VMware vSphere - 5.5 User’s Manual

vSphere Upgrade

vSphere 5.5

This document supports the version of each product listed and supports all subsequent versions until the document is replaced by a new edition. To check for more recent editions of this document, see http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs.

EN-001267-01

vSphere Upgrade

You can find the most up-to-date technical documentation on the VMware Web site at:

http://www.vmware.com/support/

The VMware Web site also provides the latest product updates.

If you have comments about this documentation, submit your feedback to:

docfeedback@vmware.com

Copyright © 2009–2013 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws. VMware products are covered by one or more patents listed at

http://www.vmware.com/go/patents.

VMware is a registered trademark or trademark of VMware, Inc. in the United States and other jurisdictions. All other marks and names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective companies.

VMware, Inc.

3401 Hillview Ave. Palo Alto, CA 94304 www.vmware.com

2 VMware, Inc.

About vSphere Upgrade

vSphere Upgrade describes how to upgrade VMware vSphere™ to the current version.

Tto move to the current version of vSphere by performing a fresh installation that does not preserve existing configurations, see the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.

Intended Audience

vSphere Upgrade is for anyone who needs to upgrade from earlier versions of vSphere. These topics are for experienced Microsoft Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.

VMware, Inc.

7

vSphere Upgrade

8 VMware, Inc.

Updated Information

This vSphere Upgrade is updated with each release of the product or when necessary.

This table provides the update history of vSphere Upgrade.

Revision Description

-01

EN-001267-00 Initial release.

In “Upgrade the VMware vCenter Server Appliance,” on page 118, added note about how vCenter

n

Server Appliance upgrade from version 5.0 to 5.5 differs from upgrade from version 5.1 to 5.5.

Updated link in Prerequisites section of “Upgrade the VMware vCenter Server Appliance,”

n

on page 118 to point to correct Knowledge Base article for version 5.5 vCenter Server SSL certificate configuration.

Updated Table 3-8.

n

VMware, Inc. 9

vSphere Upgrade

10 VMware, Inc.

Overview of the Upgrade Process 1

Upgrading is a multistage process in which procedures must be performed in a particular order. Follow the process outlined in this high-level overview to ensure a smooth upgrade with a minimum of system downtime.

IMPORTANT Make sure that you understand the entire upgrade process before you attempt to upgrade. If you do not follow the safeguards, you might lose data and access to your servers. Without planning, you might incur more downtime than is necessary.

If you use vCenter Server Heartbeat in your vSphere deployment, use the vSphere Server Heartbeat installation and upgrade documentation to upgrade vCenter Server.

vCenter Server 5.5 removes support for Windows Server 2003 as a host operating system. See the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php and “Migrate vCenter

Server and Components from a Windows Server 2003 Host,” on page 108.

vCenter Server 5.5 removes support for Windows Server 2008 SP1 as a host operating system. Upgrade Windows Server 2008 SP1 hosts to SP2 before upgrading vCenter Server to version 5.5. See the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php and the Microsoft Software Lifecycle Policy at http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#ServicePackSupport.

You must complete the upgrade process in a specific order because you can lose data and server access. Order is also important within each upgrade stage.

VMware, Inc.

You can perform the upgrade process for each component in only one direction. For example, after you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x, you cannot revert to vCenter Server 4.x. With backups and planning, you can restore your original software records.

You must complete one procedure before you move to the next procedure. Follow the directions within each procedure regarding the required sequence of minor substeps.

Because certain commands can simultaneously upgrade more than one stage, VMware recommends that you understand the irreversible changes at each stage before you upgrade your production environments.

To ensure that your datacenter upgrade goes smoothly, you can use vCenter Update Manager to manage the process for you.

vSphere upgrades proceed in the following sequence of tasks.

1 If your vSphere system includes VMware solutions or plug-ins, make sure they are compatible with the

vCenter Server version that you are upgrading to. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

2 If you are upgrading vSphere components that are part of a VMware View environment, see

“Upgrading vSphere Components Separately in a Horizon View Environment,” on page 218.

11

vSphere Upgrade

3 Make sure your system meets vSphere hardware and software requirements.

4 Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the

5 If you use VMware Update Manager, upgrade VMware Update Manager.

6 Upgrade your ESXi hosts.

See Chapter 3, “System Requirements,” on page 15.

vSphere Web Client.

IMPORTANT If you use vCenter Server Heartbeat in your vSphere deployment, use the vSphere Server Heartbeatinstallation and upgrade documentation to upgrade vCenter Server and related components.

See Chapter 5, “Upgrading vCenter Server,” on page 61. Use the topic “Required Information for

Installing or Upgrading vCenter Single Sign-On, Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client,” on page 41 to create a worksheet with the information you will need when you install

vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server.

See Chapter 7, “Upgrading Update Manager,” on page 137.

See Chapter 8, “Upgrading and Migrating Your Hosts,” on page 141. vSphere provides several ways to upgrade hosts:

Use vSphere Update Manager to perform an orchestrated upgrade of your ESXi hosts. See “Using

n

vSphere Update Manager to Perform Orchestrated Host Upgrades,” on page 164.

Upgrade a single host at a time, interactively, from an ESXi ISO installer image stored on a CD,

n

DVD, or USB flash drive. See “Upgrade or Migrate Hosts Interactively,” on page 178.

Use a script to perform an unattended upgrade for multiple hosts. See “Installing, Upgrading, or

n

Migrating Hosts Using a Script,” on page 180

If a host was deployed using vSphere Auto Deploy, you can use Auto Deploy to upgrade the host

n

by reprovisioning it. See “Using vSphere Auto Deploy to Reprovision Hosts,” on page 194.

Upgrade or patch ESXi 5.x hosts by using esxcli commands. See “Upgrading Hosts by Using esxcli

n

Commands,” on page 198.

7 Reapply your host license.

See “Reapplying Licenses After Upgrading to ESXi 5.5,” on page 212.

8 Upgrade virtual machines and virtual appliances, manually or by using VMware Update Manager to

perform an orchestrated upgrade.

See Chapter 9, “Upgrading Virtual Machines and VMware Tools,” on page 213.

12 VMware, Inc.

How vSphere 5.x Differs from

vSphere 4.x 2

vSphere 5.x is a major upgrade from vSphere 4.x.

The following changes from vSphere 4.x affect vSphere installation and setup. For a complete list of new features in vSphere 5.x, see the release notes for version 5.x releases.

Service Console is removed

ESXi does not have a graphical installer

vSphere Auto Deploy and vSphere ESXi Image Builder CLI

Changes in the ESXi installation and upgrade process

ESXi does not include a Service Console. You can perform most tasks that you performed in the Service Console by using esxcli commands in the ESXi Shell, by using vCLI commands, and by using VMware PowerCLI commands. See Command-Line Management in vSphere 5.0 for Service Console Users and Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces.

The graphical installer relied on the Service Console, which is not a part of ESXi. ESXi retains the text-based installer.

Before ESXi 5.0, ESXi was installed on the physical disk of each ESXi host. With ESXi 5.x, you can load an ESXi image directly into memory by using vSphere Auto Deploy. You can provision and reprovision large numbers of ESXi hosts efficiently with vCenter Server, and manage ESXi updates and patching by using an image profile. You can save host configuration such as network or storage setup as a host profile and apply it to the host by using Auto Deploy. You can use ESXi Image Builder CLI to create ESXi installation images with a customized set of updates, patches, and drivers.

For complete information on using vSphere Auto Deploy and ESXi Image Builder PowerCLI, see the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.

ESXi 5.x uses a single installer wizard for fresh installations and upgrades. ESXi 5.x also provides a new option for deploying ESXi directly into the host memory with vSphere Auto Deploy. The vihostupdate and esxupdate utilities are not supported for ESXi 5.x. You cannot upgrade or migrate from earlier ESX or ESXi versions to ESXi 5.x by using any command-line utility. After you have upgraded or migrated to ESXi 5.x, you can upgrade or patch ESXi 5.x hosts using vCLI esxcli commands.

IMPORTANT After you upgrade or migrate your host to ESXi 5.x, you cannot roll back to your version 4.x ESX or ESXi software. Back up your host before you perform an upgrade or migration, so that, if the upgrade or migration fails, you can restore your 4.x host.

See “ESXi 5.5 Upgrade Options,” on page 148.

VMware, Inc. 13

vSphere Upgrade

Installer caching

Changes to partitioning of host disks

VMware vCenter Server Appliance

vSphere Web Client

Instead of using a binary image to install the system, whatever bits were used at boot time are cached to the system. This caching reduces installation problems caused by accessing installation files across networks that are under load.

NOTE Scripted installations cannot PXE boot a server and then obtain the binary image from some other form of media.

All freshly installed hosts in vSphere 5.x use the GUID Partition Table format instead of the MSDOS-style partition label. This change supports ESXi installation on disks larger than 2TB.

Newly installed vSphere 5.x hosts use VMFS5, an updated version of the VMware File System for vSphere 5.x. Unlike earlier versions, ESXi 5.x does not create VMFS partitions in second and successive disks.

Upgraded systems do not use GUID Partition Tables (GPT), but retain the older MSDOS-based partition label.

As an alternative to installing vCenter Server on a Windows machine, vSphere 5.x provides the VMware vCenter Server Appliance. The vCenter Server Appliance is a preconfigured Linux-based virtual machine optimized for running vCenter Server and associated services.

The vSphere Web Client is a server application that provides a browserbased alternative to the deprecated vSphere Client. You can use a Web browser to connect to the vSphere Web Client to manage an ESXi host through a vCenter Server.

vCenter Single Sign-On

vSphere versions 5.1 and later include vCenter Single Sign-On as part of the vCenter Server management infrastructure. This change affects vCenter Server installation, upgrading, and operation. Authentication by vCenter Single Sign-On makes the VMware cloud infrastructure platform more secure by allowing the vSphere software components to communicate with each other through a secure token exchange mechanism, instead of requiring each component to authenticate a user separately with a directory service like Active Directory. See “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter

Server Upgrades,” on page 32

14 VMware, Inc.

System Requirements 3

Systems running vCenter Server and ESXi instances must meet specific hardware and operating system requirements.

If you are using Auto Deploy to provision ESXi hosts, see also the information about preparing for VMware Auto Deploy in the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“ESXi Hardware Requirements,” on page 15

n

“Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and

n

vCenter Single Sign-On,” on page 19

“vCenter Server Software Requirements,” on page 24

n

“vSphere Web Client Software Requirements,” on page 24

n

“Providing Sufficient Space for System Logging,” on page 25

n

“Required Ports for vCenter Server,” on page 25

n

“Required Ports for the vCenter Server Appliance,” on page 27

n

“Conflict Between vCenter Server and IIS for Port 80,” on page 28

n

“DNS Requirements for vSphere,” on page 28

n

“Supported Remote Management Server Models and Minimum Firmware Versions,” on page 29

n

“Update Manager Hardware Requirements,” on page 29

n

ESXi Hardware Requirements

Make sure the host meets the minimum hardware configurations supported by ESXi 5.5.

Hardware and System Resources

To install and use ESXi 5.5, your hardware and system resources must meet the following requirements:

Supported server platform. For a list of supported platforms, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at

n

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.

ESXi 5.5 will install and run only on servers with 64-bit x86 CPUs.

n

ESXi 5.5 requires a host machine with at least two cores.

n

ESXi 5.5 supports only LAHF and SAHF CPU instructions.

n

ESXi 5.5 requires the NX/XD bit to be enabled for the CPU in the BIOS.

n

VMware, Inc.

15

vSphere Upgrade

n

ESXi supports a broad range of x64 multicore processors. For a complete list of supported processors, see the VMware compatibility guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.

ESXi requires a minimum of 4GB of physical RAM. Provide at least 8GB of RAM to take full advantage of ESXi features and run virtual machines in typical production environments.

To support 64-bit virtual machines, support for hardware virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD RVI) must be enabled on x64 CPUs.

One or more Gigabit or 10Gb Ethernet controllers. For a list of supported network adapter models, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.

Any combination of one or more of the following controllers:

Basic SCSI controllers. Adaptec Ultra-160 or Ultra-320, LSI Logic Fusion-MPT, or most

n

NCR/Symbios SCSI.

RAID controllers. Dell PERC (Adaptec RAID or LSI MegaRAID), HP Smart Array RAID, or IBM

n

(Adaptec) ServeRAID controllers.

SCSI disk or a local, non-network, RAID LUN with unpartitioned space for the virtual machines.

For Serial ATA (SATA), a disk connected through supported SAS controllers or supported on-board SATA controllers. SATA disks will be considered remote, not local. These disks will not be used as a scratch partition by default because they are seen as remote.

