupdate Command-Line Utility 108
Index 113
Contents
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Updated Information
This vSphere Upgrade Guide is updated with each release of the product or when necessary.
This table provides the update history of the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Revision Description
EN-000259-02 nRenamed and clarified descriptions for various vCenter Server components in the section “vCenter
Server Upgrade Summary,” on page 39.
nAdded a reference regarding rollup jobs in relationship to detaching and attaching the vCenter Server
database to a different Microsoft SQL Server in the section “Detach and Attach a Microsoft SQL
Server Database,” on page 54.
nAdded a sentence to indicate that vSphere Host Update Utility does not support authenticated
proxies.
nAdded wording in various locations to indicate that upgrade to ESX 4.0 includes ESX 4.0 Update (or
ESX 4.0 Update 1 and later).
EN-000259-01 nAdded information on upgrade from ESX 3.5 Update 5 in the section “Upgrading Environments
with Host Clusters,” on page 16.
nAdded note on upgrade from ESX 3.5 Update 5 in the section “Upgrading Environments Without
Host Clusters,” on page 17.
nChanged support for ESX 3.0.0 and 3.0.1 to "Limited Support" in Table 10-2 in the section “Release
Upgrade Support for ESX/ESXi,” on page 76.
nAdded section “Upgrading from ESX 3.0.0 and 3.0.1,” on page 77.
EN-000259-00 Initial release.
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About This Book
The vSphere Upgrade Guide describes how to upgrade from earlier versions of VMware® ESX™, ESXi, and
VMware vCenter™ Server to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 and vCenter Server 4.0.
This guide includes the following tasks:
nUpgrade to vCenter Server 4.0.
nInstall vCenter Server 4.0 on a different machine and keep the VirtualCenter 2.x database. You would do
this if you are upgrading from a 32-bit server to a 64-bit server, for example.
nUpgrade to ESX 4.0 from ESX 3.x.
nUpgrade to ESXi 4.0 from ESXi 3.5.
nUpgrade to ESX 4.0 from ESX 2.5.x using upgrade VMotion.
nUpgrade to ESX 4.0 from ESX 2.5.x using cold migration.
nChange ESX to ESXi and the reverse.
nUpgrade VMware Tools and virtual hardware.
To learn how to simplify and automate your datacenter upgrade, see the vCenter Update Manager Administration
Guide.
If you have legacy versions of ESX, ESXi, and VirtualCenter, and you want to migrate to
VMware vsphere™ 4.0 by performing fresh installations that do not preserve existing data, see the following
manuals:
nESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide
nESXi Installable and vCenter Server Setup Guide
nESXi Embedded and vCenter Server Setup Guide
Intended Audience
This book is intended for anyone who needs to upgrade from earlier versions of ESX/ESXi and vCenter Server
to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 and vCenter Server 4.0. The information in this manual is written for experienced Microsoft
Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter
operations.
Document Feedback
VMware welcomes your suggestions for improving our documentation. If you have comments, send your
feedback to [email protected].
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VMware vSphere Documentation
The vSphere documentation consists of the combined VMware vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi documentation
set.
Technical Support and Education Resources
The following technical support resources are available to you. To access the current version of this book and
other books, go to http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.
Online and Telephone
Support
To use online support to submit technical support requests, view your product
and contract information, and register your products, go to
http://www.vmware.com/support.
Customers with appropriate support contracts should use telephone support
for the fastest response on priority 1 issues. Go to
http://www.vmware.com/support/phone_support.html.
Support Offerings To find out how VMware support offerings can help meet your business needs,
go to http://www.vmware.com/support/services.
VMware Professional
Services
VMware Education Services courses offer extensive hands-on labs, case study
examples, and course materials designed to be used as on-the-job reference
tools. Courses are available onsite, in the classroom, and live online. For onsite
pilot programs and implementation best practices, VMware Consulting
Services provides offerings to help you assess, plan, build, and manage your
virtual environment. To access information about education classes,
certification programs, and consulting services, go to
http://www.vmware.com/services.
