Specifications

14 Click Install.
Installation might take several minutes. Multiple progress bars appear during the installation of the
selected components.
What to do next
Review the topics in Chapter 5, “After You Upgrade vCenter Server,” on page 127 for other postupgrade
actions you might want to take.
Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x
Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment
The vCenter Server 5.1.x multisite deployment enables a single administrator to administer vCenter Server
instances that are deployed on geographically dispersed sites in Linked Mode. when you upgrade to
vCenter Server 5.5, the vCenter Single Sign-On deployment changes.
In vCenter Server 5.5, each vCenter Single Sign-On instance uses the default identity source, and can use
other identity sources if the domain is included when a user logs in.
There are no components in the vSphere suite that communicate with multiple vCenter Single Sign-On
servers. Each vSphere component should be configured to communicate with its local vCenter Single Sign-
On instance for faster access.
NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by
IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6
environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server.
The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if
assigned by DHCP.
Prerequisites
n
Review the topics in Chapter 3, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server,” on page 31.
n
See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48
n
When you upgrade from an existing multisite Single Sign-On deployment of vCenter Server, to
maintain Linked Mode functionality you must upgrade all Single Sign-On instances to the same version
and manually resynchronize all Single Sign-On instances. See Knowledge Base articles
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2042849 and http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2038677.
Procedure
1 Install or Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Server in a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On
Installation on page 94
Create or upgrade the first vCenter Single Sign-On server for a multisite vCenter Single Sign-On
installation.
2 Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client on page 95
The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere
deployment through a browser.
3 Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install on page 96
You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and
vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.
4 Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install on page 97
You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading
Inventory Service.
Chapter 4 Upgrading vCenter Server
VMware, Inc. 93