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Dell EMC VBlock 540 Converged Infrastructure VMware vSphere 5.5 to VMware vSphere 6.5 Upgrade Guide PDF
Summary of Content for Dell EMC VBlock 540 Converged Infrastructure VMware vSphere 5.5 to VMware vSphere 6.5 Upgrade Guide PDF
Dell EMC Converged Systems Upgrade Guide from VMware vSphere 5.5 to VMware vSphere 6.5
Document Revision 1.4 Nobember 2018
Contents Revision History..........................................................................................................................................4
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................5
Part 1 - Upgrade prerequisites...................................................................................................................6 Hardware software and license requirements........................................................................................ 6 Upgrade best practices.......................................................................................................................... 7 Required skills........................................................................................................................................ 8
Part II - Pre-upgrade tasks....................................................................................................................... 10 Downloading VMware vSphere files for upgrade................................................................................. 10 Recording the installed vCenter Solution and client plugins................................................................ 10 Backing up the system and hosts.........................................................................................................10 Upgrading components to the minimum required versions.................................................................. 11
Swapping the HBA card QLE2462 with the QLE2562 card........................................................... 11 Preparing for the VMware vCenter Server upgrade............................................................................. 13
Estimating upgrade time................................................................................................................ 13
Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5............................................................................................15 Upgrade recommendations.................................................................................................................. 15 Upgrading the AMP components......................................................................................................... 15
Taking a snapshot of all VMware vSphere Management VMs.......................................................15 VMware vCenter components upgrade scenarios.........................................................................15
Upgrading the VMware vCenter Server from version 5.5 to version 6.5.............................................. 16 Upgrading the VMware vCenter Server Appliance with embedded SSO...................................... 16
Migrating the VMware vCenter Server on Windows from version 5.5 to version 6.5........................... 19 Migrating the VMware vCenter Server with embedded running on Windows................................19
Deploying External PSC and reconfigure vCenter Server to external PSC......................................... 20 Upgrading VMware vSphere Replication Appliance (for AMP-2RP).................................................... 23
Pausing VMware vSphere AMP VM replication activity.................................................................23 Taking a snapshot of VMware vCenter Server Appliance and VMware vSphere Replication Appliance....................................................................................................................................... 24 Upgrading the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance................................................................ 24 Removing snapshots of VMware vCenter Server Appliance and VMware vSphere Replication Appliance.................................................................................................................... 25 Resuming VMware vSphere AMP VM replication activity..............................................................25
Upgrading VMware vSphere ESXi hosts..............................................................................................26 Upgrading the AMP VMware vSphere ESXi Hosts........................................................................26 Upgrading the Compute VMware vSphere ESXi hosts..................................................................28
Upgrading the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch............................................................................ 29 Modifying CoS marking in the VDS for Quality of Service (vSphere 6.5).............................................29 Updating AMP Management virtual machine VMware Tools and virtual hardware version................. 30
Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks....................................................................................................................31 Installing the vSphere 6.5 license.........................................................................................................31 Installing the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in......................................................................31
Contents | 2
Re-registering the Solution in VMware vCenter Server after Upgrade or Migration.............................32 Verifying VMware vCenter Server Appliance....................................................................................... 32 Verifying compliance with the RCM......................................................................................................33 Verifying VMware vCenter Server root certificates on web browser.................................................... 33 Verifying VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi advanced settings....................................................................34 Reviewing Cisco UCS Settings............................................................................................................ 34 Verifying the VMQ connection configuration settings required by VMQ...............................................35 Assigning Virtualization Preference to a vNIC......................................................................................35 Reviewing system security................................................................................................................... 36 Removing the old management VMs................................................................................................... 36 Updating AMP VAPP and DRS Rules.................................................................................................. 36 Performing a new full backup of the system.........................................................................................37 New features and platform design updates..........................................................................................37
VMware vSphere Fault Tolerance .................................................................................................37 Layer3 vMotion.............................................................................................................................. 38 VMFS 6 datastore..........................................................................................................................38
3 | Contents
Revision History
Date Document Revision
Description of changes
November 2018
1.4 Updated the Introduction to include more information about the upgrade path.
July 2018 1.3 Updated Hardware, software, and license requirements.
May 2018 1.2 Swapping the HBA card QLE2462 with the QLE2562 card - Added step to:
Enter PWWNs into the database.
Activate MDS Zoneset.
Commit the zone VSAN.
March 2018 1.1 Added support for Vblock System 240 for upgrading VMware vSphere 5.5 to VMware 6.5.
March 2018 1.0 Initial version
Revision History | 4
Introduction Use this guide to upgrade Converged Systems from RCM releases that support VMware vSphere 5.5 to an RCM release that supports VMware vSphere 6.5. This document also provides prerequisites and strategies to minimize system downtime.
See the RCM Portal on the Dell EMC Technical Resource Center for supported RCM releases for the Converged Systems.
This upgrade procedure is for Converged Systems that include the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch.
The target audience for this document includes build teams, deployment and installation personnel, sales engineers, field consultants, advanced services specialists, and customers.
See the following table for information about other upgrade instructions:
To upgrade this product See this document
VMware vSphere 6.0 to 6.5 Dell EMC Upgrade Guide from VMware vSphere 6.0 to VMware vSphere 6.5
VMware vSphere 5.5 to 6.0 Dell EMC Converged Systems Upgrade Guide from VMware vSphere 5.5 to VMware vSphere 6.0
Cisco DCNM Dell EMC Converged Systems Upgrade Guide from Cisco DCNM 7.2 to Cisco DCNM 10.x
Vision Intelligent Operations Dell EMC Vision Intelligent Operations Upgrade Guide
One RCM release to another within the same RCM train, for example, upgrading from RCM release 6.5.x to the next 6.5.x release.
Dell EMC upgrade guide for the Converged System you need to upgrade
In this document, all upgrades are on AMP-2P, AMP-2HA, AMP-2RP, and AMP-2S.
AMP-2V applies to Vblock System 240
Important: Starting with VMware vSphere 6.5, the Cisco Nexus 1000V is not supported. Dell EMC recommends migrating from the Cisco Nexus 1000V switch to the VMware Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS) before upgrading to vSphere 6.5.
Important: If you upgrade a Vblock System 720 from VMware vSphere 5.5 to 6.5, you must replace the HBA QLE2462 card with a QLE2562 card. If the Vblock System 720 conversion to the Vblock 740 is part of an upgrade then no HBA replacement is required. The Vblock 740 with AMP-2S uses eMGMT, which does not require an HBA card to connect the AMP server to the VMAX/ VMAX3/VMAX All Flash through FC.
The Glossary provides terms, definitions, and acronyms.
5 | Introduction
Part 1 - Upgrade prerequisites
Hardware software and license requirements This topic contains information on hardware, software, and license requirements for upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5.
Before upgrading a Converged System to VMware vSphere 6.5, review the following:
VxBlock and Vblock Systems 540 and VxBlock and Vblock Systems 740 must be at a minimum at vSphere 5.5 Update 3b or a minimum Release Certification Matrix (RCM) of 5.0.12.
Vblock System 240, Vblock System 340, and Vblock System 720 must be at a minimum at vSphere 5.5 Update 3b or at a minimum RCM of 4.5.18.
For the upgrade to VMware vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) components, one temporary IP addresses is required. If the Platform Services Controller (PCS) is migrating from embedded to external it requires two additional permanent IP addresses. The IP address must be on the same subnet as the VMware vCenter Server and accessible by the current VMware vCenter Server environment. This temporary IP address is required to migrate configuration and services data
Part 1 - Upgrade prerequisites | 6
from Single Sign-On (SSO) 5.5, VMware vCenter Server for Windows and VMware vCenter Server Appliance to VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.