NOTE You cannot connect a SATA CD-ROM device to a virtual machine on an ESXi 5.5 host. To use the SATA CD-ROM device, you must use IDE emulation mode.

Storage Systems

For a list of supported storage systems, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility. ESXi 5.5 supports installing on and booting from the

following storage systems:

SATA disk drives. SATA disk drives connected behind supported SAS controllers or supported on-

n

board SATA controllers.

Supported SAS controllers include:

LSI1068E (LSISAS3442E)

n

LSI1068 (SAS 5)

n

IBM ServeRAID 8K SAS controller

n

Smart Array P400/256 controller

n

Dell PERC 5.0.1 controller

n

Supported on-board SATA include:

Intel ICH9

n

NVIDIA MCP55

n

ServerWorks HT1000

n

NOTE ESXi does not support using local, internal SATA drives on the host server to create VMFS datastores that are shared across multiple ESXi hosts.

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) disk drives. Supported for installing ESXi and for storing virtual machines

n

on VMFS partitions.

Dedicated SAN disk on Fibre Channel or iSCSI

n

16 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 System Requirements

USB devices. Supported for installing ESXi.

n

Software Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE). See “Installing and Booting ESXi with Software FCoE,”

n

on page 163.

ESXi Booting Requirements

vSphere 5.5 supports booting ESXi hosts from the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). With UEFI you can boot systems from hard drives, CD-ROM drives, or USB media. Network booting or provisioning with VMware Auto Deploy requires the legacy BIOS firmware and is not available with UEFI.

ESXi can boot from a disk larger than 2TB provided that the system firmware and the firmware on any addin card that you are using support it. See the vendor documentation.

NOTE Changing the boot type from legacy BIOS to UEFI after you install ESXi 5.5 might cause the host to fail to boot. In this case, the host displays an error message similar to: Not a VMware boot bank. Changing the host boot type between legacy BIOS and UEFI is not supported after you install ESXi 5.5.

Storage Requirements for ESXi 5.5 Installation

Installing ESXi 5.5 requires a boot device that is a minimum of 1GB in size. When booting from a local disk or SAN/iSCSI LUN, a 5.2GB disk is required to allow for the creation of the VMFS volume and a 4GB scratch partition on the boot device. If a smaller disk or LUN is used, the installer will attempt to allocate a scratch region on a separate local disk. If a local disk cannot be found the scratch partition, /scratch, will be located on the ESXi host ramdisk, linked to /tmp/scratch. You can reconfigure /scratch to use a separate disk or LUN. For best performance and memory optimization, VMware recommends that you do not leave /scratch on the ESXi host ramdisk.

To reconfigure /scratch, see the topic "Set the Scratch Partition from the vSphere Web Client" in the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.

Due to the I/O sensitivity of USB and SD devices the installer does not create a scratch partition on these devices. As such, there is no tangible benefit to using large USB/SD devices as ESXi uses only the first 1GB. When installing on USB or SD devices, the installer attempts to allocate a scratch region on an available local disk or datastore. If no local disk or datastore is found, /scratch is placed on the ramdisk. You should reconfigure /scratch to use a persistent datastore following the installation.

In Auto Deploy installations, the installer attempts to allocate a scratch region on an available local disk or datastore. If no local disk or datastore is found /scratch is placed on ramdisk. You should reconfigure /scratch to use a persistent datastore following the installation.

For environments that boot from a SAN or use Auto Deploy, it is not necessary to allocate a separate LUN for each ESXi host. You can co-locate the scratch regions for many ESXi hosts onto a single LUN. The number of hosts assigned to any single LUN should be weighed against the LUN size and the I/O behavior of the virtual machines.

Recommendation for Enhanced ESXi Performance

To enhance performance, install ESXi on a robust system with more RAM than the minimum required and with multiple physical disks.

For ESXi system requirements, see “ESXi Hardware Requirements,” on page 15. See also the technical papers on vSphere 5 performance at http://www.vmware.com/resources/techresources/cat/91,203,96.

VMware, Inc. 17

vSphere Upgrade

Table 3‑1. Recommendations for Enhanced Performance

System Element Recommendation

RAM ESXi hosts require more RAM than typical servers. Provide

Dedicated Fast Ethernet adapters for virtual machines Place the management network and virtual machine

Disk location Place all data that your virtual machines use on physical

VMFS5 partitioning The ESXi installer creates the initial VMFS volumes on the

Processors Faster processors improve ESXi performance. For certain

Hardware compatibility Use devices in your server that are supported by ESXi 5.5

at least 8GB of RAM to take full advantage of ESXi features and run virtual machines in typical production environments. An ESXi host must have sufficient RAM to run concurrent virtual machines. The following examples are provided to help you calculate the RAM required by the virtual machines running on the ESXi host.

Operating four virtual machines with Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Windows XP requires at least 3GB of RAM for baseline performance. This figure includes approximately 1024MB for the virtual machines, 256MB minimum for each operating system as recommended by vendors.

Running these four virtual machines with 512MB RAM requires that the ESXi host have approximately 4GB RAM, which includes 2048MB for the virtual machines.

These calculations do not take into account possible memory savings from using variable overhead memory for each virtual machine. See vSphere Resource Management .

networks on different physical network cards. Dedicated Gigabit Ethernet cards for virtual machines, such as Intel PRO 1000 adapters, improve throughput to virtual machines with high network traffic.

disks allocated specifically to virtual machines. Performance is better when you do not place your virtual machines on the disk containing the ESXi boot image. Use physical disks that are large enough to hold disk images that all the virtual machines use.

first blank local disk found. To add disks or modify the original configuration, use the vSphere Web Client. This practice ensures that the starting sectors of partitions are 64K-aligned, which improves storage performance.

NOTE For SAS-only environments, the installer might not format the disks. For some SAS disks, it is not possible to identify whether the disks are local or remote. After the installation, you can use the vSphere Web Client to set up VMFS.

workloads, larger caches improve ESXi performance.

drivers. See the Hardware Compatibility Guide at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.

18 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 System Requirements

Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client , vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Single Sign-On

vCenter Server host machines must meet hardware requirements.

vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client , vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server Hardware Requirements

You can install vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server on the same host machine (as with vCenter Simple Install) or on different machines. See Table 3-2.

The follosing tables list the hardware requirements for vCenter Single Sign-On and Inventory Service, running on separate host machines.

Table 3-3

n

Table 3-4

n

If you use Custom Install to install vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server on the same host machine, the vCenter Single Sign-On, and Inventory Service memory and disk storage requirements are in addition to the requirements for vCenter Server. See Table 3-5.

Table 3‑2. Minimum Hardware Requirements for Simple Install Deployment of vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client , vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server

Host Hardware for Simple Install Deployment Minimum Requirement

Processor Intel or AMD x64 processor with two or more logical cores,

each with a speed of 2GHz.

Memory 12GB.

Memory requirements are higher if the vCenter Server database runs on the same machine as vCenter Server.

vCenter Server includes several Java services: VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (tc Server), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. When you install vCenter Server, you select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for these services. The inventory size determines the maximum JVM heap settings for the services. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in

Table 3-7.

Disk storage 100GB recommended.

40-60GB of free disk space are required after installation, depending on the size of your inventory. You should provide more space to allow for future growth of your inventory.

Disk storage requirements are higher if the vCenter Server database runs on the same machine as vCenter Server, depending on the size of the database.

In vCenter Server 5.x, the default size for vCenter Server logs is 450MB larger than in vCenter Server 4.x. Make sure the disk space allotted to the log folder is sufficient for this increase.

Network speed 1Gbps

VMware, Inc. 19

vSphere Upgrade

Table 3‑3. Minimum Hardware Requirements for vCenter Single Sign-On, Running on a Separate Host Machine from vCenter Server

vCenter Single Sign-On Hardware Requirement

Processor Intel or AMD x64 processor with two or more logical cores,

Memory 3GB. If vCenter Single Sign-On runs on the same host

Disk storage 2GB.

Network speed 1Gbps

Table 3‑4. Minimum Hardware Requirements for vCenter Inventory Service, Running on a Separate Host Machine from vCenter Server

vCenter Inventory Service Hardware Requirement

Processor Intel or AMD x64 processor with two or more logical cores,

Memory 3GB. If vCenter Inventory Service runs on the same host

Disk storage If vCenter Inventory Service runs on the same host

Network speed 1Gbps

each with a speed of 2GHz.

machine as vCenter Server, see Table 3-2 or Table 3-5.

each with a speed of 2GHz.

machine as vCenter Server, see Table 3-2 or Table 3-5.

machine as vCenter Server, these requirements are in addition to the disk space required for vCenter Server and any other applications running on the vCenter Server host machine. See Table 3-5.

Disk storage requirements for Inventory Service depend on inventory size and the amount of activity in the virtual machines in the inventory. At typical activity rates, Inventory Service uses 6GB - 12GB of disk space for 15,000 virtual machines distributed among 1,000 hosts.

A high rate of activity (more than 20 percent of your virtual machines changing per hour) results in write-ahead logs (WAL) being written to disk to handle updates, instead of in-line writes into existing disk usage. This high rate of activity is often associated with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) use cases.

In the following guidelines for required disk space, a small inventory is 1-100 hosts or 1-1000 virtual machines, and a large inventory is more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines.

Small inventory, low activity rate: 5GB.

n

Small inventory, high activity rate: 15GB.

n

Large inventory, low activity rate: 15GB.

n

Large inventory, high activity rate: 40GB-60GB.

n

Table 3‑5. Minimum Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server

vCenter Server Hardware Requirement

CPU Two 64-bit CPUs or one 64-bit dual-core processor.

Processor 2.0GHz or faster Intel 64 or AMD 64 processor. The

Itanium (IA64) processor is not supported. Processor requirements might be higher if the database runs on the same machine.

20 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 System Requirements

Table 3‑5. Minimum Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server (Continued)

vCenter Server Hardware Requirement

Memory The amount of memory needed depends on your vCenter

Server configuration.

If vCenter Server is installed on a different host

n

machine than vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Inventory Service, 4GB of RAM are required.

If vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter

n

Inventory Service are installed on the same host machine (as with vCenter Simple Install), 10GB of RAM are required.

Memory requirements are higher if the vCenter Server database runs on the same machine as vCenter Server.

vCenter Server includes several Java services: VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (tc Server), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. When you install vCenter Server, you select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for these services. The inventory size determines the maximum JVM heap settings for the services. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in

Table 3-7.

Disk storage The amount of disk storage needed for the vCenter Server

installation depends on your vCenter Server configuration.

If vCenter Server is installed on a different host

n

machine than vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Inventory Service, 4GB are required.

If vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter

n

Inventory Service are installed on the same host machine (as with vCenter Simple Install), at least 40-60GB of free disk space are required after installation, depending on the size of your inventory. You should provide more space to allow for future growth of your inventory. For guidelines about the disk space required for vCenter Single Sign-On and Inventory Service, see Table 3-3 and Table 3-4

Disk storage requirements are higher if the vCenter Server database runs on the same machine as vCenter Server, depending on the size of those databases.

In vCenter Server 5.x, the default size for vCenter Server logs is 450MB larger than in vCenter Server 4.x. Make sure the disk space allotted to the log folder is sufficient for this increase.

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express disk Up to 2GB free disk space to decompress the installation

archive. Approximately 1.5GB of these files are deleted after the installation is complete.

Network speed 1Gbps

NOTE Installing vCenter Server on a network drive or USB flash drive is not supported.

For the hardware requirements of your database, see your database documentation. The database requirements are in addition to the vCenter Server requirements if the database and vCenter Server run on the same machine.

VMware, Inc. 21

vSphere Upgrade

vSphere Web Client Hardware Requirements

The vSphere Web Client has two components: A Java server and an Adobe Flex client application running in a browser.

Table 3‑6. Hardware Requirements for the vSphere Web Client Server Component

vSphere Web Client Server Hardware Requirement

Memory At least 2GB: 1GB for the Java heap, and 1GB for

CPU 2.00 GHz processor with 4 cores

Disk Storage At least 2GB free disk space

Networking Gigabit connection recommended

JVM heap settings for vCenter Server

The JVM heap settings for vCenter Server depend on your inventory size. See “Configuring VMware

vCenter Server - tc Server Settings in vCenter Server,” on page 134.

