Installation guide

Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.0 4
The upgrade to vCenter Server includes a database schema upgrade and an upgrade of vCenter Server 4.x.
This chapter includes the following topics:
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“Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server,” on page 27
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“Upgrade to vCenter Server 5.0,” on page 40
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“Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Upgrade the Database,” on page 42
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“Upgrade the VMware vCenter Server Appliance,” on page 56
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“vCenter Server Upgrade Fails When Unable to Stop Tomcat Service,” on page 57
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“After You Upgrade vCenter Server,” on page 57
Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server
Before you upgrade to vCenter Server, make sure your system is properly prepared.
See “Best Practices for vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 29.
About the vCenter Server 5.0 Upgrade
VMware supports in-place upgrades on 64-bit systems from vCenter Server 4.x to vCenter Server 5.0.
You can upgrade VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 6 or later and vCenter Server 4.0.x to vCenter Server 5.0 by installing
vCenter Server 5.0 on a new machine and migrating the existing database. This upgrade method makes it
possible to upgrade from a 32-bit system to a 64-bit system. Alternatively, if the VirtualCenter or vCenter Server
database is on a remote machine, you can upgrade the database.
vCenter Server 5.0 can manage ESX 3.5.x/ESXi 3.5.x hosts in the same cluster with ESX 4.x/ESXi 4.x hosts.
NOTE You cannot upgrade a vCenter Server 4.x instance that is running on Windows XP Professional x64
Edition to vCenter Server 5.0, because vCenter Server 5.0 does not support Windows XP Professional x64.
vCenter Server Upgrade Summary
The upgrade to vCenter Server 5.0 affects other software components of your datacenter.
Table 4-1 summarizes the effect on your datacenter components.
VMware, Inc.
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