Starting with VMware vSphere 6.5, the VMware vCenter Server 5.5 running on Windows and VMware vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 are upgraded and migrated to support vCSA 6.5 with external PSCs.
Vblock Systems must be migrated from an environment using Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch to one using VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS). After migration, the Cisco VEM must be uninstalled from the AMP (if any) and compute hosts.
For the compute Cisco UCS B- and C-Series Servers, Dell EMC recommends a boot LUN size of 15 GB to facilitate VMware vSphere ESXi core dumps. Refer to the Administration Guide associated with your Converged System to extend the size of the LUN from 10 GB to 15 GB.
IPv6 is not supported with the VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5 on Converged Systems.
Verify that the firmware version of the Cisco UCS B- and C-Series servers in your Converged System is compatible with VMware vSphere 6.5. Refer to the Converged System RCM and the Converged System Release Notes for the release to which you are upgrading for more information.
If your Converged System is running a high-availability AMP, add memory to accommodate the increased hardware requirements of VMware vSphere 6.5 management VMs. When upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5, the recommended memory for AMP servers is 128 GB. For AMP servers configured with 96 GB, evaluate the amount of active/consumed memory on the VM. If the active/ consumed memory exceeds the amount of physical memory, you must upgrade to 128 GB.
Ensure that you review and comply with the license requirements as specified in the Converged System Release Notes for the release of software on your Converged System. For information about upgrading to other releases on other platforms, see the Dell EMC Converged Systems Upgrade Roadmap.
Verify that new vSCA and PSC meet the hardware requirements, including the additional required disk storage and memory. Refer to the System Requirements section of the VMware vSphere upgrade documentation.
Verify that all components are in a ready state and free from errors and alarms.
Verify that Vision Intelligent Operations is at version 3.1.2 or higher. If you need to upgrade, see the appropriate Vision Intelligent Operations Upgrade Guide.
Upgrade best practices The following guidelines ensure minimum impact on the production traffic.
Use the following guidelines as you prepare for the upgrade:
Refer to the following important backup information:
Best practices for upgrading to VMware vCenter Server 6.5 (2147686): https:// kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147686
Important information before upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5 (2147548): https:// kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147548
7 | Part 1 - Upgrade prerequisites
Plan and prepare for the VMware vSphere 6.5 upgrade to ensure minimum impact on production traffic.
Review this entire upgrade document and each referenced document before you begin the upgrade.
Follow your companys best practices for performing upgrades. If possible, perform the upgrade during scheduled maintenance windows.
Schedule adequate downtime for system maintenance. Downtime applies to all virtual infrastructure hosts and servers, including the virtual machines (VMs) that are running in the environment. Power down the management VMs before upgrading to the latest recommended virtual hardware version. Also, you may need to restart the management VMs after completing the VMware Tools upgrade.
For AMP-2V running along with production workload, plan and prepare for the upgrade to ensure minimal impact to the production workload.
For components in a cluster configuration, upgrade and verify the subordinate component before you upgrade the primary component. After you successfully upgrade the subordinate and primary components, verify the status of the components again to ensure that there are no new alarms.
Do not change the system configuration during the upgrade.
Check that network time protocol (NTP) is properly configured and functioning on all upgrade- related components or services. Ensure that clocks (time, time zone, and dates) on all hosts and AMP VMs are synchronized before beginning the upgrade.
Verify that Domain Name Service (DNS) (including type A and PTR records) and any local hosts files are properly configured for all upgrade-related components or services.
if the operating system is joined to the active directory domain, verify that the domain user account has the following permissions:
Member of the Administrators group.
Acts as part of the operating system.
Logs on as a service.
Verify that the Network Service account has read permission on the folder in which VMware vCenter Server is installed and on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) registry.
Verify that the connection between the host machine and the domain controller is working.
When upgrading the VNXe software used for management, check the lockdown status on all management VMware vSphere ESXi servers. If the lockdown status is enabled, disable it before upgrading and enable it after upgrading.
Required skills To perform the upgrade, you should have the following knowledge and technical skills:
Microsoft Windows administration as required by the system architecture
Part 1 - Upgrade prerequisites | 8
Virtual machine technology and data center operations
Converged Systems concepts and terminology
Converged Systems troubleshooting skills
If there is a question regarding abilities and skills, engage Professional Services to perform the upgrade.
In addition to these skills, you must:
Have a computer with network access to the Converged Systems and the management systems.
Understand the entire upgrade process before you upgrade the Converged Systems.
9 | Part 1 - Upgrade prerequisites
Part II - Pre-upgrade tasks
Downloading VMware vSphere files for upgrade This procedure explains how to download the files needed to upgrade to VMware vSphere 6.5. Each item is listed in the Converged System Release Certification Matrix 6.5.
Download the following files on a Vblock System and/or VxBlock System from the Flexera Download Center:
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 ISO
VMware vSphere Replication ISO image
Dell EMC Custom ESXi 6.5 ISOs (AMP and Compute)
For AMP Management VMware vSphere ESXi hosts only, ensure the image does not contain PowerPath modules.
Recording the installed vCenter Solution and client plugins Record the installed VMware vCenter Solution and client plugins that are needed to re-register after the upgrade.
Procedure
1 Use the VMware vSphere Web client to log in to the VMware vCenter Server, select Administration.
2 Select Client Plug-ins. Record (write down or capture a screenshot) the installed client plug-ins and version numbers.
Backing up the system and hosts This procedure explains the order in which you should back up systems and hosts.
About this task
Use this procedure to back up Converged Systems and hosts.
Procedure
1 Back up the Converged System configuration and hosts. See the appropriate Administration guide for instructions. Follow your organization's backup procedures.
2 Back up the VMware vCenter Server database on the AMP.
3 Back up VMware vCenter for Windows with SQL DB following the procedure outlined in the KB article: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2012138
Part II - Pre-upgrade tasks | 10
4 Back up vCSA 5.5 following the procedure outlined in the KB article: https://kb.vmware.com/s/ article/2034505
5 Back up VMware vCenter SSO following the procedure outlined in KB article: https:// kb.vmware.com/s/article/2057353
6 Back up the VMware vCenter Server certificates on the AMP. For Windows, make a copy of the SSL folder. The default path is C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter. This step is applicable only if using external SSL certificates.
7 Perform a visual inspection of all hardware components to verify that there are no visible faults indicated by amber lights. All components should be in ready state and free from errors and alarms.
Perform the management VMs cloning during the maintenance window.
Upgrading components to the minimum required versions In the Converged System RCM 6.5.X, upgrade all Converged System components, except the VMware components, to the required versions.
For information about the process and order of upgrading these components, refer to the respective Converged Systems Software and Firmware Upgrade Guides for your Converged System.
Swapping the HBA card QLE2462 with the QLE2562 card
The HBA QLE2462 card replacement with a QLE2562 card is required when you upgrade a Vblock System 720 from VMware vSphere 5.5 to VMware vSphere 6.5. If you convert the Vblock 720 to a Vblock 740 then no HBA replacement is required. The Vblock 740 with AMP-2S uses eMGMT which does not require an HBA card to connect the AMP server to the VMAX/VMAX3/VMAX All Flash through FC.
About this task
Use the following procedure to swap the HBA card QLE2462 with the QLE2562 card.
