Specifications

Upgrading Virtual Machines 7
After you perform an ESX/ESXi upgrade, VMware recommends that you upgrade all the virtual machines
that reside on the host. Upgrading virtual machines ensures that they remain compatible with the upgraded
host software, and can take advantage of new features.
The first step in upgrading virtual machines is to upgrade VMware Tools. If the virtual machines do not
have VMware Tools installed, you can use the VMware Tools upgrade procedure to install VMware Tools.
After you install or upgrade VMware Tools, upgrade the virtual machine hardware.
NOTE Do not use vmware-vmupgrade.exe to upgrade virtual machines.
VMware offers the following tools for upgrading virtual machines:
vSphere Client
Requires you to perform the virtual machine upgrade one step at a time, but
does not require vSphere Update Manager.
vSphere Update
Manager
Automates the process of upgrading and patching virtual machines, thereby
ensuring that the steps occur in the correct order. You can use Update
Manager to directly upgrade virtual machine hardware, VMware Tools, and
virtual appliances. You can also patch and update third-party software
running on the virtual machines and virtual appliances. See “Perform an
Orchestrated Upgrade of Virtual Machines with vSphere Update Manager,”
on page 151 and the Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update
Managerdocumentation.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“About VMware Tools,” on page 148
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“About Virtual Machines and Host Upgrades,” on page 149
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“Virtual Machine Hardware Versions,” on page 150
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“Perform an Orchestrated Upgrade of Virtual Machines with vSphere Update Manager,” on page 151
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“Planning Downtime for Virtual Machines,” on page 156
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“Downtime for Upgrading Virtual Machines,” on page 156
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“Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Windows Virtual Machine,” on page 157
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“Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Linux Virtual Machine,” on page 158
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“Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a Solaris Virtual Machine,” on page 160
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“Manually Install or Upgrade VMware Tools in a NetWare Virtual Machine,” on page 161
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“Operating System Specific Packages for Linux Guest Operating Systems,” on page 162
VMware, Inc.
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