The resident code

n

The stack for Java threads

n

Global/bss segments for the Java process

n

Table 3‑7. JVM Heap Settings for vCenter Server

VMware VirtualCenter vCenter Server Inventory

Small inventory (1-100 hosts or 1-1000 virtual machines)

Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines)

Large inventory (More than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines)

Management Webservices (tc

Server) Inventory Service

1GB 3GB 1GB

2GB 6GB 2GB

3GB 12GB 4GB

Profile-Driven Storage Service

22 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 System Requirements

VMware vCenter Server Appliance Hardware Requirements and Recommendations

Table 3‑8. Hardware Requirements for VMware vCenter Server Appliance

VMware vCenter Server Appliance Hardware Requirement

Disk storage on the host machine For most deployments, the vCenter Server Appliance

requires at least 70GB of disk space, and is limited to a maximum size of 125GB. The required disk space depends on the size of your vCenter Server inventory. The vCenter Server Appliance can be deployed with thin-provisioned virtual disks that can grow to the maximum size of 125GB. If the host machine does not have enough free disk space to accommodate the growth of the vCenter Server Appliance virtual disks, vCenter Server might cease operation, and you will not be able to manage your vSphere environment.

Memory in the VMware vCenter Server Appliance Using the embedded PostgreSQL database, the vCenter

Server Appliance supports up to 100 hosts or 3000 virtual machines, and has the following memory requirements

Very small inventory (10 or fewer hosts, 100 or fewer

n

virtual machines): at least 8GB.

Small inventory (10-50 hosts or 100-1500 virtual

n

machines): at least 16GB.

Medium inventory (the maximum inventory supported

n

with the embedded database; 50-100 hosts or 1500-3000 virtual machines): at least 24GB.

Using an external Oracle database, the vCenter Server Appliance supports up to 1000 hosts or 10000 registered virtual machines, and 10000 powered-on virtual machines, and has the following memory requirements:

Very small inventory (10 or fewer hosts, 100 or fewer

n

virtual machines): at least 4GB.

Small inventory (10-100 hosts or 100-1000 virtual

n

machines): at least 8GB.

Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual

n

machines): at least 16GB.

Large inventory (More than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual

n

machines): at least 32GB.

For inventory and other configuration limits in the vCenter Server Appliance, see Configuration Maximums.

Table 3‑9. JVM Heap Settings for VMware vCenter Server Appliance

VMware VirtualCenter vCenter Server Appliance Inventory

Small inventory (1-100 hosts or 1-1000 virtual machines)

Medium inventory (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines)

Large inventory (More than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines)

Management Webservices (tc

Server) Inventory Service

512MB 3GB 1GB

512MB 6GB 2GB

1GB 12GB 4GB

Profile-Driven Storage Service

See “Configuring VMware vCenter Server - tc Server Settings in vCenter Server,” on page 134.

VMware, Inc. 23

vSphere Upgrade

vCenter Server Software Requirements

Make sure that your operating system supports vCenter Server. vCenter Server requires a 64-bit operating system, and the 64-bit system DSN is required for vCenter Server to connect to its database.

For a list of supported operating systems, see the VMware Compatibility Guide at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility.

vCenter Server requires the Microsoft .NET 3.5 SP1 Framework. If it is not installed on your system, the vCenter Server installer installs it. The .NET 3.5 SP1 installation might require Internet connectivity to download more files.

NOTE If your vCenter Server host machine uses a non-English operating system, install both the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 Language Pack through Windows Update. Windows Update automatically selects the correct localized version for your operating system. The .NET Framework installed through the vCenter Server installer includes only the English version.

vCenter Server 5.5 removes support for Windows Server 2003 as a host operating system. See the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php.

vCenter Server 5.5 removes support for Windows Server 2008 SP1 as a host operating system. Upgrade Windows Server 2008 SP1 hosts to SP2 before upgrading vCenter Server to version 5.5. See the VMware Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php and the Microsoft Software Lifecycle Policy at http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/#ServicePackSupport.

If you plan to use the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express database that is bundled with vCenter Server, Microsoft Windows Installer version 4.5 (MSI 4.5) is required on your system. You can download MSI 4.5 from the Microsoft Web site. You can also install MSI 4.5 directly from the vCenter Server autorun.exe installer.

The VMware vCenter Server Appliance can be deployed only on hosts that are running ESX version 4.x or ESXi version 4.x or later.

vSphere Web Client Software Requirements

Make sure that your browser supports the vSphere Web Client.

VMware has tested and supports the following guest operating systems and browser versions for the vSphere Web Client.

Table 3‑10. Supported guest operating systems and browser versions for the vSphere Web Client .

Operating system Browser

Windows 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, 9 (64-bit only), and 10.

Mozilla Firefox: the latest browser version, and the one previous version at the time the vSphere 5.5 is produced.

Google Chrome: the latest browser version, and the one previous version at the time the vSphere 5.5 is produced.

Mac OS Mozilla Firefox: the latest browser version, and the one previous version at the time

the vSphere 5.5 is produced.

Google Chrome: the latest browser version, and the one previous version at the time the vSphere 5.5 is produced.

Later versions of these browsers are likely to work, but have not been tested.

The vSphere Web Client requires the Adobe Flash Player version 11.5.0 or later to be installed with the appropriate plug-in for your browser.

24 VMware, Inc.

Providing Sufficient Space for System Logging

ESXi 5.x uses a new log infrastructure. If your host is deployed with Auto Deploy, or if you set up a log directory separate from the default location in a scratch directory on the VMFS volume, you might need to change your current log size and rotation settings to ensure that enough space for system logging exists.

All vSphere components use this infrastructure. The default values for log capacity in this infrastructure vary, depending on the amount of storage available and on how you have configured system logging. Hosts that are deployed with Auto Deploy store logs on a RAM disk, which means that the amount of space available for logs is small.

If your host is deployed with Auto Deploy, reconfigure your log storage in one of the following ways:

Redirect logs over the network to a remote collector.

n

Redirect logs to a NAS or NFS store.

n

You might also want to reconfigure log sizing and rotations for hosts that are installed to disk, if you redirect logs to nondefault storage, such as a NAS or NFS store.

You do not need to reconfigure log storage for ESXi hosts that use the default configuration, which stores logs in a scratch directory on the VMFS volume. For these hosts, ESXi 5.x autoconfigures logs to best suit your installation, and provides enough space to accommodate log messages.

Chapter 3 System Requirements

Table 3‑11. Recommended Minimum Size and Rotation Configuration for hostd, vpxa, and fdm Logs.

Log Maximum Log File Size

Management Agent (hostd)

VirtualCenter Agent (vpxa)

vSphere HA agent (Fault Domain Manager, fdm)

10240KB 10 100MB

5120KB 10 50MB

For information about setting up and configuring syslog and a syslog server and installing vSphere Syslog Collector, see the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.

Required Ports for vCenter Server

The VMware vCenter Server system must be able to send data to every managed host and receive data from every vSphere Web Client. To enable migration and provisioning activities between managed hosts, the source and destination hosts must be able to receive data from each other.

For information about ports required for the vCenter Server Appliance, see “Required Ports for the vCenter

Server Appliance,” on page 27.

VMware uses designated ports for communication. Additionally, the managed hosts monitor designated ports for data from the vCenter Server system. If a firewall exists between any of these elements and Windows firewall service is in use, the installer opens the ports during the installation. For custom firewalls, you must manually open the required ports. If you have a firewall between two managed hosts and you want to perform source or target activities, such as migration or cloning, you must configure a means for the managed hosts to receive data.

Number of Rotations to Preserve Minimum Disk Space Required

NOTE In Microsoft Windows Server 2008, a firewall is enabled by default.

VMware, Inc. 25

vSphere Upgrade

Table 3‑12. Ports Required for Communication Between Components

Port Description

80 vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to HTTPS

389 This port must be open on the local and all remote instances of vCenter Server. This is the LDAP port

636 For vCenter Server Linked Mode, this is the SSL port of the local instance. If another service is

902 The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to send data to managed hosts. Managed hosts

8080 Web Services HTTP. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Web Services.

8443 Web Services HTTPS. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Web Services.

60099 Web Service change service notification port

6501 Auto Deploy service

6502 Auto Deploy management

7005 vCenter Single Sign-On

7009 vCenter Single Sign-On

7080 vCenter Single Sign-On

7444 vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS

9443 vSphere Web Client HTTPS

9090 vSphere Web Client HTTP

10080 vCenter Inventory Service HTTP

10443 vCenter Inventory Service HTTPS

10109 vCenter Inventory Service Management

10111 vCenter Inventory Service Linked Mode Communication

port 443. This redirection is useful if you accidentally use http://server instead of https://server.

If you use a custom Microsoft SQL database (not the bundled SQL Server 2008 database) that is stored on the same host machine as the vCenter Server, port 80 is used by the SQL Reporting Service. When you install vCenter Server, the installer will prompt you to change the HTTP port for vCenter Server. Change the vCenter Server HTTP port to a custom value to ensure a successful installation.

Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) also use port 80. See “Conflict Between vCenter Server

and IIS for Port 80,” on page 28.

number for the Directory Services for the vCenter Server group. The vCenter Server system needs to bind to port 389, even if you are not joining this vCenter Server instance to a Linked Mode group. If another service is running on this port, it might be preferable to remove it or change its port to a different port. You can run the LDAP service on any port from 1025 through 65535.

If this instance is serving as the Microsoft Windows Active Directory, change the port number from 389 to an available port from 1025 through 65535.

running on this port, it might be preferable to remove it or change its port to a different port. You can run the SSL service on any port from 1025 through 65535.

also send a regular heartbeat over UDP port 902 to the vCenter Server system. This port must not be blocked by firewalls between the server and the hosts or between hosts.

To have the vCenter Server system use a different port to receive vSphere Web Client data, see the vCenter Server and Host Management documentation.

For a discussion of firewall configuration, see the vSphere Security documentation.

26 VMware, Inc.

Required Ports for the vCenter Server Appliance

The VMware vCenter Server system must be able to send data to every managed host and receive data from every vSphere Web Client. For migration and provisioning activities between managed hosts, the source and destination hosts must be able to receive data from each other.

For information about ports required for vCenter Server on Windows, see “Required Ports for vCenter

Server,” on page 25.

VMware uses designated ports for communication. Additionally, the managed hosts monitor designated ports for data from the vCenter Server system. The vCenter Server Appliance is preconfigured to use the ports listed in Table 3-13. For custom firewalls, you must manually open the required ports. If you have a firewall between two managed hosts and you want to perform source or target activities, such as migration or cloning, you must configure a means for the managed hosts to receive data.

Table 3‑13. Ports Required for the vCenter Server Appliance

Port Description

80 vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to HTTPS

port 443. This redirection is useful if you accidentally use http://server instead of https://server.

443 The vCenter Server system uses port 443 to monitor data transfer from SDK clients.

902 The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to send data to managed hosts. Managed hosts

also send a regular heartbeat over UDP port 902 to the vCenter Server system. This port must not be blocked by firewalls between the server and the hosts or between hosts.

8080 Web Services HTTP. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Web Services.

8443 Web Services HTTPS. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Web Services.

10080 vCenter Inventory Service HTTP

10443 vCenter Inventory Service HTTPS

10109 vCenter Inventory Service database

514 vSphere Syslog Collector server

1514 vSphere Syslog Collector server (SSL)

6500 Network coredump server (UDP)

6501 Auto Deploy service

6502 Auto Deploy management

9090 vSphere Web Client HTTP

9443 vSphere Web Client HTTPS

5480 vCenter Server Appliance Web user interface HTTPS

5489 vCenter Server Appliance Web user interface CIM service

22 System port for SSHD

Chapter 3 System Requirements

To have the vCenter Server system use a different port to receive vSphere Web Client data, see the vCenter Server and Host Management documentation.

For a discussion of firewall configuration, see the vSphere Security documentation.

VMware, Inc. 27

vSphere Upgrade

Conflict Between vCenter Server and IIS for Port 80

vCenter Server and Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS) both use port 80 as the default port for direct HTTP connections. This conflict can cause vCenter Server to fail to restart after the installation of vSphere Authentication Proxy.

Problem

vCenter Server fails to restart after the installation of vSphere Authentication Proxy is complete.

Cause

If you do not have IIS installed when you install vSphere Authentication Proxy, the installer prompts you to install IIS. Because IIS uses port 80, which is the default port for vCenter Server direct HTTP connections, vCenter Server fails to restart after the installation of vSphere Authentication Proxy is complete. See

“Required Ports for vCenter Server,” on page 25.

Solution

To resolve a conflict between IIS and vCenter Server for port 80, take one of the following actions.

u

Option Description

If you installed IIS before installing vCenter Server

If you installed vCenter Server before installing IIS

Change the port for vCenter Server direct HTTP connections from 80 to another value.

