6.5.1

Upgrading or Migrating to vSphere License Service
The License Service is in the Platform Services Controller. The License Service provides common license
inventory and management capabilities to the vCenter Server systems that are registered to a
Platform Services Controller or multiple Platform Services Controllers that are joined in one
vCenter Single Sign-On domain.
During the upgrade of the vCenter Server systems that are connected to a Platform Services Controller,
their licensing data is transferred to the License Service. The licensing data includes the available
licenses and license assignments for hosts, vCenter Server systems, vSAN clusters, and other products
that you use with vSphere.
After the upgrade or migration 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.
Dierences Between vSphere Upgrades, Patches, Updates, and
Migrations
vSphere products distinguish between upgrades, which make major changes to the software, patches
and updates, which make smaller changes to the software, and migrations, which make changes to the
software platform.
VMware product versions are numbered with two digits, for example, vSphere 6.5. A release that
changes either digit, for example, from 5.5 to 6.0, or from 6.0 to 6.5, involves major changes in the
software, and requires an upgrade from the previous version. A release that makes a smaller change,
requiring only a patch or update, is indicated by an update number, for example, vSphere 6.0 Update 1.
For information about upgrading vCenter Server installations, see Chapter 2 Upgrading the vCenter
Server Appliance and Platform Services Controller Appliance or Chapter 3 Upgrading vCenter Server for
Windows.
For information about patching or updating vCenter Server, see Chapter 7 Patching and Updating
vCenter Server 6.5 Deployments
When you upgrade an ESXi host, some host configuration 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 configuration is not affected. For more details, see Upgrade or Update a Host with Image Profiles
When you upgrade a vCenter Server for Windows instance and at the same time convert it to a
vCenter Server Appliance instance, it is a migration.
vSphere Upgrade
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