Before you begin
Before swapping the HBA card in HA-AMP models:
Set the AMP VMware vSphere ESXi host to maintenance mode
Verify that all the management VMs are migrated to another VMware vSphere AMP ESXi host and running
Shut down the AMP server
Procedure
1 Remove the card as follows:
a From the front of the rack, slide the server far enough so that you can remove the top cover. You might have to detach cables from the rear panel to provide clearance.
11 | Part II - Pre-upgrade tasks
b Remove the server top cover.
c Remove any cables from the ports of the PCIe card that you are replacing.
d Use two hands to grasp the metal bracket of the riser assembly and lift straight up to disengage the connectors from the two sockets on the motherboard.
e Open the hinged plastic retainer that secures the rear-panel tab of the card.
f Pull evenly on both ends of the PCIe card to remove it from the socket on the PCIe riser. If the riser has no card, remove the blanking panel from the rear opening of the riser.
2 Install a new card as follows:
a Open the hinged plastic retainer.
b With the hinged tab retainer open, align the new PCIe card with the empty socket on the PCIe riser.
c Push down evenly on both ends of the card until it is fully seated in the socket.
d Ensure that the cards rear panel tab sits flat against the riser rear-panel opening and then close the hinged tab retainer over the rear-panel tab of the card.
e Position the PCIe riser over its two sockets on the motherboard and over the chassis alignment channels.
f Carefully push down on both ends of the PCIe riser to fully engage its connector with the sockets on the motherboard.
g Replace the top cover.
h Replace the server in the rack, replace cables, and then power on the server by pressing the Power button.
3 Login to the MDS switch. Verify that the new PWWNs are in the FLOGI database.
9148s-a# show flogi database 9148s-a# show flogi database vsan X
4 Enter configuration mode to add the new PWWN as an initiator.
9148s-a# config t 9148s-a(config)# fcalias name AliasSample vsan X 9148s-a(config)# no member pwwn 20:00:00:25:b5:81:a0:0e init 9148s-a(config)# member pwwn 20:00:00:25:b5:81:a0:0f init
In the code block for adding the new PWWN, 20:00:00:25:b5:81:a0:0e is the old PWWN and 20:00:00:25:b5:81:a0:0f is the new PWWN.
5 Activate the MDS zoneset.
9148s-a(config)# zoneset activate name zoneset-X1 vsan X
Part II - Pre-upgrade tasks | 12
6 Commit zone VSAN.
9148s-a(config)# zone commit vsan X
7 Verify that you activated the MDS zoneset and committed the zone VSAN.
9148s-a# show zone active vsan X 9148s-a# show zoneset active vsan X
8 Repeat this step for the secondary MDS switch (9148 B).
Preparing for the VMware vCenter Server upgrade To prepare for the VMware vCenter Server upgrade, address the customer-specific configuration requirements.
Procedure
1 Refer to following information to estimate the upgrade time:
a Estimating the time for migration of VMware vCenter Server 5.5 to VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 (2147711): https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147711
2 To prepare for the VMware vCenter Server upgrade, ensure that customer-specific configuration requirements are addressed.
3 Review the following sections in the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation: https:// docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf
Upgrade Requirements before Upgrading vCenter Server.
Prepare ESXi Hosts for vCenter Server Upgrade and the Verify Preparations are Complete for Upgrading vCenter Server.
Estimating upgrade time
Review the following considerations to ensure that you provide adequate scheduled maintenance windows to complete the upgrade.
Use the following table to calculate the time to upgrade the software and firmware on each component. If the Converged System that you are upgrading does not have a specific component in the table, skip that component.
For cluster configurations, include both the primary and the subordinate components in the calculated time for the component.
Plan your upgrade maintenance windows according to your environment. Do not upgrade all hosts at the same time. Retain an adequate number of hosts in a connected state to reduce impact to production traffic.
For each upgrade task, record the total estimated upgrade time in the Your calculated time column of the following table.
13 | Part II - Pre-upgrade tasks
The estimates do not include the time for preparation, configuration, backup, and download. Estimated times are may differ depending on applications running on your Converged System.
Order Component Minimum upgrade/
migration time (minutes)
Restart Required
Your Calculated
Time
1 VMware vSphere Replication Appliance (AMP-2RP only)
60 Yes
2 VMware vCenter Server with embedded SSO on Windows
60 Yes
3 Deploying new PSC 30 Yes
4 VMware vShere ESXi hosts 35 per host Yes
5 Virtual Machines hardware version and VMware Tools
10 Yes
The following are time estimates for migration of VMware vCenter Server 5.5 to VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5. Refer to the following KB article: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147711
Task Estimate for a 40 GB database
Estimate for a 75 GB database
Estimate for a 150 GB database
Estimate for a 250 GB database
Migrating inventory and configuration data only (7 GB database)
30 minutes 30 minutes 30 minutes 30 minutes
Migrating inventory, configuration, event, and task data
1 hour, 4 minutes 1 hour, 49 minutes 3 hours, 19 minutes 5 hours, 48 minutes
Migrating all data (including performance and other historical data)
1 hour, 40 minutes 3 hours, 8 minutes 6 hours, 22 minutes 10 hours, 45 minutes
Part II - Pre-upgrade tasks | 14
Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5
Upgrade recommendations Some Converged System components are optional or specific to a customer environment. If the Converged System that you are upgrading does not have a specific component, skip that component. When the component is in a cluster configuration, upgrade the subordinate component before you upgrade the primary component.
Upgrade the AMP before upgrading the Converged System. You can upgrade the AMP in a separate maintenance window.
Make sure your Converged System is upgraded according to the RCM. Refer to Upgrading Converged System components to the minimum versions.
Upgrading the AMP components
Taking a snapshot of all VMware vSphere Management VMs
Take a snapshot of VMware vSphere Management VMs (VMware vCenter Server, SSO, Database, and VUM).
If the AMP is AMP-2RP, pause replication for the VMs during the upgrade process.
To take a snapshot of all VMware vSphere Management VMs refer to VMware guide below:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/5.5/com.vmware.vsphere.hostclient.doc/ GUID-878C36BA-6922-4269-8803-7FC419B947B7.html
VMware vCenter components upgrade scenarios
This topic provides scenarios for upgrading VMware vCenter Server components.
Dell EMC does not support the following two target upgrade/migrations:
VMware vCenter Server 5.5 on Windows/vCSA with Embedded SSO to VMware vCenter Server 6.5 with embedded PSC.
VMware vCenter Server 5.5 on Windows to VMware vCenter Server 6.5 on Windows.
The following table describes the supported scenarios. As a part of the upgrade, these components are converted as noted in the Destination VMware vSphere 6.5 column.
15 | Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5
Important: If upgrading a system with multiple VMware vCenter Servers in the same domain, complete the steps on each VMware vCenter Server. Repeat each procedure on each VMware vCenter Server one at a time.
Scenario Source VMware vSphere 5.5 Destination VMware vSphere 6.5U1C
vCSA with VMware vCenter
Replication Appliance
(embedded SSO)
VMware vCenter Server Appliance with VMware vCenter Replication Appliance
Embedded SSO
Embedded DB
External VUM
vSRA
VMware vCenter Server Appliance with VMware vSphere vCenter Replication Appliance
External PSC
Embedded DB
Internal VUM
vSRA
VMware vCenter
Server on Windows with
embedded SSO
VMware vCenter Server on Windows
Embedded SSO
External DB
External VUM
VMware vCenter Server Appliance
External PSC
Embedded DB-Postgres
Internal VUM
If deploying, upgrading, migrating or restoring to VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 General Availability (GA) or U1 release fails, refer the following KB article: https:// kb.vmware.com/s/article/51124
Upgrading the VMware vCenter Server from version 5.5 to version 6.5
Upgrading the VMware vCenter Server Appliance with embedded SSO
Complete this task to upgrade to the VMware vCenter Server Appliance with embedded SSO.