Before restarting vCenter Server, change the binding port of the IIS default Web site from 80 to another value.

DNS Requirements for vSphere

You install vCenter Server, like any other network server, on a machine with a fixed IP address and wellknown DNS name, so that clients can reliably access the service.

Assign a static IP address and host name to the Windows server that will host the vCenter Server system. This IP address must have a valid (internal) domain name system (DNS) registration.

Ensure that the ESXi host management interface has a valid DNS resolution from the vCenter Server and all vSphere Web Clients. Ensure that the vCenter Server has a valid DNS resolution from all ESXi hosts and all vSphere Web Clients.

Ensure that the vCenter Server is installed on a machine that has a resolvable fully qualified domain name (FQDN). To check that the FQDN is resolvable, type nslookup your_vCenter_Server_fqdn at a command line prompt. If the FQDN is resolvable, the nslookup command returns the IP and name of the domain controller machine.

Ensure that DNS reverse lookup returns a fully qualified domain name when queried with the IP address of the vCenter Server. When you install vCenter Server, the installation of the web server component that supports the vSphere Web Client fails if the installer cannot look up the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server from its IP address. Reverse lookup is implemented using PTR records. To create a PTR record, see the documentation for your vCenter Server host operating system.

If you use DHCP instead of a static IP address for vCenter Server, make sure that the vCenter Server computer name is updated in the domain name service (DNS). Ping the computer name to test the connection. For example, if the computer name is host-1.company.com, run the following command in the Windows command prompt:

ping host-1.company.com

If you can ping the computer name, the name is updated in DNS.

28 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 3 System Requirements

Supported Remote Management Server Models and Minimum Firmware Versions

You can use remote management applications to install ESXi or for remote management of hosts.

Table 3‑14. Supported Remote Management Server Models and Firmware Versions

Remote Controller Make and Model Firmware Version Java

Dell DRAC 6 1.54 (Build 15), 1.70 (Build 21) 1.6.0_24

Dell DRAC 5 1.0, 1.45, 1.51 1.6.0_20,1.6.0_203

Dell DRAC 4 1.75 1.6.0_23

HP ILO 1.81, 1.92 1.6.0_22, 1.6.0_23

HP ILO 2 1.8, 1.81 1.6.0_20, 1.6.0_23

IBM RSA 2 1.03, 1.2 1.6.0_22

Update Manager Hardware Requirements

You can run Update Manager on any system that meets the minimum hardware requirements.

Minimum hardware requirements for Update Manager vary depending on how Update Manager is deployed. If the database is installed on the same machine as Update Manager, requirements for memory size and processor speed are higher. To ensure acceptable performance, verify that your system meets the minimum hardware requirements.

Table 3‑15. Minimum Hardware Requirements

Hardware Requirements

Processor Intel or AMD x86 processor with two or more logical cores, each with a speed of 2GHz

Network 10/100 Mbps

For best performance, use a Gigabit connection between Update Manager and the ESX/ESXi hosts

Memory 2GB RAM if Update Manager and vCenter Server are on different machines

4GB RAM if Update Manager and vCenter Server are on the same machine

Update Manager uses a SQL Server or Oracle database. You should use a dedicated database for Update Manager, not a database shared with vCenter Server, and should back up the database periodically. Best practice is to have the database on the same computer as Update Manager or on a computer in the local network.

Depending on the size of your deployment, Update Manager requires a minimum amount of free space per month for database usage. For more information about space requirements, see the VMware vSphere Update Manager Sizing Estimator.

For more information about ESXi 5.x and vCenter Server 5.x hardware requirements, see Chapter 3, “System

Requirements,” on page 15.

VMware, Inc. 29

vSphere Upgrade

Supported Operating Systems and Database Formats

Update Manager works with specific databases and operating systems.

The Update Manager server requires a 64-bit Windows system.

NOTE Make sure the system on which you are installing the Update Manager server is not an Active Directory domain controller.

The Update Manager plug-in requires the vSphere Client, and works with the same operating systems as the vSphere Client.

Update Manager scans and remediates Windows and Linux virtual machines for VMware Tools and virtual hardware upgrades.

The Update Manager server requires SQL Server or Oracle database. Update Manager can handle smallscale environments using the bundled SQL Server 2008 R2 Express. For environments with more than 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines, create either an Oracle or a SQL Server database for Update Manager. For large scale environments, you should set up the Update Manager database on a different computer than the Update Manager server and the vCenter Server database.

For detailed information about supported operating systems and database formats, see the vSphere Compatibility Guide at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php.

For detailed information about supported database formats, see the VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

30 VMware, Inc.

Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter

Server 4

Before you upgrade to vCenter Server, make sure your system is properly prepared.

To ensure that your system is prepared for the upgrade, read all the subtopics in this section.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“About the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 32

n

“How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32

n

“vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33

n

“vCenter Single Sign-On and High Availability,” on page 35

n

“vCenter Single Sign-On Components,” on page 37

n

“Setting the vCenter Server Administrator User,” on page 37

n

“Authenticating to the vCenter Server Environment,” on page 38

n

“How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects Log In Behavior,” on page 38

n

“Identity Sources for vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On,” on page 39

n

“vCenter Server Upgrade Summary,” on page 40

n

“Required Information for Installing or Upgrading vCenter Single Sign-On, Inventory Service,

n

vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client,” on page 41

“Best Practices for vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 46

n

“Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

“vCenter Server Database Configuration Notes,” on page 51

n

“Upgrading to vCenter Server on a Different Machine,” on page 52

n

“Supported Database Upgrades,” on page 52

n

“Confirm That vCenter Server Can Communicate with the Local Database,” on page 52

n

“Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network,” on page 53

n

“JDBC URL Formats for the vCenter Server Database,” on page 55

n

“DNS Load Balancing Solutions and vCenter Server Datastore Naming,” on page 56

n

“About the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker,” on page 57

n

“Downtime During the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 59

n

“Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59

n

VMware, Inc.

31

vSphere Upgrade

“Microsoft SQL Database Set to Unsupported Compatibility Mode Causes vCenter Server Installation

n

or Upgrade to Fail,” on page 59

About the vCenter Server Upgrade

VMware supports in-place upgrades on 64-bit systems from vCenter Server 4.x, vCenter Server 5.0.x, and vCenter Server 5.1.x to vCenter Server 5.5.

Unlike versions before vCenter Server 5.1, vCenter Server 5.5 does not support directly migrating an existing, 5.0.x or earlier vCenter Server to a new machine during an upgrade to version 5.5. You can migrate such an existing vCenter Server to a new machine during an upgrade to version 5.0.x, and then perform an in-place upgrade from version 5.0.x to version 5.5. See “Upgrading to vCenter Server on a Different

Machine,” on page 52.

vCenter Server 5.5 can manage ESX 4.x/ESXi 4.x, ESXi 5.0.x, and 5.1 x hosts in the same cluster with ESXi 5.5 hosts. vCenter Server 5.5 cannot manage ESX 2.x or 3.x hosts.

NOTE You cannot upgrade a vCenter Server 4.x instance that is running on Windows XP Professional x64 Edition to vCenter Server 5.5, because vCenter Server 5.5 does not support Windows XP Professional x64.

vSphere 5.1 introduced vCenter Single Sign On service as part of the vCenter Server management infrastructure. This change affects vCenter Server installation, upgrading, and operation. See “How vCenter

Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32

How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades

Which users can log in to vCenter Server after an upgrade depends on the version that you are upgrading from and the deployment configuration.

In upgrades to vCenter Server 5.0 and earlier, which do not include a vCenter Single Sign-On service, both the local operating system users and Active Directory users that are registered with vCenter Server continue to work with the upgraded vCenter Server.

This behavior changes if you are upgrading from a version that does not include vCenter Single Sign-On to a version that does include vCenter Single Sign-On: vCenter Server version 5.1 or vCenter Server version

5.5.

NOTE With vCenter Single Sign-On, local operating system users become far less important than the users in a directory service such as Active Directory. As a result, it is not always possible, or even desirable, to keep local operating system users as authenticated users.

After the upgrade from a version earlier than version 5.1, you might be prompted for the administrator of the root folder in the vSphere inventory hierarchy during installation. This might happen because of changes in user stores from pre-5.1 versions to 5.1 and later versions of vSphere. See “Hierarchical

Inheritance of Permissions,” on page 106.

Simple Install Upgrade

A Simple Install upgrade installs or upgrades a single vCenter Server and related components.

If you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5 from a vCenter Server version that does not include vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Single Sign-On recognizes existing local operating system users. In addition, the user administrator@vsphere.local can log in as an administrator user to vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server. If your previous installation supported Active Directory users, you can add the Active Directory domain as an identity source.

32 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

If you upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On recognizes existing local operating system users. In addition, the user administrator@vsphere.local can log in to vCenter Single SignOn and vCenter Server as an administrator user. If your previous installation included an Active Directory domain as an identity source, that identity source is still available after the upgrade. Because vCenter Server supports only one default identity source, users might have to specify the domain when they log in (DOMAIN\user).

Custom Upgrade

A custom upgrade might install different vCenter Server components on different machines or install a second vCenter Server system on the same machine. You also use Custom Install to upgrade an environment that is installed in different locations.

If you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5 from a vCenter Server version that does not include vCenter Single Sign-On, and you install vCenter Single Sign-On on a different machine than vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On does not recognize existing local operating system users. The user administrator@vsphere.local can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server as an administrator user. If your previous installation supported Active Directory users, you can add the Active Directory domain as an identity source.

If you are upgrading vCenter Server from a version that includes vCenter Single Sign-On in multisite mode, and if the different vCenter Server systems use Linked mode, you must resynchronize first. You can then upgrade all vCenter Single Sign-On instances and maintain Linked Mode functionality. Linked Mode is required for a single view of all vCenter Server systems. Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On is supported only if all nodes are the same version.

If you are upgrading vCenter Server from a version that includes vCenter Single Sign-On in high availability mode, you must upgrade all of the vCenter Single Sign-On high availability instances. Perform the upgrade first, and configure high availability by protecting both vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On with VMware HA or VMware Heartbeat after the upgrade is complete.

NOTE When you install the vCenter Single Sign-On component that is included with vCenter Server version

5.5 in multiple locations, the VMware Directory Service is updated for all vCenter Single Sign-On instances if you make a change in one location.

vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes

vCenter Server provides several ways to deploy vCenter Single Sign-On to best serve your vSphere environment

You can deploy vCenter Single Sign-On in one of three modes.

To choose the right mode for your environment, consider the way you use vCenter Server.

Table 4‑1. Choosing a vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Mode

vCenter Server Deployment Single Sign-On Deployment Mode

Single vCenter Server Basic vCenter Single Sign-On

Multiple local vCenter Servers Basic vCenter Single Sign-On

Multiple remote vCenter Servers Basic vCenter Single Sign-On

VMware, Inc. 33

vSphere Upgrade

Table 4‑1. Choosing a vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Mode (Continued)

vCenter Server Deployment Single Sign-On Deployment Mode

Multiple vCenter Servers in Linked Mode Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On

vCenter Servers with high availability Basic vCenter Single Sign-On with VMware vSphere HA

(provides high availability for vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On )

Basic vCenter Single Sign-On with vCenter Server Heartbeat (provides high availability for vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On )

See “vCenter Single Sign-On and High Availability,” on page 35.

Basic

Multiple Single Sign-On instances in the same location

Basic vCenter Single Sign-On is the most common deployment mode, and meets the requirements of most vSphere 5.1 and 5.5 users. Typically, this deployment mode maintains the same architecture as previous vCenter Server environments. In most cases, you can use vCenter Simple Install to deploy vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On in basic mode.

In Basic deployment mode, a single standalone instance of the vCenter Single Sign-On server supports the connectivity of Active Directory, OpenLDAP, Local Operating System, and vCenter Single Sign-On embedded users and groups. In most cases, the vCenter Single Sign-On instance is installed on the same host machine as vCenter Server, as with the vCenter Server Simple Install option, or the vCenter Server Appliance.

The Basic vCenter Single Sign-On deployment is appropriate in the following circumstances:

If you have a single vCenter Server of any supported inventory size: up

n

to 1,000 hosts or 10,000 virtual machines.

If you have multiple geographically dispersed locations, each with a

n

local vCenter Server and you do not require a single-pane-of-glass view as provided by vCenter Linked Mode.

For this deployment mode, you install a vCenter Single Sign-On primary instance and one or more additional vCenter Single Sign-On nodes. Both the primary and high availability instances are placed behind a third-party network load balancer (for example, Apache HTTPD or vCNS). Each vCenter Single Sign-On has its own VMware Directory Service that replicates information with other vCenter Single Sign-On servers. vCenter Single SignOn administrator users, when connected to vCenter Server through the vSphere Web Client, will see the primary vCenter Single Sign-On instance.