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Changes to the Upgrade Process 1
VMware vSphere introduces many changes to the upgrade process for vCenter Server and ESX/ESXi.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n“vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 11
n“Host Upgrade,” on page 11
n“Datastore Upgrade,” on page 12
n“Virtual Machine Upgrade,” on page 12
n“Licensing,” on page 13
vCenter Server Upgrade
The process of upgrading VirtualCenter includes several changes from the upgrade process in previous
releases.
When you upgrade from VirtualCenter 2.x to vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1, consider the following:
nThe unified installer is no longer supported.
The autorun.exe executable file provides an HTML interface that presents the following installers:
nvCenter Server
nvCenter Guided Consolidation
nvSphere Client
nvCenter Update Manager
nvCenter Converter
nThe database schema upgrade occurs before the upgrade to vCenter Server. This ensures that your existing
version of VirtualCenter 2.x remains in place until the database schema upgrade completes successfully.
When the database schema upgrade is successful, the upgrade to vCenter Server begins.
nvSphere 4.0 Update 1 introduces the vCenter Agent Preupgrade Check tool, which helps ensure a
successful upgrade to vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1.
Host Upgrade
The process of upgrading ESX/ESXi hosts includes several changes from the upgrade process in previous
releases.
When you upgrade from ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0, you can use either the vSphere Host Update
Utility or vCenter Update Manager.
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vSphere Host Update Utility
This tool is for upgrading ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 standalone hosts to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 and for patching ESXi 4.0
standalone hosts. A standalone host is an ESX/ESXi host that is not managed in vCenter Server.
This utility is intended for small deployments with fewer than 10 ESX/ESXi hosts and without vCenter Server
or vCenter Update Manager. The utility includes a wizard that guides you through upgrades. While an upgrade
is in progress, the utility provides visual status.
vCenter Update Manager: Orchestrated Datacenter Upgrades
vCenter Update Manager is for upgrading ESX/ESXi hosts that are managed in vCenter Server.
With Update Manager 4.0 and later, you can perform orchestrated upgrades of hosts and virtual machines.
Orchestrated upgrades allow you to upgrade all hosts in the inventory by using host upgrade baselines. You
can use orchestrated upgrades to upgrade the virtual hardware and VMware Tools of virtual machines in the
inventory at the same time, using baseline groups containing the following baselines:
nVM Hardware Upgrade to Match Host
nVMware Tools Upgrade to Match Host
Orchestrated upgrades can be performed at a cluster, folder or datacenter level.
This significantly simplifies the upgrade of hosts and virtual machines.
In addition, this tool enables you to configure policy-based compliance monitoring and remediation. For
example, you can define a host upgrade baseline to upgrade an ESX host to ESX 4.0, a virtual machine upgrade
baseline to upgrade the virtual machine hardware to the latest version, and VMware Tools to the latest version.
To do this, you use wizard-based workflows to first schedule host upgrades for an entire cluster and then
schedule a virtual machine upgrade for all the virtual machines.
Built-in best practices in the wizard workflows prevent erroneous upgrade sequences. For example, the wizard
prevents you from upgrading virtual machine hardware before you upgrade hosts in a cluster. vCenter Update
Manager monitors hosts and virtual machines for compliance against your defined upgrade baselines.
Noncompliance appears in detailed reports and in the dashboard view. vCenter Update Manager supports
mass remediation.
For detailed information about how to use vCenter Update Manager and how to orchestrate upgrades, see the
vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide.
Datastore Upgrade
No VMFS upgrade is required if you are upgrading from ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 with VMFS3 datastores.
Read-only VMFS2 support is deprecated in vSphere 4.0 and might be removed in future vSphere releases.
Virtual Machine Upgrade
Unlike previous releases, when you upgrade to vSphere 4.0, you must upgrade VMware Tools before
upgrading virtual hardware.
CAUTION If you do not perform the upgrade in the correct order, your virtual machines might lose network
connectivity.
To ensure that the virtual machine upgrade happens in the correct order, you can use vCenter Update Manager
to automate the process. See the vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide.
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Licensing
Licensing is centralized in vCenter Server.
