6.0.2
Table Of Contents
- vSphere Upgrade
- Contents
- About vSphere Upgrade
- Updated Information
- Introduction to vSphere Upgrade
- Upgrade Requirements
- vCenter Server Upgrade Compatibility
- vCenter Server for Windows Requirements
- vCenter Server Appliance Requirements
- Required Ports for vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller
- vCenter Server Database Configuration Notes
- ESXi Requirements
- vSphere DNS Requirements
- vSphere Web Client Software Requirements
- Client Integration Plug-In Software Requirements
- vSphere Client Requirements
- Required Free Space for System Logging
- Before Upgrading vCenter Server
- Verify Basic Compatibility Before Upgrading vCenter Server
- Preparing vCenter Server Databases
- Prepare Oracle Database Before Upgrading to vCenter Server 6.0
- Prepare Microsoft SQL Server Database Before Upgrading to vCenter Server 6.0
- Use a Script to Create and Apply a Microsoft SQL Server Database Schema and Roles
- Prepare PostgreSQL Database Before Upgrading to vCenter Server 6.0
- Database Permission Requirements for vCenter Server
- Verify That vCenter Server Can Communicate with the Local Database
- Verify Network Prerequisites Before Upgrading
- Verify Load Balancer Before Upgrading vCenter Server
- Prepare ESXi Hosts for vCenter Server Upgrade
- Verify Preparations Are Complete for Upgrading vCenter Server
- Required Information for Upgrading vCenter Server for Windows
- Required Information for Upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance
- Upgrading and Updating vCenter Server for Windows
- About the vCenter Server 6.0 for Windows Upgrade Process
- Migration of Distributed vCenter Server for Windows Services During Upgrade to vCenter Server 6.0
- Download the vCenter Server for Windows Installer
- Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1 for External Deployment
- Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 for External Deployment
- Upgrade vCenter Server 5.0
- Upgrade vCenter Server 5.1 for Windows
- Upgrade vCenter Server 5.5 for Windows
- Update the Java Components and vCenter Server tc Server with VIMPatch
- Upgrading and Patching the vCenter Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance
- After Upgrading vCenter Server
- Complete vCenter Server Postupgrade Component Configuration
- Reconfigure Migrated vCenter Server Services After Upgrade
- Install or Upgrade vSphere Authentication Proxy
- Upgrade the vSphere Client
- Configuring VMware vCenter Server - tc Server Settings in vCenter Server
- Setting the vCenter Server Administrator User
- Authenticating to the vCenter Server Environment
- Identity Sources for vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On
- Restore ESXi Certificate and Key Files
- Repoint the Connections Between vCenter Server and Platform Services Controller
- Reconfigure a Standalone vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller
- Reconfigure Multiple Joined Instances of vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller to vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller
- Verify that the Services of the Embedded Platform Services Controller Instances are Running
- Configure Replication Agreement Between All External Platform Services Controller Instances
- Reconfigure Each vCenter Server Instance and Repoint It from an Embedded to External Platform Services Controller Instance
- Upgrading Update Manager
- Before Upgrading Hosts
- Best Practices for ESXi Upgrades
- Upgrade Options for ESXi 6.0
- Upgrading Hosts That Have Third-Party Custom VIBs
- Using Manually Assigned IP Addresses for Upgrades Performed with vSphere Update Manager
- Media Options for Booting the ESXi Installer
- Download and Burn the ESXi Installer ISO Image to a CD or DVD
- Format a USB Flash Drive to Boot the ESXi Installation or Upgrade
- Create a USB Flash Drive to Store the ESXi Installation Script or Upgrade Script
- Create an Installer ISO Image with a Custom Installation or Upgrade Script
- PXE Booting the ESXi Installer
- Installing and Booting ESXi with Software FCoE
- Using Remote Management Applications
- Download the ESXi Installer
- Upgrading Hosts
- Using vSphere Update Manager to Perform Orchestrated Host Upgrades
- Configuring Host and Cluster Settings
- Perform an Orchestrated Upgrade of Hosts Using vSphere Update Manager
- Configure Host Maintenance Mode Settings
- Configure Cluster Settings
- Enable Remediation of PXE Booted ESXi Hosts
- Import Host Upgrade Images and Create Host Upgrade Baselines
- Create a Host Baseline Group
- Attach Baselines and Baseline Groups to Objects
- Manually Initiate a Scan of ESXi Hosts
- View Compliance Information for vSphere Objects
- Remediate Hosts Against an Upgrade Baseline
- Remediate Hosts Against Baseline Groups
- Installing or Upgrading Hosts by Using a Script
- Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script
- Boot Options
- About Installation and Upgrade Scripts
- Install or Upgrade ESXi from a CD or DVD by Using a Script
- Install or Upgrade ESXi from a USB Flash Drive by Using a Script
- Performing a Scripted Installation or Upgrade of ESXi by Using PXE to Boot the Installer