This deployment mode has the following limitations:

It provides provides failover only for the vCenter Single Sign-On

n

service. It does not provide failover for the vCenter Single Sign-On host machine and it does not load balance requests between vCenter Single Sign-On nodes.

It supports the connectivity of Active Directory, OpenLDAP and

n

vCenter Single Sign-On embedded users and groups, but does not support the use of local operating system user accounts.

34 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

See “vCenter Single Sign-On and High Availability,” on page 35 for high availability options.

Multiple Single Sign-On instances in different locations

This mode is designed for vCenter Server deployments with multiple physical locations. Multisite deployment is required when a single administrator needs to administer vCenter Server instances that are deployed on geographically dispersed sites in Linked Mode.

Each site is represented by one vCenter Single Sign-On instance, with one vCenter Single Sign-On server, or a high-availability cluster. The vCenter Single Sign-On site entry point is the machine that other sites communicate with. This is the only machine that needs to be visible from the other sites. In a clustered deployment, the entry point of the site is the machine where the load balancer is installed.

NOTE This deployment mode is required if you have geographically dispersed vCenter Servers in Linked Mode. You might also consider this mode in the following cases:

If multiple vCenter Servers require the ability to communicate with each

n

other.

If you require one vCenter Single Sign-On server security domain for

n

your organization.

This deployment mode has the following limitations:

It supports the connectivity of Active Directory, OpenLDAP and

n

vCenter Single Sign-On embedded users and groups, but does not support the use of local operating system user accounts.

Secondary vCenter Single Sign-On instances must belong to the same

n

Active Directory or OpenLDAP domain as the primary vCenter Single Sign-On server and must have a local domain controller available.

You can install the vCenter Single Sign-On nodes in this deployment in any order. Any node that is installed after the first node can point to any node that is already installed. For example, the third node can point to either the first or second node.

vCenter Single Sign-On and High Availability

vSphere provides several ways to ensure availability of your vSphere deployment with vCenter Single SignOn.

vCenter Single Sign-On is merely an authentication component for vCenter Server. Single Sign-On protection does not provide any benefit without vCenter Server protection. Protecting one without the other does not provide an effective availability solution. The solution you choose to protect vCenter Server will provide the same protection for vCenter Single Sign-On without the additional complexity caused by including third-party technologies.

VMware, Inc. 35

vSphere Upgrade

Options for Protecting vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server

The following options vary in the level of protection afforded, and in the recovery time required.

Backup and restore

vSphere HA

vCenter Server Heartbeat

Backup and restore should be an essential part of any availability solution, providing a granular recovery method, by tape, disk, or snapshot. However, the recovery time is typically measured in hours or days and requires manual intervention. Any backup solution must be independent of vCenter Server. Solutions like VMware Data Protection require an operational vCenter Server with a functioning vCenter Single Sign-On server to restore a virtual machine.

vSphere HA is an industry standard for maintaining uptime of virtual machines and for detection of ESXi host failure. Also, with vSphere HA, a failed response to a configured VMware Tools heartbeat automatically reboots the virtual machine onto another operational host within the vSphere cluster. This detection usually occurs within seconds. A virtual machine can be fully rebooted within minutes, providing redundancy for vSphere host failures and virtual machine operating system crashes. vSphere HA does not have any knowledge of the application running inside the virtual machine.

This separately licensed vCenter Server plug-in provides vCenter Server protection (physical or virtual) and can protect against failure of hosts. vCenter Server Heartbeat also adds application-level monitoring and intelligence of all vCenter Server components. vCenter Server Heartbeat is installed directly onto the vCenter Server or vCenter Server component, and replicates changes to a cloned virtual machine. The cloned virtual machine can take over when a failure event is triggered. The recovery can be accomplished by restarting the component, by restarting the entire application, or by the entire failover of the component or application to one or more paired virtual machines. Recovery time is measured in minutes.

vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes and High Availability

To determine the best deployment mode for vCenter Single Sign-On availability, consider the environment that vCenter Single Sign-On will serve.

Single vCenter Server with local vCenter Single Sign-On in Basic deployment mode

Multiple vCenter Servers in a single location

In the simplest deployment of vCenter Single Sign-On for high availability, you install vCenter Single Sign-On in Basic deployment mode, local to vCenter Server, and then add the availability solution. If the single machine that hosts vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On is virtual, you can place it in a vSphere HA-enabled cluster and protect it with no further configuration. If you require protection at the application level, you can use vCenter Server Heartbeat. If vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On are hosted on a physical server, vCenter Server Heartbeat is the only solution for availability.

In this environment, a dedicated, standalone vCenter Single Sign-On instance serves multiple vCenter Server instances in one physical location. If vCenter Single Sign-On is hosted on a virtual machine, you can place the standalone vCenter Single Sign-On server in a vSphere HA-enabled cluster and protect vCenter Single Sign-On with no further configuration. If you require application-level protection, you can use vCenter Server Heartbeat.

36 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

vCenter Server Heartbeat is the only solution for availability if vCenter Single Sign-On is on a physical server. With either vSphere HA or vCenter Server Heartbeat, this deployment provides complete protection of the centralized vCenter Single Sign-On environment.

Geographically dispersed vCenter Servers

If your vSphere deployment includes vCenter Servers in different locations, it is not advisable to use a remote centralized vCenter Single Sign-On environment for vCenter Server authentication. Instead, you can provide one or more vCenter Single Sign-On instances at each location. Depending on the deployment of vCenter Servers at each location, you can use one of the same availability strategies described above in the options "Single vCenter Server with local vCenter Single Sign-On in Basic deployment mode" and "Multiple vCenter Servers in a single location with one vCenter Single Sign-On server."

vCenter Single Sign-On Components

vCenter Single Sign-On includes the Security Token Service (STS), an administration server, and vCenter Lookup Service, as well as the VMware Directory Service (vmdir).

The components are deployed as part of installation.

STS (Security Token Service)

Administration server

STS certificates enable a user who has logged on through vCenter Single Sign-On to use any vCenter service that vCenter Single Sign-On supports without authenticating to each one. The STS service issues Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) tokens. These security tokens represent the identity of a user in one of the identity source types supported by vCenter Single Sign-On.

The administration server allows users with administrator privileges to vCenter Single Sign-On to configure the vCenter Single Sign-On server and manage users and groups from the vSphere Web Client. Initially, only the user administrator@vsphere.local has these privileges.

vCenter Lookup Service

VMware Directory Service

vCenter Lookup Service contains topology information about the vSphere infrastructure, enabling vSphere components to connect to each other securely. Unless you are using Simple Install, you are prompted for the Lookup Service URL when you install other vSphere components. For example, the Inventory Service and the vCenter Server installers ask for the Lookup Service URL and then contact the Lookup Service to find vCenter Single Sign-On. After installation, the Inventory Service and vCenter Server system are registered in vCenter Lookup Service so other vSphere components, like the vSphere Web Client, can find them.

Directory service associated with the vsphere.local domain. This service is a multi-tenanted, multi-mastered directory service that makes an LDAP directory available on port 11711. In multisite mode, an update of VMware Directory Service content in one VMware Directory Service instance results in the automatic update of the VMware Directory Service instances associated with all other vCenter Single Sign-On nodes.

Setting the vCenter Server Administrator User

The way you set the vCenter Server administrator user depends on your vCenter Single Sign On deployment.

In vSphere versions before vSphere 5.1, vCenter Server administrators are the users that belong to the local operating system administrators group.

VMware, Inc. 37

vSphere Upgrade

In vSphere 5.1.x and 5.5, when you install vCenter Server, you must provide the default (initial) vCenter Server administrator user or group. For deployments where vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On are on the same host machine, you can designate the local operating system group Administrators as vCenter Server administrative users. This option is the default. This behavior is unchanged from vCenter Server 5.0.

For larger installations, where vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server are deployed on different hosts, you cannot preserve the same behavior as in vCenter Server 5.0. Instead, assign the vCenter Server administrator role to a user or group from an identity source that is registered in the vCenter Single Sign-On server: Active Directory, OpenLDAP, or the system identity source.

Authenticating to the vCenter Server Environment

In vCenter Server versions 5.1 and later, users authenticate through vCenter Single Sign-On.

In vCenter Server versions earlier than vCenter Server 5.1, when a user connects to vCenter Server, vCenter Server authenticates the user by validating the user against an Active Directory domain or the list of local operating system users.

The user administrator@vsphere.local has vCenter Single Sign-On administrator privileges by default. When logged in to the vCenter Single Sign-On server from the vSphere Web Client, the administrator@vsphere.local user can assign vCenter Single Sign-On administrator privileges to other users. These users might be different from the users that administer vCenter Server.

Users can log in to vCenter Server with the vSphere Web Client. Users authenticate to vCenter Single SignOn. Users can view all the vCenter Server instances that the user has permissions on. After users connect to vCenter Server, no further authentication is required. The actions users can perform on objects depend on the user's vCenter Server permissions on those objects.

For more information about vCenter Single Sign-On, see vSphere Security.

How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects Log In Behavior

vCenter Single Sign-On log in behavior depends on the domain the user belongs to and the identity sources that you have added to vCenter Single Sign-On.

When a user logs in to a vCenter Server system from the vSphere Web Client, the login behavior depends on whether the user is in the default domain.

Users who are in the default domain can log in with their user name and password.

n

Users who are in a domain that has been added to vCenter Single Sign-On as an identity source but is

n

not the default domain can log in to vCenter Server but must specify the domain in one of the following ways.

Including a domain name prefix, for example, MYDOMAIN\user1

n

Including the domain, for example, user1@mydomain.com

n

Users who are in a domain that is not a vCenter Single Sign-On identity source cannot log in to

n

vCenter Server. If the domain that you add to vCenter Single Sign-On is part of a domain hierarchy, Active Directory determines whether users of other domains in the hierarchy are authenticated or not.

After installation on a Windows system, the user administrator@vsphere.local has administrator privileges to both the vCenter Single Sign-On server and to the vCenter Server system.

After you deploy the vCenter Virtual Appliance, the user administrator@vsphere.local has administrator privileges to both the vCenter Single Sign-On server and to the vCenter Server system. The user root@localos has administrative privileges on the vCenter Single Sign-On server and can authenticate to the vCenter Server system. Assign permissions to root@localos to allow that user access to the vCenter Server system.

38 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

Identity Sources for vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On

Identity sources allow you to attach one or more domains to vCenter Single Sign-On. A domain is a repository for users and groups that the vCenter Single Sign-On server can use for user authentication.

An identity source is a collection of user and group data. The user and group data is stored in Active Directory, OpenLDAP, or locally to the operating system of the machine where vCenter Single Sign-On is installed. Upon installation, every instance of vCenter Single Sign-On has the Local OS identity source identity source vpshere.local. This identity source is internal to vCenter Single Sign-On.

A vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user can create vCenter Single Sign-On users and groups.

Types of Identity Sources

vCenter Server versions earlier than version 5.1 supported Active Directory and local operating system users as user repositories. As a result, local operating system users could always authenticate to the vCenter Server system. vCenter Server version 5.1 and version 5.5 uses vCenter Single Sign-On for authentication. See the vSphere 5.1 documentation for a list of supported identity sources with vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1. vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 supports the following types of user repositories as identity sources, but supports only one default identity source.

Active Directory versions 2003 and later. vCenter Single Sign-On allows you to specify a single Active

n

Directory domain as an identity source. The domain can have child domains or be a forest root domain. Shown as Active Directory (Integrated Windows Authentication) in the vSphere Web Client.

Active Directory over LDAP. vCenter Single Sign-On supports multiple Active Directory over LDAP

n

identity sources. This identity source type is included for compatibility with the vCenter Single Sign-On service included with vSphere 5.1. Shown as Active Directory as an LDAP Server in the vSphere Web Client.

OpenLDAP versions 2.4 and later. vCenter Single Sign-On supports multiple OpenLDAP identity

n

sources. Shown as OpenLDAP in the vSphere Web Client.

Local operating system users. Local operating system users are local to the operating system where the

n

vCenter Single Sign-On server is running. The local operating system identity source exists only in basic vCenter Single Sign-On server deployments and is not available in deployments with multiple vCenter Single Sign-On instances. Only one local operating system identity source is allowed. Shown as localos in the vSphere Web Client.

vCenter Single Sign-On system users. Exactly one system identity source named vsphere.local is created

n

when you install vCenter Single Sign-On. Shown as vsphere.local in the vSphere Web Client.

