6.5.1

Table Of Contents
The upgrade of a distributed switch is a nondisruptive operation, that is, the hosts and virtual machines
attached to the switch do not experience any downtime.
Note To be able to restore the connectivity of the virtual machines and VMkernel adapters if the upgrade
fails, back up the configuration of the distributed switch.
If the upgrade is not successful, to recreate the switch with its port groups and connected hosts, you can
import the switch configuration file. See Export vSphere Distributed Switch Configurations and Import a
vSphere Distributed Switch Configuration.
Prerequisites
n
Upgrade vCenter Server to version 6.5.
n
Upgrade all hosts connected to the distributed switch to ESXi 6.5.
Procedure
1 In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to the distributed switch.
2 Right-click the distributed switch and select Upgrade > Upgrade Distributed Switch.
3 Select the vSphere Distributed Switch version that you want to upgrade the switch to and click Next.
Option Description
Version 6.5.0 Compatible with ESXi version 6.5 and later.
Version 6.0.0 Compatible with ESXi version 6.0 and later. Features released with later vSphere
Distributed Switch versions are not supported.
Version 5.5.0 Compatible with ESXi version 5.5 and later. Features released with later vSphere
Distributed Switch versions are not supported.
Version 5.1.0 Compatible with ESXi version 5.1 and later. Features released with later vSphere
Distributed Switch versions are not supported.
4 Review host compatibility and click Next.
Some ESXi instances that are connected to the distributed switch might be incompatible with the
selected target version. Upgrade or remove the incompatible hosts, or select another upgrade version
for the distributed switch.
5 Complete the upgrade configuration and click Finish.
Caution After you upgrade the vSphere Distributed Switch, you cannot revert it to an earlier version.
You also cannot add ESXi hosts that are running an earlier version than the new version of the
switch.
a Review the upgrade settings.
b If you upgrade from vSphere Distributed Switch 5.1, schedule conversion to the enhanced LACP
support.
c If you upgrade from vSphere Distributed Switch 5.1 and later, schedule conversion to Network I/O
Control version 3.
vSphere Networking
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