Specifications

2 Take one of the following actions to start the Pre-Upgrade Checker.

In the installation package or on the DVD, navigate to \vpx\agentupgradecheck and run the

AgentUpgradeChecker.exe executable file.

Start the vCenter Server installer autorun.exe and select vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade

Checker from the Utility list.

3 Select the DSN for the VirtualCenter or vCenter Server system you are upgrading from and select the

If you are not sure which credential type to select, check which authentication type is configured for the

DSN (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > ODBC Data Sources > System DSN).

4 If the DSN requires a login for the credential type in use, enter a user name and password and click

Next.

5 Select an option for scanning all hosts or specific hosts.

Option Action

Scan all of the hosts

Select Standard Mode and click Next.

Specify hosts to scan

a Select Custom Mode and click Next.

b Select the hosts to scan and click Next. To select all hosts in a cluster,

double-click the cluster.

6 Click Run Precheck.

The tool takes 30-40 seconds for each host.

7 When the check is complete, click Next.

8 View the pre-upgrade reports.

To view the report for an individual host, click the link next to the host name.

To view a summary report for all hosts, click View Report.

You have a list of issues to resolve before you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.

What to do next

From the report, use the linked KB articles to research and resolve the issues for each host. After you resolve

the issues, rerun the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker. Repeat this process until you resolve all the

reported issues, and proceed with your upgrade to vCenter Server 5.

Downtime During the vCenter Server Upgrade

When you upgrade vCenter Server, downtime is required for vCenter Server.

Expect downtime for vCenter Server as follows:

The upgrade requires vCenter Server to be out of production for 40-50 minutes, depending on the size

of the database. The database schema upgrade takes approximately 10-15 minutes of this time. This

estimate does not include host reconnection after the upgrade.

If Microsoft .NET Framework is not installed on the machine, a reboot is required before starting the

vCenter Server installation.

VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler does not work while the upgrade is in progress. VMware HA

does work during the upgrade.

Downtime is not required for the ESX/ESXi hosts that vCenter Server is managing, or for virtual machines

that are running on the hosts.

vSphere Upgrade

38 VMware, Inc.