NOTE At any time, only one default domain exists. If a user from a non-default domain logs in, that user

must add the domain name (DOMAIN\user) to authenticate successfully.

vCenter Single Sign-On identity sources are managed by vCenter Single Sign-On administrator users.

You can add identity sources to a vCenter Single Sign-On server instance. Remote identity sources are limited to Active Directory and OpenLDAP server implementations.

For more information about vCenter Single Sign-On, see vSphere Security.

Login Behavior

When a user logs in to a vCenter Server system from the vSphere Web Client, the login behavior depends on whether the user is in the default domain.

Users who are in the default domain can log in with their user name and password.

n

VMware, Inc. 39

vSphere Upgrade

Users who are in a domain that has been added to vCenter Single Sign-On as an identity source but is

n

not the default domain can log in to vCenter Server but must specify the domain in one of the following ways.

Including a domain name prefix, for example, MYDOMAIN\user1

n

Including the domain, for example, user1@mydomain.com

n

Users who are in a domain that is not a vCenter Single Sign-On identity source cannot log in to

n

vCenter Server. If the domain that you add to vCenter Single Sign-On is part of a domain hierarchy, Active Directory determines whether users of other domains in the hierarchy are authenticated or not.

vCenter Single Sign-On does not propagate permissions that result from nested groups from dissimilar identity sources. For example, if you add the Domain Administrators group to the Local Administrators group, the permissions is not propagated because Local OS and Active Directory are separate identity sources.

vCenter Server Upgrade Summary

The upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5 affects other software components of your datacenter.

Table 4-2 summarizes the effect on your datacenter components.

Table 4‑2. Upgrading vCenter Server and Related Components

Product or Component Description

vCenter Server Verify support for the upgrade path from your current version of vCenter Server to the

version that you are upgrading to. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

vCenter Server database Verify that your database is supported for the vCenter Server version that you are

upgrading to. Upgrade the database if necessary. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

NOTE The version 5.5 vCenter Server Appliance uses PostgreSQL for the embedded database. For external databases, the vCenter Server Appliance supports only Oracle databases, in the same versions shown in the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix for the version of vCenter Server that you are upgrading to.

vSphere Web Client Verify that your vSphere Web Client works with the vCenter Server version that you are

upgrading to. For best performance and compatibility, upgrade your vSphere Web Client to the same version as your vCenter Server. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

ESX and ESXi hosts Verify that your ESX or ESXi host works with the vCenter Server version that you are

upgrading to.Upgrade if necessary. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

VMFS2 volumes Supported as read-only (deprecated).

VMFS3 volumes No change.

VMDK2 virtual disk Not supported.

VMDK3 virtual disk Not supported.

Virtual machines Upgrade options depend on your current version. See Chapter 9, “Upgrading Virtual

Machines and VMware Tools,” on page 213.

VMware Tools Upgrade options depend on your current version. See the information about upgrading

VMware Tools in Chapter 9, “Upgrading Virtual Machines and VMware Tools,” on page 213.

Auto Deploy 5.0.x and 5.1 x To ensure compatibility and best performance, upgrade to Auto Deploy 5.5 when you

upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5.

40 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

Required Information for Installing or Upgrading vCenter Single SignOn, Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client

Prepare for the vCenter Server installation by recording the values that vCenter Server and related components require.

The vCenter Single Sign-On, vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server installation wizards prompt you for the installation or upgrade information. Keep a record of the values entered, in case you must reinstall vCenter Server. You can print this topic as a worksheet to record the information that you need for the installation or upgrade of vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service, and vCenter Server.

The following tables list the required information for installing or upgrading vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, vCenter Server.

Table 4-3.

n

Table 4-4.

n

Table 4-5.

n

Table 4-6.

n

NOTE Depending on the type of installation or upgrade you are doing, some entries might not be required.

Table 4‑3. Information Required for vCenter Single Sign-On Installation.

Required Information Default Your Entry

Setup Language.

This selection controls the language only for the installer.

vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port. 7444

vCenter Single Sign-On deployment type.

Choose from the following options:

vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server. Select

n

this option to create a new vCenter Single Sign-On server, which will become the first vCenter Single Sign-On server in a new domain..

vCenter Single Sign-On for an additional vCenter Server in an

n

existing site. Select this option to create an additional vCenter Single Sign-On server that replicates information from an existing vCenter Single Sign-On server in the domain.

vCenter Single Sign-On for an additional vCenter Server with a

n

new site. Select this option to create an additional vCenter Single Sign-On server that replicates information from an existing vCenter Single Sign-On server in a different site.

Domain name. vsphere.local You cannot change the

User name. administrator@vsphere

English

.local

domain name from the default during installation.

You cannot change the user name from the default during installation.

VMware, Inc. 41

vSphere Upgrade

Table 4‑3. Information Required for vCenter Single Sign-On Installation. (Continued)

Required Information Default Your Entry

Password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account in the default domain.

You must use the same vCenter Single Sign-On password name when you install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client.

IMPORTANT Be sure to record the password. If you need to restore the vCenter Single Sign-On configuration from a backup, the restore process requires the password you enter for the original vCenter Single Sign-On installation, even if you change the password later.

By default, the password must have at least eight characters, at least one lowercase character, one uppercase character, one number, and one special character. See the vSphere Security documentation for information about changing the password policy. The following characters are not supported in passwords: non-ASCII characters, semicolon (;), double quotation mark ("), single quotation mark ('), circumflex (^), and backslash (\).

Site name.

Your name for the vCenter Single Sign-On site.

Partner host name. Required only if you are installing additional vCenter Single Sign-On servers.

The partner host name is the DNS name of the existing vCenter Single Sign-On server to replicate from.

Table 4‑4. Information Required for the vSphere Web Client Installation

Required Information Default Your Entry

Setup Language.

This selection controls the language only for the installer.

Destination folder.

The folder to install the vSphere Web Client in. The installation path cannot contain the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

If 8.3 name creation is disabled on the host machine, do not install the vSphere Web Clientin a directory that does not have an 8.3 short name or has a name that contains spaces. This situation will make the vSphere Web Client inaccessible.

vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port. 9090

vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port. 9443

vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name.

The entry is case sensitive, and must match the administrator user name you enter when you install vCenter Single Sign-On

English

C:\Program Files\VMware\Infra structure

administrator@vsphere .local

42 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

Table 4‑4. Information Required for the vSphere Web Client Installation (Continued)

Required Information Default Your Entry

Password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account in the default domain.

You must use the same vCenter Single Sign-On password when you install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client.

IMPORTANT Be sure to record the password. If you need to restore the vCenter Single Sign-On configuration from a backup, the restore process requires the password you enter for the original vCenter Single Sign-On installation, even if you change the password later.

Lookup Service URL.

The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP:7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. This entry must match the URL you enter when you install vCenter Inventory Service.

Table 4‑5. Information Required for vCenter Inventory Service Installation or Upgrade

Required Information Default Your Entry

Setup Language.

This selection controls the language only for the installer.

Destination folder.

The folder to install Inventory Service in. The installation path cannot contain the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

Fully Qualified Domain Name.

The FQDN for the Inventory Service local system.

vCenter Inventory Service HTTPS port.

vCenter Inventory Service management port.

See “Required Ports for vCenter

Server,” on page 25.

vCenter Inventory Service Linked Mode communication port.

Inventory size.

The inventory size of your vCenter Server deployment:

Small (less than 100 hosts or 1000 virtual machines.

n

Medium (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines.

n

Large (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines.

n

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in “Hardware

Requirements for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Single Sign-On,” on page 19.

English

C:\Program Files\VMware\Infra structure

10443

10109

10111

VMware, Inc. 43

vSphere Upgrade

Table 4‑5. Information Required for vCenter Inventory Service Installation or Upgrade (Continued)

Required Information Default Your Entry

User name for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user account.

You must use the same vCenter Single Sign-On user name and password name when you install vCenter Single Sign-On, and install or upgrade Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client.

Lookup Service URL.

The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP:7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. If you enter a different port number when you install vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

Table 4‑6. Information Required for vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade

Required Information Default Your Entry

Setup Language.

This selection controls the language only for the installer.

vCenter Server license key.

If you omit the license key, vCenter Server is installed in evaluation mode. After you install vCenter Server, you can enter the vCenter Server license in the vSphere Web Client.

Data source name (DSN).

Required if you use an existing database. Not required if you are using the bundled Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express database. Leading and trailing spaces are not supported. Remove spaces from the beginning or end of the DSN.

Database user name.

Database password.

JDBC URL for database.

Required if you use an existing database. The vCenter Server installer should generate and validate the JDBC URL for the vCenter Server database. If the installer fails to connect to the database by using the generated JDBC URL, the installer prompts you to specify the JDBC URL.

The format of the JDBC URL depends on the database that you are using. See “JDBC URL Formats for the vCenter Server Database,” on page 55.v

vCenter Server Service account information.

Can be the Microsoft Windows system account or a user-specified account. Use a user-specified account if you plan to use Microsoft Windows authentication for SQL Server.

Fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for the vCenter Server machine

The FQDN of the system that you are installing vCenter Server on. The vCenter Server installer checks that the FQDN is resolvable. If not, a warning message appears. Change the entry to a resolvable FQDN. You must enter the FQDN, not the IP address.

Standalone or join group.

Join a Linked Mode group to enable the vSphere Web Client to view, search, and manage data across multiple vCenter Server systems.

administrator

English

Required to use an existing database. Not required if you are using the bundled database. Non-ASCII characters are not supported.

Microsoft Windows system account

Standalone

44 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

Table 4‑6. Information Required for vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade (Continued)

Required Information Default Your Entry

Fully qualified domain name of Directory Services for the vCenter Server group.

The FQDN of a remote instance of vCenter Server. Required if this instance of vCenter Server is joining a group. The local and remote instances will be members of a Linked Mode group.

LDAP port for the Directory Services for the remote vCenter Server instance.

The LDAP port of the remote instance. Required if this instance of vCenter Server is joining a Linked Mode group. See “Required

Ports for vCenter Server,” on page 25.

vCenter Server HTTPS port.

vCenter Server HTTP port.

Heartbeat port (UDP) used for sending data to ESX/ESXi hosts.

VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices.

VMware VirtualCenter Management

See “Required Ports for vCenter Server,” on page 25.

Webservices.

Web Services change service notification port.

LDAP port for the Directory Services for the local vCenter Server instance.

SSL port for the Directory Services for the local vCenter Server instance.

Ephemeral ports.

Select Increase the number of available ephemeral ports if your vCenter Server manages hosts on which you will power on more than 2000 virtual machines simultaneously. This option prevents the pool of available ephemeral ports from being exhausted.

389

443

80

902

8080

8443

60099

389

636

VMware, Inc. 45

vSphere Upgrade

Table 4‑6. Information Required for vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade (Continued)

Required Information Default Your Entry

Inventory size.

The inventory size of your vCenter Server deployment:

n

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in “Hardware

Requirements for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Single Sign-On,” on page 19.

User name for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user account.

Password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user account.

Lookup Service URL.

The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP:7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. If you enter a different port number when you install vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

Inventory Service URL.

The inventory Service URL takes the form https://Inventory_Service_host_FQDN_or_IP:10443. 10443 is the default Inventory Service HTTPS port number. If you enter a different port number when you install Inventory Service, use that port number.

Destination folder.

The folder to install vCenter Server in. The installation path cannot contain the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

Small (less than 100 hosts or 1000 virtual machines.

Medium (100-400 hosts or 1000-4000 virtual machines.

Large (more than 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines.

administrator

You must use the same vCenter Single SignOn user name and password name when you install vCenter Single Sign-On, and install or upgrade Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client.

C:\Program Files\VMware\Infra structure

Best Practices for vCenter Server Upgrades

When you upgrade vCenter Server, you must understand and follow the best practices process for a successful upgrade.

To ensure that each upgrade is successful, follow these best practices:

1 Make sure that you understand the vCenter Server upgrade process, the effect of that process on your

existing deployment, and the preparation required for the upgrade.

If your vSphere system includes VMware solutions or plug-ins, make sure they are compatible

n

with the vCenter Server version that you are upgrading to. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

Read all the subtopics in Chapter 4, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server,” on page 31.

n

46 VMware, Inc.

Read the VMware vSphere Release Notes for known installation issues.

n

If your vSphere installation is in a VMware View environment, see “Upgrading vSphere

n

Components Separately in a Horizon View Environment,” on page 218.

