Specifications

Table 7‑4. Supported Scenarios for Upgrade or Migration to 5.5.x. (Continued)
Scenario for Upgrade or Migration to 5.5.x Support
5.1.x ESXi host Methods supported for direct upgrade to 5.5.x are:
n
vSphere Update Manager.
n
Interactive upgrade from CD, DVD, or USB drive.
n
Scripted upgrade.
n
Auto Deploy. If the ESXi 5.1.x host was deployed using
Auto Deploy, you can use Auto Deploy to reprovision
the host with an 5.5.x image.
n
esxcli.
5.5.0 ESXi host Methods supported for direct upgrade to 5.5.x are:
n
vSphere Update Manager.
n
Interactive upgrade from CD, DVD, or USB drive.
n
Scripted upgrade.
n
Auto Deploy. If the ESXi 5.5.0 host was deployed using
Auto Deploy, you can use Auto Deploy to reprovision
the host with an 5.5.x image.
n
esxcli.
Using Manually Assigned IP Addresses for Upgrades and Migrations Performed
with vSphere Update Manager
If you are using vSphere Update Manager to upgrade or migrate a host from ESX/ESXi 4.x to ESXi 5.x, you
must use manually assigned IP addresses for the hosts. Manually assigned IP addresses also referred to as
static IP addresses.
DHCP IP addresses can cause problems during host upgrades or migrations performed with Update
Manager. If a host loses its DHCP IP address during an upgrade or migration because the lease period
configured on the DHCP server expires, Update Manager loses connectivity to the host. In this case, even if
the host upgrade or migration is successful, Update Manager reports the upgrade or migration as failed,
because it cannot connect to the host. To prevent this scenario, use manually assigned IP addresses for your
hosts.
Media Options for Booting the ESXi Installer
The ESXi installer must be accessible to the system on which you are installing ESXi.
The following boot media are supported for the ESXi installer:
n
Boot from a CD/DVD. See “Download and Burn the ESXi Installer ISO Image to a CD or DVD,” on
page 154.
n
Boot from a USB flash drive. See “Format a USB Flash Drive to Boot the ESXi Installation or Upgrade,”
on page 155.
n
PXE boot from the network. “PXE Booting the ESXi Installer,” on page 158
n
Boot from a remote location using a remote management application. See “Using Remote Management
Applications,” on page 165
Download and Burn the ESXi Installer ISO Image to a CD or DVD
If you do not have an ESXi installation CD/DVD, you can create one.
You can also create an installer ISO image that includes a custom installation script. See “Create an Installer
ISO Image with a Custom Installation or Upgrade Script,” on page 157.
vSphere Upgrade
154 VMware, Inc.