Licensing is applicable to ESX/ESXi hosts, vCenter Server, and solutions. However, solutions licensing
management is specific to the solution. For solutions, licensing can be based on processors, asset instances,
virtual machines, and so on. Therefore, the licensing for a solution such as VMware vCenter Site Recovery
Manager might differ entirely from the licensing of another solution. For information about licensing a specific
solution, see the documentation for that solution.
On the VMware Web site, log in to your account page to access the license portal. From the license portal,
upgrade your legacy licenses. After you upgrade to vCenter Server and ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0, use the vSphere Client
to assign the upgraded license keys to your assets.
Chapter 1 Changes to the Upgrade Process
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Example Upgrade Scenarios 2
Upgrade scenarios for vSphere 4.0 include cases with and without clustered hosts, hosts that you upgrade on
the same machine where they are currently running, and hosts that you upgrade using different machines.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n“About the Upgrade Process,” on page 15
n“Upgrading Environments with Host Clusters,” on page 16
n“Upgrading Environments Without Host Clusters,” on page 17
n“Upgrading by Moving Virtual Machines Using VMotion,” on page 18
n“Upgrading by Moving Virtual Machines Using Upgrade VMotion,” on page 20
n“Upgrading by Moving Powered Off or Suspended Virtual Machines (with vCenter Server),” on
page 22
n“Upgrading by Moving Powered Off or Suspended Virtual Machines (Without vCenter Server),” on
page 23
n“Upgrading to vCenter Server on a New Machine,” on page 24
About the Upgrade Process
Upgrading is a multistage process in which procedures must be performed in a particular order. If you follow
the suggested process, you can help ensure a smooth upgrade with a minimum of system downtime.
CAUTION VMware recommends that you read about the upgrade process before attempting to upgrade. If you
do not follow appropriate safeguards, you might lose data and lose access to your servers. Without careful
planning, you might incur more downtime than is necessary.
You must complete the upgrade process in a specific order. If you do not complete each upgrade stage before
moving on, you can lose data and server access. Order is also important within each upgrade stage.
Generally, you can perform the upgrade process for each component in only one direction. For example, after
you upgrade to vCenter Server, you cannot revert to VirtualCenter 2.x. With appropriate backups and
planning, you can restore your original software records.
You can take any amount of time to complete each of the upgrade procedures. However, keep in mind the
following considerations:
nYou must complete one procedure before you move to the next procedure.
nSome major procedures include minor substeps. Follow the directions within each procedure regarding
the required sequence of minor substeps.
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Because certain commands can simultaneously upgrade more than one stage, VMware recommends that you
thoroughly understand the irreversible changes at each stage before you upgrade your production
environments.
To ensure that your datacenter upgrade goes smoothly, you can use vCenter Update Manager to manage the
process for you.
Upgrading Environments with Host Clusters
This example scenario shows how you can use vCenter Update Manager to simplify the host and virtual
machine upgrade process and minimize downtime in environments that include host clusters.
These are the prerequisites for this scenario:
nYou must have VirtualCenter 2.x.
nYou must have vCenter Update Manager.
nAll your hosts must be ESX 3.x or ESXi 3.5. You cannot upgrade from ESX 3.5 Update 5 to ESX 4.0. However,
you can upgrade from ESX 3.5 Update 5 to ESX 4.0 Update 1 or later.
The following list of tasks provides a high-level overview of the upgrade process.
1 Upgrade VirtualCenter 2.x to vCenter Server 4.0.
a Make sure your database is compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. This release discontinues support for
some database versions and adds support for other database versions. See the Compatibility Matrixes
on the VMware vSphere documentation Web site.
b Make sure that you have the required permissions to perform this procedure. See “Database
Prerequisites,” on page 41.
c Take a full backup of the VirtualCenter 2.x database. See your database documentation.
d Back up the VirtualCenter 2.x SSL certificates. See “Back Up VirtualCenter 2.x,” on page 45.
The downtime required for this upgrade is based on the amount of data in the database. During this time,
you cannot perform provisioning operations, such as cloning or creating virtual machines. The upgrade
from VirtualCenter 2.5 is faster in comparison to the upgrade from VirtualCenter 2.0.x because of
differences in changes to the database schema and the amount of data migration.
