Specifications

With vSphere 5.5, multiple vCenter Server systems can use a single vCenter Single Sign-On system.
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If your current environment uses vCenter Single Sign-On multisite, resynchronize your
environment. See Knowledge Base articles http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2042849 and
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2038677, and start a Custom Install upgrade. See “Use Custom Install to
Upgrade Version 5.0.x and Earlier vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 69.
Which users can access vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server depends on the identity
sources that are defined before the upgrade. See step 3.
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If your current environment does not use vCenter Single Sign-On multisite, you can distribute the
upgrade over multiple machines with a Custom Install or continue placing all vCenter services on
the same machine (step 2).
2 If all vCenter Server components are on the same host machine, you can upgrade with Simple Install.
See “Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65. After you
upgrade with the Simple Install process, local operating system users and the user
[e-mail] can authenticate.
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If your environment was using only local operating system users, the localos identity source is
sufficient. You can log in to vCenter Server as [e-mail], or as any local
operating system user who previously had permissions.
NOTE Local operating users in embedded groups are no longer available. You can add those
groups explicitly.
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If your environment was using an Active Directory or OpenLDAP identity source, those identity
sources are included with vCenter Single Sign-On after the upgrade, but they are not the default
identity source. Go to Step 3.
3 If your environment was using an Active Directory or OpenLDAP identity source.
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Users in the default identity source (localos by default) can log in to vCenter Server if they had
permission to do so previously.
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Users in other identity sources can log in to vCenter Server if they use the domain name and
password, for example, DOMAIN1\user1.
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You can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On as [e-mail] to make the Active
Directory or OpenLDAP identity source the default identity source.
Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required
Components
vCenter Server versions 5.1 and later require the vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Inventory Service
components. Depending on your existing vCenter Server installation, you can use the Simple Install option
to upgrade to vCenter Server, including vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, and Inventory
Service, all on a single host machine.
You can use Simple Install to upgrade vCenter Server if you have a version 4.x, 5.0.x, or 5.1.x vCenter Server
installation that is supported for upgrade, and all vCenter Server components in the installation you are
upgrading are on the same host machine. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php. Depending on the version you
are upgrading from, the Simple Install option installs or upgrades Single Sign-On, and upgrades the
vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service, and vCenter Server.
Chapter 4 Upgrading vCenter Server
VMware, Inc. 65