About this task
Perform this upgrade only if the VMware vCenter Server Appliance FQDN can be resolved using DNS. Make sure all the prerequisites of DNS/FQDN and NTP are configured as per VMware guidelines. The VMware vCenter Server Appliance upgrade process runs in three stages:
Stage 1 - Run the migrations assistant tool on VMware Update manager server to collect the required data from VUM and integrate with vCSA 6.5.
Stage 2 Launch the upgrade to deploy the vCSA 6.5 appliance.
Stage 3 - Point to the source vCSA and migrate the data to newly deployed vCSA.
Procedure
1 Verify all prerequisites are performed as indicated in the Before Upgrading vCenter Server topic of the VMware vSphere upgrade documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware- vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf
Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5 | 16
2 Identify the IP address on the same subnet as the existing vCSA VM for temporary assignment during the upgrade process.
3 Mount the vCSA 6.5 Installer ISO on the VUM and copy the migration-assistant folder from the ISO to the VUM Windows machine and run VMware-Migration-Assistant.exe from local copy. Enter the SSO password in the dialog box and follow the instructions for a vCSA upgrade.
4 Perform the tasks outlined in Upgrade a vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 with an Embedded vCenter Single Sign-On by Using the GUI in the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade- guide.pdf
17 | Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5
5 The following are recommended wizard settings:
Stage 1 Wizard Settings:
Connect to source appliance Selection
Appliance FQDN or IP Address FQDN
Appliance HTTPS port 443 (default)
SSO User name administrator@vsphere.local
Appliance (OS) root password Enter the password of the root user.
VMware vCenter ESXi host or VMware vCenter Server name
ESXi host FQDN
HTTPS port 443 (default)
User name ESXi host username
Password ESXi password
Appliance deployment target Selection
VMware vCenter ESXi host or VMware vCenter Server name
ESXi host FQDN
HTTPS port 443 (default)
User name ESXi host username
Password ESXi password
Setup Target Appliance VM Selection
VM Name New vCSA VM name
root password Enter the password of the root user and confirm the password
Select Datastore Selection
Appliance size Select Medium for most implementations. If the configuration exceeds 400 hosts and 4000 VM limits, then select Large.
Datastore vCSA storage location
Enable Thin Disk mode Thin Disk Mode
Temporary network settings Selection
Network VMware vSphere ESXi Management Network
IP Version IPV4
IP Assignment Static
Temporary IP Address Temporary IP
Subnet Mask or Prefix Length Subnet Mask
Default Gateway Default GW
Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5 | 18
Temporary network settings Selection
DNS Server DNS server IP
Stage 2 Wizard Settings:
SSO site name Default-first-site / site name given in vSphere 5.5.
Select Upgrade data Configuration, events, tasks, and performance matrix
Configure CEIP Optional
6 If the configuration requires an VMware vSphere ESXi host with more than 512 LUNs and 2048 paths to the vCSA, then specify the appliance deploy size of large or extra-large.
7 Repeat the VMware vCenter Server upgrade/migration procedure for additional VMware vCenters Server in the same domain. Repeat each procedure on each VMware vCenter Server one at a time.
8 Once the vCSA upgrade is complete, log on to the VMware vSphere Web Client to validate that the vCSA is operational. For example: https://vCenterserver-FQDN or IP address/ vSphere-client
9 After upgrading vCSA from version 5.5 to 6.5 refer to section Deploying External PSC and reconfigure vCenter Server to external PSC to change the deployment type from embedded PSC to external PSC.
The following is a known issue: During phase 2 of the vCSA upgrade (importing data from the update manager machine to the new vCSA) you might encounter the following error:
Error attempting Vcintegrity Export file does not exist or is corrupted, abort import
According to VMware KB: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2150982 this issue occurs when you import the VMware vSphere Update Manager information which is running on a separate Windows machine. Follow the KB article to resolve the issue.
If the VMware vCenter Server is a member of an Active Directory, you are prompted to enter an AD user with permissions to add a host to the AD domain. Use the format for the user: user@ADdomainName.
Migrating the VMware vCenter Server on Windows from version 5.5 to version 6.5
Migrating the VMware vCenter Server with embedded SSO running on Windows
Complete this task to migrate the VMware vCenter Server with an external VUM and an external MS SQL database. This task also validates the installation.
19 | Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5
About this task
Perform this upgrade only if the VMware vCenter Server Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) can be resolved using DNS. Make sure all the prerequisites of DNS/FQDN and NTP are configured per VMware guidelines.
Procedure
1 Verify that the VMware vCenter Server configuration and database were backed up.
2 Follow the VMware KB article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2148010 to set the Process Level Token for the administrator user. As the administrator user, replace the Process Level Token under Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Local Security Policy->Local Policies>User Rights Assignment. Add the VMNAME\administrator user.
3 Identify the IP address on same subnet as the existing vCSA VM for temporary assignment during the migration process.
4 Mount the vCSA 6.5 Installer ISO on the VUM. Copy the Migration Assistant folder on the VUM Windows machine and run VMWare-Migration-Assistant.exe. Enter the SSO password in the dialog box and follow the instructions.
5 Mount the vCSA 6.5 Installer ISO on vCenter Server. Copy the Migration Assistant folder on the desktop and run VMWare-Migration-Assistant.exe. Enter the SSO password and the administrator password. Check for any error messages. If there are any, resolve them and proceed to the upgrade process.
6 Follow the section Migrating vCenter Server for Windows to vCenter Server Appliance in VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation to migrate from version 5.5 to 6.5: https://docs.vmware.com/en/ VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf.
7 Follow the recommended wizard settings in the topic Upgrading the VMware vCenter Server Appliance with Embedded SSO.
During the data migration there will be a service disruption to the VMware vCenter Server logins but all VMware vCenter Server operations will be unaffected.
Deploying External PSC and reconfiguring the VMware vCenter Server to an external PSC This task describes deploying external PSCs and reconfiguring the VMware vCenter Server to the external PSC, if the PSC services are embedded with the VMware vCenter Server.
About this task
Before deploying external PSCs, migrate the VMware vCenter Server with the embedded SSO from version 5.5 to version 6.5 as described in the topic Upgrading the vCenter Server from version 5.5 to version 6.5.
Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5 | 20
Procedure
1 Deploy a new PSC connecting with the existing SSO domain running embedded to the vCSA. This step requires additional hostnames (VM names) and IP addresses. Use the steps documented in VMware documentation Deploy a Platform Services Controller Appliance by using the GUI: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/ GUID-DDC08EBF-425E-4E22-AA9C-CA0303D21A83.html
21 | Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5
2 The following are recommended wizard settings to deploy the PSC:
Stage 1 Wizard Settings:
Appliance deployment target Selection
VMware vSphere ESXi host or VMware vCenter Server name
Target host address
HTTPS port 443
User Name Root
Password root password
Setup Target Appliance VM Selection
VM Name New appliance VM name
Root Password root password
Confirm root password Confirm root password
Select datastore Selection
Datastore VCSA storage location
Appliance size Select Medium for most implementations. If the configuration exceeds 400 hosts and 4000 VM limits, select Large.