After the upgrade, the ESX hosts are automatically reconnected to vCenter Server 4.0. Your VMware High
Availability (HA) and VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) clusters are automatically
reconfigured. (Check to ensure that the automatic reconfiguration is successful. In some cases, you might
need to reconfigure the clusters manually.)
For a detailed description of the upgrade procedure, see Chapter 5, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter
Server,” on page 39 and Chapter 6, “Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.0,” on page 49.
2 Run the vCenter Agent Preupgrade Check tool.
3 Install the vSphere Client.
You can install the vSphere Client on the same machine with your previous version of the VI Client. You
must have the previous version of the VI Client to connect to previous versions of VirtualCenter and ESX/
ESXi.
For a detailed description of the procedure, see “Upgrade to the vSphere Client,” on page 60.
4 If your environment has vCenter Converter, upgrade it to the latest version.
5 If your environment has vCenter Guided Consolidation, complete the consolidation plan and then
upgrade it to the latest version.
6 Upgrade to vCenter Update Manager 4.0.
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7 Use vCenter Update Manager to upgrade ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0.
vCenter Update Manager puts the host into maintenance mode before upgrading the host. The downtime
for the procedure depends on the network speed and the server boot time.
In case of upgrade failure, vCenter Update Manager supports rollback to the previous release.
For a detailed description of the procedure, see the vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide.
8 Use vCenter Update Manager to upgrade your virtual machines. vCenter Update Manager ensures that
the VMware Tools upgrade and the virtual hardware upgrade happen in the correct order to prevent loss
of your network connectivity. vCenter Update Manager also performs automatic backups of your virtual
machines in case you need to roll back after the upgrade. You can upgrade clusters without powering off
the virtual machines if Distributed Resource Scheduler is available for the cluster.
9 Upgrade your product licenses:
a Either your new license keys are sent to you in email, or you get them using the license portal.
b Apply the new license keys to your assets using vCenter Server.
Upgrading Environments Without Host Clusters
If you have standalone ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts, you can use vSphere Host Update Utility to upgrade your hosts
and the vSphere Client to upgrade your virtual machines.
NOTE You cannot upgrade from ESX 3.5 Update 5 to ESX 4.0. However, you can upgrade from ESX 3.5 Update
5 to ESX 4.0 Update 1 or later.
This scenario assumes that you do not have host clusters and you do not have vCenter Update Manager. In
such a case, you probably do not have VirtualCenter either. If you do have VirtualCenter, the following process
can apply to your environment as well.
The following list of tasks provides a high-level overview of the upgrade process.
1 If you have VirtualCenter, upgrade VirtualCenter 2.x to vCenter Server 4.0.
a Make sure your database is compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. This release discontinues support for
some database versions and adds support for other database versions. See the Compatibility Matrixes
on the VMware vSphere documentation Web site.
b Make sure that you have the required permissions to perform this procedure. See “Database
Prerequisites,” on page 41.
c Take a full backup of the VirtualCenter 2.x database. See your database documentation.
d Back up the VirtualCenter 2.x SSL certificates. See “Back Up VirtualCenter 2.x,” on page 45.
The downtime required for this upgrade is based on the amount of data in the database. During this time,
you cannot perform provisioning operations, such as cloning or creating virtual machines. The upgrade
from VirtualCenter 2.5 is faster in comparison to the upgrade from VirtualCenter 2.0.x because of
differences in changes to the database schema and the amount of data migration.
After the upgrade, the ESX hosts are automatically reconnected to vCenter Server 4.0.
For a detailed description of the upgrade procedure, see Chapter 5, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter
Server,” on page 39 and Chapter 6, “Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.0,” on page 49.
2 Run the vCenter Agent Preupgrade Check tool.
3 Install the vSphere Client.
Chapter 2 Example Upgrade Scenarios
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You can install the vSphere Client on the same machine with your previous version of the VI Client. You
must have the previous version of the VI Client to connect to previous versions of VirtualCenter and ESX/
ESXi.