2 Prepare your system for the upgrade.

Make sure your system meets requirements for the vCenter Server version that you are upgrading

n

to. See Chapter 3, “System Requirements,” on page 15 and the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

Verify that your existing database is supported for the vCenter Server version that you are

n

upgrading to. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

Make sure that your vCenter Server database is prepared and permissions are correctly set. See the

n

information about preparing vCenter Server databases in the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.

Review the prerequisites for the upgrade. See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on

n

page 48.

3 Back up your vCenter Server databases and SSL certificates

Make a full backup of the vCenter Server database and the vCenter Inventory Service database. For

n

the vCenter Server database, see the vendor documentation for your vCenter Server database type. For the Inventory Service database, see the topics "Back Up the Inventory Service Database on Windows" and "Back Up the Inventory Service Database on Linux" in the vSphere Installation and Setup documentation.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

Back up the SSL certificates that are on the vCenter Server system before you upgrade to vCenter

n

Server 5.5. The default location of the SSL certificates is %allusersprofile%\Application

Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter.

4 Stop the VMware VirtualCenter Server service.

5 Run the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker, and resolve any issues. See “Run the vCenter Host

Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker,” on page 58.

6 Make sure that no processes are running that conflict with the ports that vCenter Server uses. See

“Required Ports for vCenter Server,” on page 25.

7 Upgrade vCenter Server and required components.

See the appropriate procedure for your existing vCenter Server deployment:

“Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65

n

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade a Basic vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment of Version 5.1.x

n

vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 77

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter

n

Single Sign-On Deployment,” on page 83

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x Multisite vCenter Single Sign-

n

On Deployment,” on page 92

8 Configure new vSphere 5.5 licenses.

9 Review the topics in Chapter 6, “After You Upgrade vCenter Server,” on page 125 for postupgrade

requirements and options.

VMware, Inc. 47

vSphere Upgrade

Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade

Before you begin the upgrade to vCenter Server, make sure you prepare the vCenter Server system and the database.

Prerequisites for Understanding and Preparing for the Upgrade Process

vCenter Server 5.5 requires vCenter Single Sign-On and Inventory Service. Install or update these

n

components in this order: vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service, and vCenter Server. Review the topics in the section “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server

Upgrades,” on page 32

Review the release notes for known issues or special installation notes.

n

Gather the information that is required to complete the installation wizard. See “Required Information

n

for Installing or Upgrading vCenter Single Sign-On, Inventory Service, vCenter Server, and the vSphere Web Client,” on page 41.

Download the vCenter Server installer from the VMware Web site.

n

System Prerequisites

Verify that your system meets the requirements listed in “Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server,

n

the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Single Sign-On,” on page 19 and “vCenter Server Software Requirements,” on page 24, and that the required ports are open, as discussed

in “Required Ports for vCenter Server,” on page 25.

If your vSphere system includes VMware solutions or plug-ins, make sure they are compatible with the

n

vCenter Server version that you are upgrading to. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

Before you upgrade any vCenter Server that belongs to a Linked Mode group, remove it from the

n

Linked Mode group. Upgrading vCenter Servers that are members of a Linked Mode group can cause the upgrade to fail, and can leave vCenter Servers in an unusable state. After you upgrade all members of a Linked Mode group to version 5.5, you can rejoin them.

If you do not intend to use evaluation mode, make sure that you have valid license keys for all

n

purchased functionality. License keys from vSphere versions prior to version 5.0 are not supported in vCenter Server 5.x. If you do not have the license key, you can install in evaluation mode and use the vSphere Web Client to enter the license key later.

Close all instances of the vSphere Web Client.

n

Verify that the system on which you are upgrading vCenter Server is not an Active Directory primary

n

or backup domain controller.

Either remove any ESX Server 2.x or 3.x hosts from the vCenter Server inventory or upgrade these hosts

n

to version 4.0 or later.

Before you install or upgrade any vSphere product, synchronize the clocks of all machines on the

n

vSphere network. See “Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network,” on page 53.

Verify that the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the system where you will upgrade vCenter

n

Server is resolvable. To check that the FQDN is resolvable, type nslookup your_vCenter_Server_fqdn at a command line prompt. If the FQDN is resolvable, the nslookup command returns the IP and name of the domain controller machine.

Run the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker.

n

48 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

The installation path of the previous version of vCenter Server must be compatible with the installation

n

requirements for Microsoft Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM/AD LDS). The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%). If your previous version of vCenter Server does not meet this requirement, you must perform a clean installation of vCenter Server.

Back up the SSL certificates that are on the vCenter Server system before you upgrade to vCenter

n

Server 5.5. The default location of the SSL certificates is %allusersprofile%\Application

Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter.

Make sure that SSL certificate checking is enabled for all vSphere HA clusters. If certificate checking is

n

not enabled when you upgrade, HA will fail to configure on the hosts. Select Administration > vCenter Server Settings > SSL Settings > vCenter requires verified host SSL certificates. Follow the

instructions to verify each host SSL certificate and click OK.

If the vCenter Server 4.x environment that you are upgrading includes Guided Consolidation 4.x,

n

uninstall Guided Consolidation before upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5.

Before the vCenter Server installation, in the Administrative Tools control panel of the vCenter Single

n

Sign-On instance that you will register vCenter Server to, verify that the following services are started: VMware Certificate Service, VMware Directory service , VMware Identity Manager Service, VMware KDC service, and tcruntime-C-ProgramData-VMware-cis-runtime-VMwareSTSService.

You must log in as a member of the Administrators group on the host machine, with a user name that

n

does not contain any non-ASCII characters.

Network Prerequisites

Verify that DNS reverse lookup returns a fully qualified domain name when queried with the IP

n

address of the vCenter Server. When you upgrade vCenter Server, the installation of the web server component that supports the vSphere Web Client fails if the installer cannot look up the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server from its IP address. Reverse lookup is implemented using PTR records. To create a PTR record, see the documentation for your vCenter Server host operating system.

If you use DHCP instead of a manually assigned (static) IP address for vCenter Server, make sure that

n

the vCenter Server computer name is updated in the domain name service (DNS). Test this is by pinging the computer name. For example, if the computer name is host-1.company.com, run the following command in the Windows command prompt:

ping host-1.company.com

If you can ping the computer name, the name is updated in DNS.

Ensure that the ESXi host management interface has a valid DNS resolution from the vCenter Server

n

and all vSphere Web Clients. Ensure that the vCenter Server has a valid DNS resolution from all ESXi hosts and all vSphere Web Clients.

If you will use Active Directory as an identity source, verify that it is set up correctly. The DNS of the

n

vCenter Single Sign-On Server host machine must contain both lookup and reverse lookup entries for the domain controller of the Active Directory. For example, pinging mycompany.com should return the domain controller IP address for mycompany. Similarly, the ping -a command for that IP address should return the domain controller hostname. Avoid trying to correct name resolution issues by editing the hosts file. Instead, make sure that the DNS server is correctly set up. For more information about configuring Active Directory, see the Microsoft Web site. Also, the system clock of the vCenter Single Sign-On Server host machine must be synchronized with the clock of the domain controller.

VMware, Inc. 49

vSphere Upgrade

Prerequisites for All vCenter Server Databases

If your database server is not supported by vCenter Server, perform a database upgrade to a supported

n

version or import your database into a supported version. See “Supported Database Upgrades,” on page 52.

Perform a complete backup of the vCenter Server database before you begin the upgrade.

n

To remove the DBO role, you can migrate all objects in the DBO schema to a custom schema. See the VMware knowledge base article at http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1036331.

You must have login credentials, the database name, and the database server name that will be used by

n

the vCenter Server database. The database server name is typically the ODBC System database source name (DSN) connection name for the vCenter Server database.

Review “Supported Database Upgrades,” on page 52.

n

Prerequisites for Microsoft SQL Databases

To use a newly supported Microsoft SQL database, such as Microsoft SQL 2008, you do not need to

n

perform a clean installation of vCenter Server if your existing database is also Microsoft SQL Server. For example, you can upgrade a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and then upgrade vCenter Server 4.0 or higher to vCenter Server 5.5. When you migrate the database from Microsoft SQL Server 2000 to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 or higher, set the compatibility level of the database to 90.

JDK 1.6 must be installed on the vCenter Server machine. In addition, sqljdbc4.jar must be added to

n

the CLASSPATH variable on the machine where vCenter Server is to be upgraded. If it is not installed on your system, the vCenter Server installer installs it. The JDK 1.6 installation might require Internet connectivity.

Your system DSN must be using the SQL Native Client driver.

n

Grant the following permissions to the vCenter user in the vCenter database:

n

GRANT ALTER ON SCHEMA :: <schema> to <user>; GRANT REFERENCES ON SCHEMA :: <schema> to <user>; GRANT INSERT ON SCHEMA :: <schema> to <user>; GRANT CREATE TABLE to <user>; GRANT CREATE VIEW to <user>; GRANT CREATE Procedure to <user>;

Grant the following permissions to the user in the MSDB database:

GRANT SELECT on msdb.dbo.syscategories to <user>; GRANT SELECT on msdb.dbo.sysjobsteps to <user>; GRANT SELECT ON msdb.dbo.sysjobs to <user>; GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_job TO <user>; GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_delete_job TO <user>; GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobstep TO <user>; GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_update_job TO <user>; GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_category TO <user>; GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobserver TO <user>; GRANT EXECUTE ON msdb.dbo.sp_add_jobschedule TO <user>;

50 VMware, Inc.

Prerequisites for Oracle Databases

To use a newly supported Oracle database, such as Oracle 11g, you do not need to perform a clean

n

installation of vCenter Server if your existing database is also Oracle. For example, you can upgrade your existing Oracle 9i database to Oracle 10g or Oracle 11g and then upgrade vCenter Server 4.x to vCenter Server 5.5.

The JDBC driver file must be included in the CLASSPATH variable.

n

Either assign the DBA role or grant the following permissions to the user:

n

grant connect to <user> grant resource to <user> grant create view to <user> grant create any sequence to <user> grant create any table to <user> grant create materialized view to <user> grant execute on dbms_job to <user> grant execute on dbms_lock to <user> grant unlimited tablespace to <user> # To ensure sufficient space

After the upgrade is complete, you can optionally remove the following permissions from the user profile: create any sequence and create any table.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

By default, the RESOURCE role has the CREATE PROCEDURE, CREATE TABLE, and CREATE SEQUENCE privileges assigned. If the RESOURCE role lacks these privileges, grant them to the

vCenter Server database user.

vCenter Server Database Configuration Notes

After you choose a supported database type, make sure you understand any special configuration requirements.

Table 4-7 is not a complete list of databases supported with vCenter Server. For information about specific

database versions and service pack configurations supported with vCenter Server, see the VMware Product

Interoperability Matrixes. This topic is intended only to provide special database configuration notes not

listed in the Product Interoperability Matrixes.

NOTE vCenter Update Manager also requires a database. VMware recommends that you use separate databases for vCenter Server and vCenter Update Manager.

vCenter Server databases require a UTF code set.

See also “Supported Database Upgrades,” on page 52.

Table 4‑7. Configuration Notes for Databases Supported with vCenter Server

Database Type Configuration Notes

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Ensure that the machine has a valid ODBC DSN entry.

Bundled database that you can use for small deployments of up to 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines.

You cannot install the bundled database during an upgrade to vCenter Server. To use the bundled database, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Express must be already installed or you must perform a clean installation of vCenter Server.

NOTE This database is not supported for the vCenter Server Appliance.

VMware, Inc. 51

vSphere Upgrade

Table 4‑7. Configuration Notes for Databases Supported with vCenter Server (Continued)

Database Type Configuration Notes

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Ensure that the machine has a valid ODBC DSN entry.

NOTE This database is not supported for the vCenter Server Appliance.

Oracle Ensure that the machine has a valid ODBC DSN entry.

After you complete the vCenter Server installation, take the following steps:

Apply the latest patch to the Oracle client and server.

n

Copy the Oracle JDBC driver (ojdbc14.jar or ojdbc5.jar) to the vCenter Server

n

installation directory, in the tomcat\lib subdirectory: vCenter install location\Infrastructure\tomcat\lib.

In the Services section of the Windows Administrative Tools control panel, restart the

n

WMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices service.

The vCenter Server installer attempts to copy the Oracle JDBC driver from the Oracle client location to the vCenter Server installation directory. If the Oracle JDBC driver is not found in the Oracle client location, the vCenter Server installer prompts you to copy the file manually. You can download the file from the oracle.com Web site.

Upgrading to vCenter Server on a Different Machine

Instead of performing an in-place upgrade to vCenter Server, you might want to use a different machine for your upgrade. Because vCenter Server 5.x requires a 64-bit platform, you cannot upgrade from a version of vCenter Server installed on a 32-bit platform.

