6.0.2

After the upgrade of the vCenter Server systems completes, the License Services stores the available licenses
and manages the license assignments for the entire vSphere environment. If your vSphere environment
consists of multiple Platform Services Controllers joined in one vCenter Single Sign-On domain, the License
Service in every Platform Services Controller contains a replica of the licensing data for the entire
environment.
For more information about the License Service and managing licenses in vSphere, see vCenter Server and
Host Management.
Differences Between vSphere Upgrades and Updates
vSphere products distinguish between upgrades, which make major changes to the software, and updates,
which make smaller changes to the software.
VMware product versions are numbered with two digits, for example, vSphere 6.0. A release that changes
either digit, for example, from 5.5 to 6.0, or from 5.1 to 5.5, involves major changes in the software, and
requires an upgrade from the previous version. A release that makes a smaller change, requiring only an
update, is indicated by an update number, for example, vSphere 6.0 Update 1.
When you upgrade an ESXi host, some host conguration information is preserved in the upgraded version,
and the upgraded host, after rebooting, can join a vCenter Server instance that has been upgraded to the
same level. Because updates and patches do not involve major changes to the software, host conguration is
not aected. For more details, see “Upgrade or Update a Host with Image Proles,” on page 194
How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects Upgrades
If you upgrade a Simple Install environment to a vCenter Server 6 embedded deployment, upgrade is
seamless. If you upgrade a custom installation, the vCenter Single Sign-On service is part of the
Platform Services Controller after the upgrade. Which users can log in to vCenter Server after an upgrade
depends on the version that you are upgrading from and the deployment conguration.
As part of the upgrade, you can dene a dierent vCenter Single Sign-On domain name to be used instead
of vsphere.local.
Upgrade Paths
The result of the upgrade depends on what installation options you had selected, and what deployment
model you are upgrading to.
Table 1‑1. Upgrade Paths
Source Result
vSphere 5.5 and earlier Simple Install vCenter Server with embedded
Platform Services Controller.
vSphere 5.5 and earlier Custom Install If vCenter Single Sign-On was on a dierent node than
vCenter Server, an environment with an external
Platform Services Controller results.
If vCenter Single Sign-On was on the same node as
vCenter Server, but other services are on dierent nodes,
an environment with an embedded
Platform Services Controller results.
If the custom installation included multiple replicating
vCenter Single Sign-On servers, an environment with
multiple replicating Platform Services Controller instances
results.
Chapter 1 Introduction to vSphere Upgrade
VMware, Inc. 25