During vSphere Client installation, install the vSphere Host Update Utility. By default, this utility is not
installed. Install it if you plan to use this Windows machine to initiate host upgrades.
For a detailed description of the procedure, see “Upgrade to the vSphere Client,” on page 60.
4 If your environment has vCenter Converter, upgrade it.
5 If your environment has vCenter Guided Consolidation, complete the consolidation plan and then
upgrade it to the latest version.
6 Use vSphere Host Update Utility to upgrade ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0.
This procedure involves putting the host into maintenance mode before you upgrade the host. The
downtime for the procedure depends on the network speed and the server boot time.
In case of upgrade failure, the process supports rollback to the previous release.
For a detailed description of the procedure, see Chapter 11, “Upgrade to ESX 4.0 or ESXi 4.0,” on
page 79.
7 Use the vSphere Client to upgrade your virtual machines:
a If they are not already powered on, power on the virtual machines and upgrade to the latest version
of VMware Tools. This upgrade allows you to use the new features of ESX 4.0.
b Power off the virtual machines and upgrade to the latest version of virtual hardware to take advantage
of the new virtual hardware.
The virtual machine upgrade process has changed in this release. In earlier releases, the virtual hardware
upgrade came before the VMware Tools upgrade. For this release, you must upgrade the VMware Tools
before you upgrade the virtual hardware.
8 Upgrade your product licenses:
a Either your new license keys are sent to you in email, or you get them using the license portal.
b Apply the new license keys to your assets using the vSphere Client (or vCenter Server if you have it).
You must perform these tasks for each ESX/ESXi host and the virtual machines on the hosts.
Upgrading by Moving Virtual Machines Using VMotion
This scenario is known as a migration upgrade. The migration upgrade is a managed transition rather than a
strict upgrade. By using VMotion to move virtual machines directly from one production host to another
production host, you minimize downtime of the virtual machines.
The following example provides a high-level overview of the upgrade process in an environment with ESX 3.x/
ESXi 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.x, using VMotion to migrate your running virtual machines to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0.
The hosts in your environment must be licensed for and able to use VMotion.
You can perform a migration upgrade without VMotion. The only difference is the amount of downtime for
the virtual machines.
The disadvantage of a migration upgrade is that this plan requires additional resources. A migration upgrade
calls for sufficient resources to run the production environment partly on older hosts and partly on upgraded
hosts. Any required redundancies and safeguards must be available on both upgraded and non-upgraded
infrastructure during the transition.
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Prerequisites
The requirements for a migration upgrade with VMotion are as follows:
nOne or more machines meeting ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 requirements.
nEmpty host storage sufficient to hold a portion of your production virtual machines. Ideally, the storage
should be large enough to hold all of the migrated virtual machines. A larger capacity for virtual machines
on this extra storage means fewer operations are required before all your virtual machines are migrated.
Before you begin this procedure, complete the following tasks:
1 Upgrade VirtualCenter 2.x to vCenter Server 4.0.
a Make sure your database is compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. This release discontinues support for
some database versions and adds support for other database versions. See the Compatibility Matrixes
on the VMware vSphere documentation Web site.
b Make sure that you have the required permissions to perform this procedure. See “Database
Prerequisites,” on page 41.
c Take a full backup of the VirtualCenter 2.x database. See your database documentation.
d Back up the VirtualCenter 2.x SSL certificates. See “Back Up VirtualCenter 2.x,” on page 45.
The downtime required for this upgrade is based on the amount of data in the database. During this time,
you cannot perform provisioning operations, such as cloning or creating virtual machines. The upgrade
from VirtualCenter 2.5 is faster in comparison to the upgrade from VirtualCenter 2.0.x because of
differences in changes to the database schema and the amount of data migration.
After the upgrade, the ESX hosts are automatically reconnected to vCenter Server 4.0. Your VMware High
Availability (HA) and VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS) clusters are automatically
reconfigured. (Check to ensure that the automatic reconfiguration is successful. In some cases, you might
need to reconfigure the clusters manually.)