Enable Thin Disk mode Check Thin Disk Mode
Configure network settings Selection
Network VMware vSphere ESXi Management Network
IP version IPV4
IP Assignment Static
Temporary IP Address temporary IP address
Subnet Mask or Prefix Length subnet mask
Default Gateway default gateway
DNS Server DNS server IP address
Stage 2 Wizard Settings
Appliance Configuration Selection
Time Synchronization mode Synchronize time with NTP server
NTP Server NTP server IP
SSO Configuration Join existing SSO domain
Platform service controller Embedded PSC IP/FQDN
HTTPS port 443 (default)
Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5 | 22
Appliance Configuration Selection
SSO domain name sphere.local
SSO user name SSO user name
SSO Password SSO password
SSO Site Name Default-first-site /site name given in vSphere 5.5
Configure CEIP Optional
If the VMware vCenter Server is a member of an Active Directory add the newly deployed PSC into same active directory domain.
Follow the VMware KB article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2127057 to verify the replication agreement and status with PSCs.
3 Once you deploy the PSC, reconfigure the vCSA 6.5 to the external PSC so that vCSA 6.5 is pointing to the external PSC.
4 Refer to the following VMware documentation: Reconfigure a Standalone vCenter Server with an Embedded Platform Services Controller to a vCenter Server with an External Platform Services Controller: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/ GUID-E7DFB362-1875-4BCF-AB84-4F21408F87A6.html
5 Repeat Step 1 to deploy the secondary PSC and join to the new external PSC domain to make it a replication partner.
Upgrading VMware vSphere Replication Appliance (for AMP-2RP)
Pausing VMware vSphere AMP VM replication activity
Before upgrading AMP-2RP components, pause the VMware vSphere AMP VM replication activity.
Use the following steps to pause VMware vSphere AMP VM replication activity:
1 Log on to the VMware vCenter Server Appliance using the VMware vSphere Web Client and click Home.
2 Select vSphere Replication on the left pane.
3 Ensure the Home tab is selected and select the RA instance.
4 Select the Monitor tab.
5 Select Incoming Replications.
6 Right-click on a management VM and click Pause. Repeat this step for each management VM.
7 Terminate the replication for the VMware vCenter Server Appliance VM. Right-click the VMware vCenter Server Appliance and click Stop.
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Taking a snapshot of VMware vCenter Server Appliance and VMware vSphere Replication Appliance
Use the following steps to take a snapshot of the VMware vCenter Server Appliance and VMware vSphere Replication Appliance:
Procedure
1 From the VMware vSphere Web Client, click Home > Hosts and Clusters.
2 Right-click the VMware vCenter Server Appliance VM and select Take Snapshot.
3 Enter an appropriate name and description and click OK.
4 Repeat these steps for the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance VM.
Upgrading the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance
Complete this task to upgrade the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance.
Before you begin
Before you initiate an upgrade, verify that the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance has an OVF environment or context. Refer to Checking and Restoring the OVF Context of the vSphere Replication Appliance (2106709): https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2106709
Do not select the Update > Settings option in the VAMI to automatically update VMware vSphere Replication. If you select automatic updates, VAMI updates the VMware vSphere Replication to the latest version. Leave the update setting set to No automatic updates.
About this task
The VMware vSphere Replication upgrade from version 5.5 to 6.5 is not directly supported by VMware. First, upgrade from version 5.5.1 to 6.0, then upgrade to 6.5 from 6.0. Refer to the upgrade path matrices and interoperability matrices provided by VMware.
Procedure
1 For known issues and workarounds before continuing with the upgrade, review the VMware vSphere Replication 6.0 Release Notes and VMware vSphere Replication 6.5 Release Notes: https://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere-replication/doc/vsphere-replication-60-release- notes.html and https://docs.vmware.com/en/vSphere-Replication/6.5/rn/vsphere-replication-65- release-notes.html.
2 Verify that all prerequisites are performed as indicated in the Upgrading vSphere Replication section of the VMware vSphere Replication Administration documentation: https:// docs.vmware.com/en/vSphere-Replication/6.0/com.vmware.vsphere.replication-admin.doc/ GUID-35C0A355-C57B-430B-876E-9D2E6BE4DDBA.html.
3 Refer to the replication appliance upgrade path matrix and interoperability matrices https:// www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php with VMware vCenter Server. If multi-hopping is needed to upgrade the replication appliance, then complete the multi-hopping upgrade so you do not lose data after upgrading.
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4 To upgrade replication appliance from version 6.0 to 6.5, refer to Upgrading vSphere Replication Appliance from version 5.5 to 6.0 and Upgrading vSphere Replication Appliance from version 6.0 to 6.5: https://cpsdocs.dellemc.com/bundle/P_UG_VMWARE/page/ GUID-9ABA6ADE-1A56-404C-9DA1-D63D2CFE8D1F.html and https://cpsdocs.dellemc.com/ bundle/P_UG_VMWARE_60_65/page/GUID-D91B0E56-5D4E-4F24-B278-499A51ED2EAE.html.
VMware does not provide a direct upgrade path to upgrade Replication Appliance from version 5.5 to 6.5. Do the upgrade by multi-hopping only.
5 After the upgrade is complete, log on to the VMware vCenter Server Appliance using the VMware vSphere Web Client and verify that the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance can authenticate with the VMware vCenter Server Appliance.
You need to restart the VMware vSphere Web Client service in the VMware vCenter Server virtual management interface (VAMI) for the replication actions to appear in the VMware vCenter Server Appliance.
While upgrading the replication appliance, you may lose the OVF context file. Because of this, replication tasks are not visible in the VMware vCenter Server, but the disk file is still there as a seed in the respective datastore. Using this seed you can reconfigure the replication appliance. Refer to Replicating Virtual Machines Using Replication Seeds in the VMware documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/vSphere- Replication/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.replication-admin.doc/GUID- C7CD1006-7E2F-42B3-A3EC-429F365140E1.html
Removing snapshots of VMware vCenter Server Appliance and VMware vSphere Replication Appliance.
Remove snapshots of the VMware vCenter Server Appliance and VMware vSphere Replication Appliance.
Use the following steps to remove snapshots of the VMware vCenter Server Appliance and VMware vSphere Replication Appliance:
1 From the VMware vSphere Web Client click Home > Hosts and Clusters.
2 Right-click on the VMware vCenter Server Appliance VM and select Manage Snapshots.
3 Select the snapshot to remove and click Delete.
4 Repeat these steps for the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance VM.
Resuming VMware vSphere AMP VM replication activity
To resume VMware vSphere AMP VM Replication activity, use the following procedure.
Procedure
1 Log on to the VMware vCenter Server Appliance using VMware vSphere Web Client.
2 Click Home > vSphere Replication> Monitor
3 Click Incoming Replications.
25 | Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5
4 Select the VM and right-click resume.
5 Repeat the step for all the Management VMs to resume the replication.
6 Verify that the replication for all VMs resumes successfully.
7 Additionally, configure replication for the newly created VMs part of the upgrade, for example: PSCs and vCSA 6.5.
Upgrading VMware vSphere ESXi hosts
Upgrading the AMP VMware vSphere ESXi Hosts
Complete this task to update the AMP VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.
About this task
Before upgrading the AMP Management VMware vSphere ESXi hosts, be aware of the following considerations:
Although VMware provides several ways to upgrade VMware vSphere ESXi hosts, you use VMware vSphere Update Manager and a custom VMware vSphere AMP-specific ESXi ISO image to upgrade the hosts in the Converged System.
