5.1

Upgrading vCloud Director 3
To upgrade vCloud Director to a new version, install the new version on each server in the vCloud Director
server group, upgrade the vCloud Director database, and restart vCloud Director services. You must also
upgrade the vSphere components that support vCloud Director, including vShield Manager, vCenter, and
ESX/ESXi.
After you upgrade a vCloud Director server, you must also upgrade its vCloud Director database. The database
stores information about the runtime state of the server, including the state of all vCloud Director tasks it is
running. To ensure that no invalid task information remains in the database after an upgrade, you must ensure
that no tasks are active on the server before you begin the upgrade.
IMPORTANT The upgrade process requires you to upgrade vCloud Director, vShield Manager, vCenter, and
ESX/ESXi. You must prevent users from accessing vCloud Director until the vShield Manager upgrade step is
complete.
The upgrade preserves the following artifacts:
n
Local and global properties files are copied to the new installation.
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Microsoft sysprep files used for guest customization are copied to the new installation.
If your cloud uses a load balancer, you can upgrade a subset of the server group while keeping existing services
available on the others. If you do not have a load balancer, the upgrade requires sufficient vCloud Director
downtime to upgrade the database and at least one server. You might also have to upgrade registered vCenter
servers if they are not running a compatible version of vCenter software. Upgrading vCenter servers or
ESX/ESXi hosts can incur additional vCloud Director downtime, because virtual machines are inaccessible
while their hosts or vCenter server are being upgraded.
Upgrading a vCloud Director Server Group
1 Disable user access to vCloud Director. If you want, you can also display a maintenance message while
the upgrade is underway. See “Displaying the Maintenance Message During an Upgrade,” on page 35.
2 Use the cell management tool to quiesce all cells in the server group and shut down vCloud Director
services on each server. See “Use the Cell Management Tool to Quiesce and Shut Down a Server,” on
page 35.
3 Upgrade vCloud Director software on all members of the server group. See “Upgrade vCloud Director
Software on Any Member of a Server Group,” on page 42. You can upgrade the servers individually or
in parallel, but you must not restart vCloud Director services on any upgraded member of the group before
you upgrade the vCloud Director database.
4 Upgrade the vCloud Director database. See “Upgrade the vCloud Director Database,” on page 44.
5 Restart vCloud Director on the upgraded servers. See “Start or Stop vCloud Director Services,” on
page 29.
VMware, Inc.
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