For a detailed description of the upgrade procedure, see Chapter 5, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter
Server,” on page 39 and Chapter 6, “Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.0,” on page 49.
2 Run the vCenter Agent Preupgrade Check tool.
3 Install the vSphere Client.
You can install the vSphere Client on the same machine with your previous version of the VI Client. You
must have the previous version of the VI Client to connect to previous versions of VirtualCenter and ESX/
ESXi.
For a detailed description of the procedure, see “Upgrade to the vSphere Client,” on page 60.
4 If your environment has vCenter Converter, upgrade it to the latest version.
5 If your environment has vCenter Guided Consolidation, complete the consolidation plan and then
upgrade it to the latest version.
6 If your environment has vCenter Update Manager, upgrade it to the latest version.
Procedure
1 Use VMotion to evacuate the virtual machines from the ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts.
2 Upgrade to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0, or perform a fresh installation of ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0.
3 Add the ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 host to vCenter Server.
For VMotion to work, the ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 and ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 hosts must be managed by the same
vCenter Server instance.
4 Use VMotion to move virtual machine to the ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 host.
Chapter 2 Example Upgrade Scenarios
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What to do next
1 Upgrade your virtual machines:
a If they are not already powered on, power on the virtual machines and upgrade to the latest version
of VMware Tools. This upgrade allows you to use the new features of ESX 4.0./ESXi 4.0.
b Power off the virtual machines and upgrade to the latest version of virtual hardware to take advantage
of the new virtual hardware. vSphere 4.0 supports some earlier virtual hardware versions. See Basic
System Administration.
The virtual machine upgrade process is different for ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0. In earlier versions, you upgraded
the virtual hardware upgrade before you upgraded VMware Tools. For ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0, you upgrade
VMware Tools before you upgrade the virtual hardware.
You can use either the vSphere Client or vCenter Update Manager to upgrade virtual machines. In a
clustered environment, VMware recommends that you use vCenter Update Manager . See the vCenter
Update Manager Administration Guide. If you are using the vSphere Client to upgrade virtual machines, see
Chapter 13, “Upgrading Virtual Machines,” on page 89.
2 Upgrade your product licenses:
a Either your new license keys are sent to you in email, or you get them using the license portal.
b Apply the new license keys to your assets using the vSphere Client (or vCenter Server if you have it).
You must perform these tasks for each ESX 2.5.x host and the virtual machines on the hosts.
Upgrading by Moving Virtual Machines Using Upgrade VMotion
This scenario is known as a migration upgrade that includes datastore migration. The migration upgrade is a
managed transition rather than a strict upgrade. By using VMotion to move virtual machines directly from
one datastore to another datastore, you minimize downtime of the virtual machines.
The following example provides a high-level overview of the upgrade process in an environment with ESX 2.5.x
and VirtualCenter 1.4.x, using upgrade VMotion to migrate your running virtual machines to ESX 4.0. The
hosts in your environment must be licensed for and able to use VMotion.
You can perform a migration upgrade without VMotion. The only difference is the amount of downtime for
the virtual machines.
Upgrade VMotion (also known as VMotion with datastore relocation) is a special case in which you perform
a one-way VMotion. In this scenario, you move virtual disks from a VMFS 2 volume to a VMFS 3 volume.
Requirements include persistent-mode disks, a VMFS 2 volume that is visible to the ESX 4.0 host, and
compatible host CPUs.
NOTE Upgrade VMotion is required if you have ESX 2.5.x hosts.
The disadvantage of a migration upgrade is that this plan requires additional resources. A migration upgrade
calls for sufficient resources to run the production environment partly on older hosts and partly on upgraded
hosts. Any required redundancies and safeguards must be available on both upgraded and non-upgraded
infrastructure during the transition.
Prerequisites
The requirements for upgrade VMotion are as follows:
nOne or more machines meeting ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 requirements.
nEmpty host storage sufficient to hold a portion of your production virtual machines. Ideally, the storage
should be large enough to hold all of the migrated virtual machines. A larger capacity for virtual machines
on this extra storage means fewer operations are required before all your virtual machines are migrated.
vSphere Upgrade Guide
20 VMware, Inc.