Verify that PowerPath modules are not present. If they exist, remove them before proceeding with the upgrade.
This statement does not apply to AMP-2V because it utilizes production servers.
Verify the Cisco Nexus 1000v VEMS are also removed as part of Nexus 1000v to VDS Migration. If they exist, remove them before proceeding with the upgrade.
If upgrading a non-HA AMP, AMP-2P with a single Cisco UCS C-Series Server, shutdown all the AMP VMs and upgrade the Cisco C-Series Server interactively. Use the custom ISO image obtained in Pre-upgrade tasks. Refer to the Upgrade Hosts Interactively section of the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere- esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf.
If you have DPM, HA admission control, or Fault Tolerance enabled, temporarily disable these features in the Remediation Cluster Settings to make sure that the remediation is successful.
If the VMware vSphere Update Manager displays a warning about incompatibility, confirm the NTP client is configured. If it is not, for each host configure NTP, reboot, and rescan against the AMP-specific ESXi ISO upgrade image. Refer to Configuring the NTP client section in the Converged System Administration Guide.
If the VMware vSphere Update Manager displays upgrade warnings that cannot be resolved, you may need to upgrade the hosts interactively. Refer to the Upgrade Hosts Interactively section of the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware- vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf.
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If upgrading an HA AMP, place one of the Cisco UCS C-Series Servers in maintenance mode and upgrade the VMware vSphere ESXi host:
Ensure that you have access to the AMP-specific ESXi ISO image obtained in the pre- upgrade tasks.
Use VMware vSphere Update Manager to complete the upgrade to VMware vSphere 6.5. Refer to the Using the Remediate Hosts against an Upgrade Baseline section of the Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager documentation. https:// docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-update-manager-651-install- administration-guide.pdf
Before you begin
Perform the following steps to upgrade VMware vSphere ESXi hosts with the following AMPs: AMP-2RP, AMP-2HA, AMP-2P or AMP-2S.
For AMP-2V skip this section and move to next topic: Upgrading Compute VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.
Procedure
1 Record all VMware vSphere ESXi host and datastore locations of all management AMP VMs, which may be needed for the end of the procedure.
2 Perform vMotion migration on all AMP VMs from the primary management VMware vSphere ESXi host to the secondary management ESXi host using VMware vSphere Web Client. For AMP-2RP, change both the host and the datastore.
3 Upgrade the Management ESXi primary host. Ensure that you have access to the custom ISO image obtained in the pre-upgrade tasks. Refer to the Using vSphere Update Manager to Perform Orchestrated Host Upgrades section of the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation.https:// docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf
4 Verify the VMware vSphere ESXi host reconnects to VMware vCenter Server successfully.
If the VMware vSphere ESXi host does not reconnect, restart the VMware vCenter Agent to reconnect to the Management VMware vCenter which is the vCSA.
5 Perform a vMotion on all AMP VMs from the secondary management VMware ESXi host to the primary management VMware ESXi host using VMware vSphere Web Client. For AMP-2RP, change both the host and datastore.
6 Upgrade the Management ESXi secondary host. Ensure that you have access to the custom ISO image obtained in the Pre-upgrade tasks. Refer to the Using vSphere Update Manager to Perform Orchestrated Host Upgrades section of the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation for the upgrade procedure:https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter- server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf
7 Verify that the VMware ESXi host reconnects to VMware vCenter successfully.
If the VMware ESXi host does not reconnect, restart the VMware vCenter Agent to reconnect to the Management VMware vCenter.
8 Perform a vMotion on all AMP VMs to the VMware vSphere ESXi host locations recorded in Step 1. For an AMP-2RP configuration, restore the VMs to their original VMware vSphere ESXi host and datastore locations for replications to resume.
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9 Repeat this task for any other Cisco UCS C-Series Server.
Upgrading the Compute VMware vSphere ESXi hosts
This topic provides the guidelines and instructions for upgrading the compute VMware vSphere ESXi hosts.
About this task
Dell EMC recommends that the VMware vSphere 6.5 boot LUN size is a minimum of 15 GB to facilitate the VMware vSphere ESXi core dumps.
To increase the boot LUN connect to the storage management and select the host to which you want to make changes. Select the boot LUN and edit the size.
Example: 10 GB 15 GB
Save the changes and rescan the storage adapters of the VMware vSphere ESXi host using the VMware vSphere Web Client to reflect the new boot LUN size.
After the host rescan, extend the boot datastore size to 15 GB by connecting to the host using VMware vSphere Web Client.
Before you begin
Before upgrading the Converged System Compute VMware vSphere ESXi hosts, note the following:
Although VMware provides several ways to upgrade VMware vSphere ESXi hosts, you must use VMware vSphere Update Manager and a custom VMware vSphere ESXi ISO image to upgrade the hosts in the Converged System.
Perform a vMotion of all AMP-2V VMs from the VMware vSphere ESXi host to the second VMware vSphere ESXi host using VMware vSphere Web Client.
Plan to vMotion the customer workload to the other VMware vSphere ESXi host in the cluster.
Do not upgrade all of the hosts at the same time. Keep enough hosts online to reduce impact to production traffic.
If you have VMware Distributed Power Management (DPM), HA admission control, or Fault Tolerance enabled, temporarily disable these features in the Remediation Cluster Settings to make sure that the remediation is successful.
If there is a conflicting VIB error related to Cisco Nexus 1000V, the VIB has to be manually uninstalled to proceed with VMware vSphere ESXi upgrade.
If the VMware vSphere Update Manager displays a warning about incompatibility, confirm the NTP client is configured. If it is not, for each host configure NTP, reboot, and rescan against the custom ISO upgrade image. Refer to Configuring the NTP client section in the Converged System Administration Guide for your Converged System.
If the VMware vSphere Update Manager displays upgrade warnings that you cannot resolve, you may need to upgrade the hosts interactively. Refer to the Upgrade Hosts Interactively section of the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware- vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf
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Procedure
1 Launch vSphere Web Client and select Hosts and Clusters.
2 Select a compute cluster. Select the Update Manager tab. Click Go to Admin View button.
3 Click the Manage tab, then select ESXi images.
4 Click Import ESXi image. Select the upgrade ISO and name the Upgrade Baseline.
5 Follow the instructions in Remediate Hosts Against an Upgrade Baseline under theRemediating vSphere Objects section of the VMware vSphere upgrade documentation: https:// docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/com.vmware.vsphere.update_manager.doc/ GUID-3D78D8AF-DDF0-4439-B430-3BA2E454D6C8.html.
Upgrading the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch Use the following procedure to upgrade the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch.
Procedure
1 Connect to the VMware vCenter Server using the VMware vSphere Web client.
2 Refer to the Upgrade a vSphere Distributed Switch to a Later Version procedure of the Setting Up Networking with vSphere Distributed Switches section within the VMware vSphere Networking documentation: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/ com.vmware.vsphere.networking.doc/GUID-330A0689-574A-4589-9462-14CA03F3F2F4.html
3 Repeat this procedure for each VDS configured.
Modifying CoS marking in the VDS for Quality of Service (vSphere 6.5) Use this procedure to modify the CoS Traffic Direction in the VDS for Quality of Service (QoS) in Vblock System 240, VxBlock and Vblock Systems 340, VxBlock and Vblock Systems 540, Vblock System 720, and VxBlock and Vblock Systems 740.
About this task
CoS is configured as part of the standard configuration for the VDS, with the Traffic filtering and marking policy feature.
