VMGuru

With yesterdays release of vSphere 4.1 comes the challenge to upgrade your existing installation to this new version. Because I have been testing the beta for a while now, I couldn´t wait to try it in our new testing environment.

However, there are a few caveats:

VMware released a KB article with the supported upgrade methods for ESX(i) 3.0.x, 3.5 and 4 full, embedded or installable;
Do NOT upgrade vCenter server to version 4.1 if you are using VMware View Composer 2.0.x. Check out this VMware KB article for more information.

Before you start the upgrade process, back-up the vCenter- and Update Manager databases.

After downloading the needed ISO´s, I started with the upgrade of the vCenter server.

But first of all, I had to uninstall all incompatible vCenter components, in this case Guided Consolidation 4.0.

When this is done, it´s time to update the vCenter server.

vCenter server upgrade

Note: vCenter Server 4.1 is supported only on 64 bit operating systems. As such, there is no in-place upgrade path for vCenter Server installs on 32 bit operating systems. If your vCenter Server is installed on a 32 bit operating system, you need to switch to a new 64 bit machine where vCenter Server 4.1 can be installed. Check out this VMware KB article for an overview of the database migration procedure using the vCenter Server 4.1 migration tools.

The installation detects the earlier vCenter server installation.

The installation detects the current vCenter server database and the used ODBC driver. Check whether the correct database is displayed to avoid upgrading the incorrect database.

Confirm that you want to upgrade your existing database and that you have made a back-up before starting the upgrade process.

Specify if you want the upgrade process to upgrade your vCenter agents automatically or manually. If you want minimal disruption, choose the automatic option, although VMware HA and FT will continue to function when disconnected from the vCenter server..

Enter the password for the vCenter server service account.

Check the ports used by vCenter server. In my home test environment the changes made for the previous vCenter server installation were neatly preserved.

Then a new vCenter server installation feature. Select your vSphere setup to correctly size the memory used for the vCenter server Java Virtual Machine (JVM) memory.

There are three options, Small <100 hosts, Medium >100 hosts <400 hosts, Large > 400 hosts. Personally I think I will never use the Medium and Large option although I would love to setup such a huge environment.

When you’ve passed these 7 screens, the installation process has enough information to upgrade your previous vCenter server installation.

Next, the vSphere client upgrade.

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Page 1 - vCenter server upgrade Page 2 - vSphere client upgrade Page 3 - Update Manager upgrade Page 4 - ESX host upgrade

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vSphere client upgrade

The vSphere client upgrade is pretty straightforward but there is a small change. The vSphere client is no more part of the ESX and ESXi installation packages. At the end of the installation process administrators are redirected online to download the client.

So download the client separately or use the vCenter server installation media.

Next, the Update Manager upgrade.

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Page 1 - vCenter server upgrade Page 2 - vSphere client upgrade Page 3 - Update Manager upgrade Page 4 - ESX host upgrade

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Update Manager upgrade

The last and final step before we can start upgrading ESX hosts, and enjoy all 150 new features, is to upgrade the VMware Update Manager. VMware Upgrade Manager is an essential part of the vSphere 4.1 upgrade process because this is the part that actually performs the upgrade of the ESX hosts.

Start the installation and the previous Update Manager installation is detected.

Check the vCenter server details and supply the service account password to enable the Update Manager to connect to the vCenter server.

The installation detects the current Update Manager database and the used ODBC driver. Check whether the correct database is displayed to avoid upgrading the incorrect database.

Confirm that you want to upgrade your existing database and that you have made a back-up before starting the upgrade process.

Check the ports used by Update Manager. In my home test environment the changes made for the previous installation had been preserved.

This is all the installer want to know before upgrading VMware Update Manager and after a reboot the upgrade process is complete.

The last thing to do is to install and enable the VMware Update Manager plug-in in vCenter server. This was actually the ‘hardest’ part.

After the installation I tried to enable the plug-in but an error appeared stating that no connection with the Update Manager Database could be established. I encountered the exact same message installing vCenter server with Update Manager 4.0 which I solved by running the VMware Update Manager service with the VMware service account instead of Local System. A quick look in the services section of my server learned that this had been undone by the upgrade process but assigning the VMware service account to the Update Manager service did the trick.

Next, ESX host upgrade

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Page 1 - vCenter server upgrade Page 2 - vSphere client upgrade Page 3 - Update Manager upgrade Page 4 - ESX host upgrade

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ESX host upgrade

Now, we’re ready to start upgrading the actual ESX(i) hosts.

First we have to import the correct upgrade file, which you downloaded from the VMware site. Depending on your current installation you can download different files.

To upgrade ESXi 4.0 to 4.1 download ‘upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip’

To upgrade ESX 4.0 to 4.1 download ‘pre-upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip’ and ‘upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip’

Run the Pre-upgrade package for ESX 4.0 to ESX 4.1 before you upgrade from ESX 4.0 to ESX 4.1 using esxupdate or vihostupdate.

To upgrade ESX3.5 to 4.1 download ‘upgrade-from-ESXi3.5-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip’

I’m upgrading vSphere 4.0 to 4.1 so in my case I had to import ‘upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip’

Now we can use this update file to create a new Host Upgrade baseline. I created a new baseline named ‘Upgrade to vSphere 4.1’.

If you’re upgrading ESX 3.x, you now can select the vmdk file location for the Service Console VM. The recommended action is to place the Service Console VM vmdk files on local storage. Because I’m upgrading ESXi, which has no Service Console, the option is greyed out.

Next, you can specify optional post-upgrade script to be run. In my case there are none.

When the new baseline is created we can attach this baseline to a Datacenter, Cluster or Host. I attached the baseline at the Datacenter level. Next action is to scan all hosts for compliance with the new baseline and of course none of the hosts are compliant.

The final action before sitting back and letting Update Manager to do it’s job, is to remediate the hosts, making them compliant with the new attached Host Upgrade baseline you have created. Select Upgrade baselines and select the ‘Upgrade to vSphere 4.1’ baseline you have created and select the hosts you want to remediate. Next, specify if you want to disable VMware HA, FT and/or DPM during the upgrade. In my case none of these features have been enabled yet so I will go for the default settings.

Update Manager will now put the hosts in maintenance mode one by one and automatically upgrade the ESX(i) host to vSphere 4.1 until they are all compliant with the attached baseline.

When finished all host should be compliant/upgraded to vSphere 4.1, showing the new 4.1.0 version and 260247 build number.

The complete upgrade process is now complete. When you go through all these pages and setting it may look like a lengthy process but it’s actually not. The complete upgrade took me no more than one hour! OK, I have only 2 hosts, when you have more it takes a bit longer but the actual work is in the upgrade of vCenter Server and Update Manager and creating the baseline. When that’s completed it doesn’t matter if you have 2 hosts or 200, Upgrade Manager does all the work for you, upgrading all hosts automatically, putting them in maintenance mode and rebooting them. It’s like a walk in the park!

Now you can enjoy all 150 new features VMware has given us/you. Enjoy!

Note: Do not forget to update the VMware Tools in all virtual machines.

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Page 1 - vCenter server upgrade Page 2 - vSphere client upgrade Page 3 - Update Manager upgrade Page 4 - ESX host upgrade

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