- Using vSphere Auto Deploy to Reprovision Hosts
- Upgrading Hosts by Using esxcli Commands
- VIBs, Image Profiles, and Software Depots
- Understanding Acceptance Levels for VIBS and Hosts
- Determine Whether an Update Requires the Host to Be in Maintenance Mode or to Be Rebooted
- Place a Host in Maintenance Mode
- Update a Host with Individual VIBs
- Upgrade or Update a Host with Image Profiles
- Update ESXi Hosts by Using Zip Files
- Remove VIBs from a Host
- Adding Third-Party Extensions to Hosts with an esxcli Command
- Perform a Dry Run of an esxcli Installation or Upgrade
- Display the Installed VIBs and Profiles That Will Be Active After the Next Host Reboot
- Display the Image Profile and Acceptance Level of the Host
- Upgrade Hosts Interactively
- Using vSphere Update Manager to Perform Orchestrated Host Upgrades
- After You Upgrade ESXi Hosts
- Upgrading Virtual Machines and VMware Tools
- Troubleshooting a vSphere Upgrade
- Collecting Logs for Troubleshooting a vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade
- Collect Logs to Troubleshoot ESXi Hosts
- Errors and Warnings Returned by the Installation and Upgrade Precheck Script
- Restore vCenter Server Services If Upgrade Fails
- VMware Component Manager Error During Startup After vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade
- Microsoft SQL Database Set to Unsupported Compatibility Mode Causes vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade to Fail
- Index
ESXi Booting Requirements
vSphere 6.0 supports booting ESXi hosts from the Unied Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). With UEFI,
you can boot systems from hard drives, CD-ROM drives, or USB media. Network booting or provisioning
with VMware Auto Deploy requires the legacy BIOS rmware and is not available with UEFI.
ESXi can boot from a disk larger than 2TB provided that the system rmware and the rmware on any add-
in card that you are using support it. See the vendor documentation.
N Changing the boot type from legacy BIOS to UEFI after you install ESXi 6.0 might cause the host to
fail to boot. In this case, the host displays an error message similar to Not a VMware boot bank. Changing the
host boot type between legacy BIOS and UEFI is not supported after you install ESXi 6.0.
Storage Requirements for ESXi 6.0 Installation or Upgrade
Installing ESXi 6.0 or upgrading to ESXi 6.0 requires a boot device that is a minimum of 1GB in size. When
booting from a local disk, SAN or iSCSI LUN, a 5.2GB disk is required to allow for the creation of the VMFS
volume and a 4GB scratch partition on the boot device . If a smaller disk or LUN is used, the installer
aempts to allocate a scratch region on a separate local disk. If a local disk cannot be found the scratch
partition, /scratch, is located on the ESXi host ramdisk, linked to /tmp/scratch. You can
recongure /scratch to use a separate disk or LUN. For best performance and memory optimization, do not
leave /scratch on the ESXi host ramdisk.
To recongure /scratch, see the topic "Set the Scratch Partition from the vSphere Web Client" in the vSphere
Installation and Setup documentation.
Due to the I/O sensitivity of USB and SD devices the installer does not create a scratch partition on these
devices. When installing or upgrading on USB or SD devices, the installer aempts to allocate a scratch
region on an available local disk or datastore. If no local disk or datastore is found, /scratch is placed on the
ramdisk. After the installation or upgrade, you should recongure /scratch to use a persistent datastore.
Although a 1GB USB or SD device suces for a minimal installation, you should use a 4GB or larger device.
The extra space will be used for an expanded coredump partition on the USB/SD device. Use a high quality
USB ash drive of 16GB or larger so that the extra ash cells can prolong the life of the boot media, but high
quality drives of 4GB or larger are sucient to hold the extended coredump partition. See Knowledge Base
article hp://kb.vmware.com/kb/2004784.
In Auto Deploy installations, the installer aempts to allocate a scratch region on an available local disk or
datastore. If no local disk or datastore is found, /scratch is placed on ramdisk. You should
recongure /scratch to use a persistent datastore following the installation.
For environments that boot from a SAN or use Auto Deploy, you need not allocate a separate LUN for each
ESXi host. You can co-locate the scratch regions for many ESXi hosts onto a single LUN. The number of
hosts assigned to any single LUN should be weighed against the LUN size and the I/O behavior of the
virtual machines.
Supported Remote Management Server Models and Firmware Versions
You can use remote management applications to install or upgrade ESXi, or to manage hosts remotely.
Table 2‑8. Supported Remote Management Server Models and Minimum Firmware Versions
Remote Management Server
Model Firmware Version Java
Dell DRAC 7 1.30.30 (Build 43) 1.7.0_60-b19
Dell DRAC 6 1.54 (Build 15), 1.70 (Build 21) 1.6.0_24
Dell DRAC 5 1.0, 1.45, 1.51 1.6.0_20,1.6.0_203
Dell DRAC 4 1.75 1.6.0_23
Chapter 2 Upgrade Requirements
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