Repeat this procedure for each VDS created.
Modifying the Traffic Direction applies to VMware vSphere 6.0 and later. VMware vSphere 6.0 and later features an updated VDS UI for Traffic Direction.
Procedure
1 On the VMware vSphere Web Client Home tab, select Networking under Inventories.
2 Expand the VDS, DVswitch01-A, to view all the port groups.
29 | Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5
3 Right-click the vcesys_esx_vmotion distributed port group, click Edit settings.
4 Click Traffic filtering and marking.
a In the Edit Network Traffic Rule box, highlight vmotionCOS in the Name: box. Click Edit
b From the Traffic direction menu, click Ingress.
5 Right-click vcesys_esx_nfs distributed port group, click Edit settings.
6 Click Traffic filtering and marking.
a In the Edit Network Traffic Rule box, highlight nfsCoS (Unified Storage) in the Name: box. Click Edit.
b From the Traffic direction menu, select Ingress.
Updating AMP Management virtual machine VMware Tools and virtual hardware version Complete this task to upgrade the VMware tools and virtual hardware version on the AMP Management VM.
Procedure
1 Upgrade the VMware Tools for the Management VMs that have Microsoft Windows Server OS (Element/Fabric Manager VMs) using the Upgrading Virtual Machines and VMware Tools section of the VMware vSphere Upgrade documentation.: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware- vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf
VMware vSphere Replication does not support upgrading the VMware Tools package in the VMware vSphere Replication Appliance as mentioned in the VMware vSphere Replication 6.5 Release Notes: https://docs.vmware.com/en/vSphere- Replication/6.5/rn/vsphere-replication-65-release-notes.html
2 Upgrade the VM hardware to latest version for the Management VMs that have Microsoft Windows Server OS (Element/Fabric Manager).
Part III - Upgrading to VMware vSphere 6.5 | 30
Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks
Installing the vSphere 6.5 license After you upgrade to VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5, you must apply a VMware vSphere 6.5 license.
About this task
When you upgrade VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5 hosts to VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5 hosts, the hosts are in a 60-day evaluation mode period until you apply the correct VMware vSphere 6.5 licenses. After you have VMware vSphere 6.5 licenses, you must assign them to all upgraded VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5 hosts by using the license management functionality in the VMware vSphere Web Client.
Procedure
1 Log in to Virtual Center using the web or the VMware vSphere Client.
2 On top of the console, see the note indicating that licenses in the inventory have either expired or are not available.
3 Go to Home and click Licenses under the Administration tab.
4 Click Manage your Licenses in the Getting Started tab or go to the Licenses tab.
5 Click the + icon to create new licenses.
6 Enter the VMware vCenter Server 6.x standard license key and press Enter to add a new line.
7 Enter the VMware vSphere 6.x standard license key (for VMware vSphere ESXi), and click Next.
8 Label the license keys and click Next.
Installing the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in Complete this task to install the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in.
About this task
For more information, refer to the instructions on installing the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug in the VMware document: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/ com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-E640124B-BB55-4D29-AADD-296E01CF88C8.html
Procedure
1 Connect to Element manager using Remote Desktop connection
2 Log in using local administrator credentials.
3 Open a web browser and type the URL for the VMware vSphere Web Client.
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4 At the bottom of the VMware vSphere Web Client login page, click Download Enhanced Authentication Plug-in.
5 If the browser blocks the installation either by issuing certificate errors or by running a pop-up blocker, follow the Help instructions for your browser to resolve the problem.
6 Save the plug-in to your computer and run the executable.
7 Step through the installation wizard for both the VMware Enhanced Authentication Plug-in and the VMware Plug-in Service, which are run in succession.
8 When the installations are complete, restart your browser.
Re-registering the Solution in VMware vCenter Server after Upgrade or Migration After the VMware vCenter Server upgrade, re-register a previously-registered solution and any third-party client plug-in packages with VMware vCenter Server, when the certificate has been re-generated during the upgrade or migration process.
About this task
VMware suggests re-registering VMware vCenter Server extensions after an upgrade: https:// docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-65-upgrade-guide.pdf. Refer to the topic: After Upgrading or Migrating vCenter Server, Reregister solution in vCenter Server after Upgrade or Migration.
Procedure
Consult the vendor documentation for any solution-based VMware vCenter Server extensions and client plug-ins for instructions to re-register after a VMware vCenter Server upgrade.
Verifying VMware vCenter Server Appliance Ensure that the VMware vCenter Server components are upgraded correctly.
About this task
If the Converged Systems that you upgraded do not have a specific component in the following list, skip that component and proceed with the next component.
Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks | 32
Procedure
Verify the following items to ensure VMware vCenter Server Appliance upgrade success for the AMP and for the Converged Systems:
VMware vCenter Server Appliance instances are accessible.
Inventory data is successfully migrated.
VMware vCenter Server Appliance numbers comply with the supported versions in the Converged Systems Release Certification Matrix.
All VMware licenses are applied and are not running in evaluation mode. The Update Manager tab in VMware vSphere Update Manager is available on the Web Client.
Updated versions appear in the version column of the VMware vCenter Plug-in Manager in the VMware vSphere Update Manager. Those versions comply with the supported versions in the Converged Systems Release Certification Matrix.
VMware vSphere ESXi build numbers on the management environment and VMware ESXi hosts comply with the supported versions in the Converged Systems Release Certification Matrix.
There is network connectivity to virtual machines, VLAN, and VSAN.
The time, date, and time zones are synchronized across all VMs and hosts.
Verifying compliance with the RCM Verify that the upgraded components match the versions listed in the RCM.
Confirm that the Converged System components match the versions of software, firmware, and hardware listed in the Release Certification Matrix document for your Converged System.
Refer to the appropriate Release Notes for information about installing any necessary patches or updates.
Verifying VMware vCenter Server root certificates on web browser Verify that root certificates are installed. If not, follow the steps to install them.
About this task
Install the trusted root certificate authority (CA) certificates. This procedure is applicable for Internet Explorer (IE) only. For browsers, other than Internet Explorer, refer to respective browser documentation.
Procedure
1 Open IE web browser and go to https://vcsa_fqdn.
2 In the VMware vCenter Getting Started page, select Download trusted root CA certificates and save the file locally.
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3 Unzip the downloaded files.
4 Right click on each .crt file and click Open. In the pop up dialog, click Install Certificate. Select Local Machine and click Next, Next and Finish.
Verifying VMware vSphere ESX/ESXi advanced settings Verify that the NFS settings are configured for optimal Converged System performance.
In VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5, the number of outstanding IOs with competing worlds parameter is limited to the Max Queue Depth of a device. This might require a change in Disk.SchedNumReqOutstanding (DSNRO) on VMware vSphere ESXi depending on the storage array.
Verify that the NFS settings are configured for optimal Converged System performance.
Refer to the Configuring advanced settings section of the Administration Guide for your Converged System.
The vStorage APIs for array integration (VAAI) primitives are enabled by default upon the initial installation of VMware vSphere ESXi. They should remain set to their current value (enabled or disabled) for all VMware vSphere ESXi hosts, except for the following conditions:
If there is a specific customer or vendor reason for all primitives to be disabled
If there is a recall of a primitive based upon outstanding issues in related software releases
Reviewing Cisco UCS Settings Review and verify that the Ethernet Adapter policy and Virtual Machine Queue (VMQ) connection policies are configured in the Cisco UCS Manager per standard best practices and that the service profiles are updated to use them. Create VMQ policies and apply them to the Ethernet adapters.
About this task
Use the following task to verify that the policies exist. If they do not exist, create them following this procedure. The steps apply only to a VxBlock System with a Cisco UCS Ethernet Adapter Policy for compute Cisco B-Series blades running VMware vSphere ESXi. This policy is leveraged by a service- profile which gets associated with their respective compute blades.
Procedure
1 From the UCS Manager GUI, click Servers and navigate to Policies > root > Adapter Policies.
2 Chose Add a new Ethernet Adapter Policy and provide a name and description (for example: VMQ-Default).
Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks | 34
3 Under Resources, enter the following settings:
Transmit Queues = 8 (The number of transmit queue resources to allocate.)
Receive Queues = 4 (The number of receive queue resources to allocate.)
Completion Queues = 12 (The number of completion queue resources to allocate. In general, the number of completion queue resources you should allocate is equal to the number of transmit queue resources plus the number of receive queue resources.)
Interrupts=14
4 Under Options, select Enabled for Receive Side Scaling (RSS). All other values remain as default.
Verifying the VMQ connection configuration settings required by VMQ Use the following details to verify that the following VMQ policies exist. If they do not exist, create them using the steps below.
Procedure
1 In the UCSM Navigation pane, click LAN.
2 Expand LAN > Policies.
3 Expand the node for the organization where you want to create the policy.
4 If the system does not include multi-tenancy, expand the root node.
5 Right-click the VMQ Connection Policies node and select Create VMQ Connection Policy.
6 In the Create VMQ Connection Policy dialog box, complete the following fields:
Name field: The VMQ connection policy name.
Number of VMQs: 16 (The number of VMQs per adapter must be one more than the maximum number of VM NICs)
Number of Interrupts: 34 (The number of CPU threads or logical processors available in the server)
7 Click OK.
Assigning Virtualization Preference to a vNIC Follow this task to assign virtualization preference to a vNIC.
Procedure
1 In the UCSM Navigation pane, click Servers.
35 | Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks
2 On the Servers tab, expand Servers > target service profile > root > vNICs.
3 Click the vNIC name to display properties on the work pane.
4 In the Connection Policies section, select the radio button for VMQ and select the VMQ Connection Policy from the drop down. In the Properties area the Virtualization Preference for this vNIC changes to VMQ.
Reviewing system security Ensure that the Converged Systems adhere to your established security settings.
The upgrade does not change security for Converged Systems. See the following Converged Systems security document to ensure system adheres to security standards after VMware vSphere 5.5 to VMware vSphere 6.5 Upgrades.
Hardening security on the Management Virtual Machines (vSphere 6.5)
Refer to the following links for important Security Considerations:
Status of TLSv1.1/1.2 Enablement and TLSv1.0 Disablement across VMware products (2145796)
Managing TLS protocol configuration for vSphere 6.5 (2147469)
Removing the old management VMs Power off and remove the VMs that are no longer needed.
Procedure
1 After the successful completion of the VMware vSphere 6.5 upgrade, power off Windows DB server, Windows VUM, and remove the old management VMs from the VMware vCenter Inventory.
2 Rename the PSCs from their temporary name to permanent names in VMware vSphere Web Client if required.
Updating AMP VAPP and DRS Rules Complete this task to update AMP VAPP and DRS rules. The task is not applicable for AMP-2P.
Procedure
1 Add virtual machines PSC1, PSC2 and vCSA into the resource pool. If the resource pool already exists, you may move the VMs there. If not, create a new resource pool and move them. Follow the steps to move the VMs:
a Right-click the virtual machines PSC1, PSC2, and VC01. Select Move To
b At the Move To expand the Datacenter, Hosts and Clusters, AMP-CORE cluster, and Local Management Workload resource pools.
c Highlight the new resource pool (for example. Local Management Workload) and click OK. Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks | 36
2 Highlight the AMP-CORE cluster, select Manage, and select VM/Host Rules. Click Add and create DRS rules for virtual machines as follows:
Name Type Members
PSC1-PSC2_SVM Separate Virtual Machines PSC1 PSC2
PSC1-VC01_SVM Keep Virtual Machines Together PSC1 VC01
3 Select VM/Host Groups to create virtual machine and host groups.
Name Type Members
v01234PSC1 VM Group PSC1
v01234VC01 VM Group VC01
4 Select VM/Host Rules, create DRS rule(s) to create host affinity:
Group Name Type Members
VC01_PSC_VMTVM Virtual Machines To Virtual Machines
First restart VMs in VM group: VM Group: v01234PSC1 Then restart VMs in VM group: VM Group: v01234VC01
Performing a new full backup of the system Once the VMware vSphere environment successfully upgrades to version 6.5, perform a complete backup of all the VMware vSphere components including PSCs and vCSA. Refer to the Administration Guide associated with your Converged System
New features and platform design updates This section describes new features that are supported and configurable. Evaluate the new features and platform design updates that are available in VMware vSphere 6.5 and update according to requirements.
Read the VMware white paper What's New in VMware vSphere 6.5 to see the enhancements in VMware vSphere version 6.5: https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/whitepaper/ vsphere/vmw-white-paper-vsphr-whats-new-6-5.pdf
The VxBlock Systems may not support all the features mentioned in white paper. It is for reference only.
VMware vSphere Fault Tolerance
VMware vSphere Fault Tolerance (FT) version 6.5 improves the integration with VMware vSphere DRS to enable better placement decisions by ranking the hosts. The ranking is based on the available network bandwidth and by recommending the datastore in which to place the secondary VMDK files.
37 | Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks
Network latency between the primary and secondary VMs is greatly decreased. This reduces the performance impact of certain types of applications that are sensitive to latency and enables a wider array of mission-critical applications that require zero downtime.
You can use multiple port groups to increase the overall bandwidth available for VMware vSphere FT logging traffic. This is a similar configuration to the one used by the multi-NIC feature of VMware vSphere vMotion to provide additional channels of communication for environments that require more bandwidth than a single network adapter can provide.
Dell EMC defines VLAN 107 for fault tolerance of virtual machines.
VMware vSphere FT requires a 10 GbE connection and shared storage.
Layer3 vMotion
Layer 3 vMotion with VMware vSphere 6.0 and later delivers flexibility and performance in moving virtual machines across virtual infrastructures.
The following features are part of VMware vSphere 6.0 vMotion:
Long-distance migration
Cross-vCenter migration
Routed vMotion network
These features enable migrations across current management and distance boundaries. You can migrate VMs across VMware vCenter Servers separated by cross-continental distance with minimal performance impact.
Layer 3 VMware with VMware vSphere 6.5 supports VxBlock System UCS Cisco compute blades and is assigned to VLAN 117.
VxBlock System Cisco UCS compute blades require the QoS default setting. Changing QoS settings from platinum, gold, silver or bronze impacts the Cisco UCS service profile vNIC configuration. Before changing QoS settings, check the host control settings.
VMFS 6 datastore
You can leverage the VMFS 6 capabilities by creating a new VMFS 6 datastore and provisioning new VMs to it. Or you can migrate the existing VMs from VMFS 5 datastore to a VMFS 6 datastore. Refer to the following KB article for migrating VMFS 5 datastore to VMFS 6 datastore (2147824): https:// kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147824
Part IV - Post-upgrade tasks | 38
The information in this publication is provided "as is." Dell Inc. makes no representations or warranties of any kind with respect to the information in this publication, and specifically disclaims implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Use, copying, and distribution of any software described in this publication requires an applicable software license.
Copyright 2018 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.
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