The vCenter Server 5.0 installation media include a data migration tool. When you upgrade to version 5.0, you can use this tool to migrate configuration information such as port settings, SSL certificates, and license information from your existing vCenter Server host. This data migration tool is not supported for vCenter Server versions 5.1 and later. You cannot directly migrate an existing vCenter Server to a different machine during an upgrade to version 5.1.x or 5.5. You can migrate an existing vCenter Server to a different machine during an upgrade to version 5.0, and then perform an in-place upgrade from version 5.0 to version 5.1.x or

5.5. See the version 5.0 vSphere Upgrade documentation.

Supported Database Upgrades

When you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5, make sure that the upgraded version supports your database.

For a list of the specific database versions supported for the version of vCenter Server that you are upgrading to, see the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php.

NOTE The version 5.5 vCenter Server Appliance uses a PostgreSQL for the embedded database. For external databases, the vCenter Server Appliance supports only Oracle databases, in the same versions shown in the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix for the version of vCenter Server that you are upgrading to.

Confirm That vCenter Server Can Communicate with the Local Database

If your database is located on the same machine on which vCenter Server will be installed, and you have changed the name of this machine, make sure the vCenter Server DSN is configured to communicate with the new name of the machine.

Changing the vCenter Server computer name impacts database communication if the database server is on the same computer with vCenter Server. If you changed the machine name, you can verify that communication remains intact.

The name change has no effect on communication with remote databases. You can skip this procedure if your database is remote.

52 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

Check with your database administrator or the database vendor to make sure all components of the database are working after you rename the server.

Prerequisites

Make sure the database server is running.

n

Make sure that the vCenter Server computer name is updated in the domain name service (DNS).

n

Procedure

1 Update the data source information, as needed.

2 Ping the computer name to test this connection.

For example, if the computer name is host-1.company.com, run the following command in the Windows command prompt:

ping host-1.company.com

If you can ping the computer name, the name is updated in DNS.

Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network

Before you install vCenter Single Sign-On, install the vSphere Web Client, or deploy the vCenter Server Appliance, make sure that all machines on the vSphere network have their clocks synchronized.

If the clocks on vCenter Server network machines are not synchronized, SSL certificates, which are timesensitive, might not be recognized as valid in communications between network machines. Unsynchronized clocks can result in authentication problems, which can cause the vSphere Web Client installation to fail or prevent the vCenter Server Appliance vpxd service from starting.

Synchronize ESX and ESXi Clocks with a Network Time Server

Before you install vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, or the vCenter Server appliance, make sure all machines on the vSphere network have their clocks synchronized.

Procedure

1 From the vSphere Web Client, connect to the vCenter Server.

2 Select the host in the inventory.

3 Select the Manage tab.

4 Select Settings.

5 In the System section, select Time Configuration.

6 Click Edit and set up the NTP server.

a Select Use Network Time Protocol (Enable NTP client).

b Set the NTP Service Startup Policy.

c Enter the IP addresses of the NTP servers to synchronize with.

d Click Start or Restart in the NTP Service Status section.

7 Click OK.

The host synchronizes with the NTP server.

VMware, Inc. 53

vSphere Upgrade

Synchronize the vCenter Server Appliance Clock with an NTP Server

Before you deploy thevCenter Server Appliance, make sure all machines on the network have their clocks synchronized. Unsynchronized clocks can cause installation and authentication errors.

On systems that are joined to a Windows domain, the vCenter Server Appliance clock is synchronized automatically with the domain controller. On other systems, you can enable synchronizing the clock through VMware Tools. As an alternative, you can use this procedure.

Procedure

1 Open a Web browser and navigate to thevCenter Server Appliance Management Interface

(https://vCenter-Appliance-Address:5480/).

2 Log in as root.

3 From the vCenter Server tab, select the Time subtab.

4 Select one or more of the available options.

Option Description

No synchronization

NTP synchronization

VMware Tools synchronization

Active Directory synchronization

5 Click Save Settings.

Does not perform synchronization.

Select this option and specify one or more NTP servers to configure the appliance to synchronize with an NTP server directly.

Select this option to synchronize all virtual machines.

This option becomes available only if you add the appliance to an Active Directory domain. If you select this option, none of the other options is available.

The vCenter Server Appliance clock is synchronized with the NTP server.

Configure a Windows NTP Client for Network Clock Synchronization

The clocks of all servers on the vSphere network must be synchronized. You can configure a Windows NTP client as a source for clock synchronization on Windows servers.

Use the registry editor on the Windows server to make the configuration changes.

Procedure

1 Enable NTP mode.

a Go to the registry setting

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters

b Set the Type value to NTP.

2 Enable the NTP client.

a Go to the registry setting

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config

b Set the AnnounceFlags value to 5.

54 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

3 Enter the upstream NTP servers to synchronize from.

a Go to the registry setting

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders.

b Set the NtpServer value to a list of at least three NTP servers.

For example, you might set the value to 0x1 1.pool.ntp.org,0x1 2.pool.ntp.org,0x1 3.pool.ntp.org.

4 Specify a 150-minute update interval.

a Go to the registry setting

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\TimeProviders\Nt pClient,

b Set the SpecialPollInterval value to 900.

5 Restart the W32time service for the changes to take effect.

JDBC URL Formats for the vCenter Server Database

The vCenter Server installer generates and validates the JDBC URL for the vCenter Server database. If the installer fails to connect to the database using the generated JDBC URL, the installer will prompt you to specify the JDBC URL.

JDBC URL Note for All Databases

NOTE The domain name cannot contain the exclamation point character (!). Java interprets the exclamation point as a jar file separator.

JDBC URL Formats for Microsoft SQL Server Databases

For Microsoft SQL Server databases, you can use the following example JDBC URLs as a model:

Connect to default (unnamed) SQL Server instance by host name:

n

jdbc:sqlserver://host;databaseName=database

Connect to named instance by host name and instance name:

n

jdbc:sqlserver://host;instanceName=instance;databaseName=database

Connect to SQL Server by host name and port:

n

jdbc:sqlserver://host:port;databaseName=database

Connect by port:

n

jdbc:sqlserver://localhost:1422;databaseName\=VIM_VCDB (user name, password, and database type

to be passed separately)

Connect to local server with integrated security:

n

jdbc:sqlserver://localhost\\SQLEXP_VIM;databaseName=VIM_VCDB;integratedSecurity=true

Connect to local server without integrated security:

n

jdbc:sqlserver://localhost\\SQLEXP_VIM;databaseName\=VIM_VCDB (user name, password, and

database type to be passed separately)

VMware vCenter Server JDBC configuration for Microsoft SQL Server might not work by default with direct IPv6 addresses. You must use one of the following forms:

Use the host name form for a standard Type-4 JDBC URL (recommended):

n

jdbc:sqlserver://database-fully-qualified-host-name:port

VMware, Inc. 55

vSphere Upgrade

Use direct IPv6 address format:

n

jdbc:sqlserver://;serverName=[IPv6-address]

For more information about JDBC URL formatting for MS SQL databases, including port and instance configuration options, see the msdn.microsoft.com Web site. At the time of this topic's publication, the information was available at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms378428.aspx.

JDBC URL Formats for Oracle Databases

For Oracle databases, you can use the following example JDBC URLs as a model:

This format requires host name and address, port (default 1521) and service name (for example,

n

"oracle.world"):

jdbc:oracle:thin:@host:port/service

This format requires host name and address, port (default 1521) and SID (for example, "ORCL"):

n

jdbc:oracle:thin:@host:port:SID

This format is for a fully configured Oracle client with Oracle Net, which is useful for non-TCP

n

configuration or Oracle RAC (real application clusters):

jdbc:oracle:thin:@tnsname

The following example is for an Oracle RAC with a thin driver, without the full Oracle client installed:

n

jdbc:oracle:thin:@(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=rac1-vip)(PORT=1521)) (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=rac2-vip)(PORT=1521))(LOAD_BALANCE=yes)(FAILOVER=ON) (CONNECT_DATA=(SERVER=DEDICATED)(SERVICE_NAME=RAC.DBTEAM)(FAILOVER_MODE=(BACKUP=rac1) (TYPE=SELECT)(METHOD=BASIC)))))

In this example, rac1-vip is first node virtual IP, rac2-vip is second node virtual IP, RAC.DBTEAM is RAC DB service name, and rac1 is name of failover node.

For more information about JDBC URL formatting for Oracle databases, see the oracle.com Web site.

DNS Load Balancing Solutions and vCenter Server Datastore Naming

vCenter Server 5.x uses different internal identifiers for datastores than earlier versions of vCenter Server. This change affects the way that you add shared NFS datastores to hosts and can affect upgrades to vCenter Server 5.x.

vCenter Server versions before version 5.0 convert datastore host names to IP addresses. For example, if you mount an NFS datastore by the name \\nfs-datastore\folder, pre-5.0 vCenter Server versions convert the name nfs-datastore to an IP address like 10.23.121.25 before storing it. The original nfs-datastore name is lost.

This conversion of host names to IP addresses causes a problem when DNS load balancing solutions are used with vCenter Server. DNS load balancing solutions themselves replicate data and appear as a single logical datastore. The load balancing happens during the datastore host name-to-IP conversion by resolving the datastore host name to different IP addresses, depending on the load. This load balancing happens outside vCenter Server and is implemented by the DNS server. In vCenter Server versions before version

5.0, features like vMotion do not work with such DNS load balancing solutions because the load balancing causes one logical datastore to appear as several datastores. vCenter Server fails to perform vMotion because it cannot recognize that what it sees as multiple datastores are actually a single logical datastore that is shared between two hosts.

56 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

To solve this problem, vCenter Server versions 5.0 and later do not convert datastore names to IP addresses when you add datastores. This enables vCenter Server to recognize a shared datastore, but only if you add the datastore to each host by the same datastore name. For example, vCenter Server does not recognize a datastore as shared between hosts in the following cases.

The datastore is added by IP address to host1 and by hostname to host2.

n

The datastore is added by hostname to host1, and by hostname.vmware.com to host2.

n

For vCenter Server to recognize a datastore as shared, you must add the datastore by the same name to every host.

Datastore Names and Upgrades to vCenter Server 5.x

In vCenter Server versions before version 5.0, vCenter Server database stores datastore paths in the old format, as IP addresses. The upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x converts these paths to the new format. If you use a DNS load balancing solution with shared datastores, before you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x, make sure that every shared datastore is mounted on each of its hosts with the same name.

The upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x might also fail from a lack of sufficient memory if you use a DNS load balancing solution with shared datastores. In a large vCenter Server database, the conversion of datastore paths to the new format can require a large amount of memory. See the VMware Knowledge Base article at

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2015055.

About the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker

The vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker produces a report showing known issues that might prevent a successful upgrade of the vCenter Host Agent software.

To ensure a successful upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x, you must diagnose and fix any potential problems on the managed ESX/ESXi hosts. You can run the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker for in-place upgrades from vCenter Server 4.x to vCenter Server 5.x.

vCenter Host Agent runs on all managed ESX/ESXi hosts. This software coordinates actions received from vCenter Server. When you add a host to vCenter Server, the agent is installed on the physical ESX/ESXi host. When you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x, the agent residing on each ESX/ESXi host must be upgraded as well.

During a vCenter Server upgrade, the existing agent software is uninstalled and the updated agent software is installed in its place. If the upgrade fails, the updated agent software might not be installed and the host might become unreachable by vCenter Server 4.x or 5.x. To avoid this condition, you can run the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker before you try to upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x.

The vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker checks to make sure that the agent software is ready to be upgraded. Some of the checks include checking to make sure that the host is reachable, the disk space is sufficient, the network is functioning, the file system is intact, and required patches are applied. Each time you run the tool, the system queries VMware.com and downloads any new updates for the tool. This action ensures that as new upgrade issues are discovered, the tool remains as useful as possible.

IMPORTANT A successful vCenter Host Agent pre-upgrade check does not guarantee a successful upgrade to vCenter Server 5.x. An upgrade to vCenter Server involves multiple components, and the tool checks only one component: the vCenter Host Agent. Also, the tool checks only known issues. Other issues might be present that the tool does not check.

The vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker does not fix the reported issues. You must resolve the reported issues manually and rerun the tool to verify that the issues are resolved.

For the procedure to run the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker, see “Run the vCenter Host Agent

Pre-Upgrade Checker,” on page 58.

VMware, Inc. 57

vSphere Upgrade

Run the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker

The vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker reports known issues that might prevent a successful upgrade of the vCenter Host Agent software.

For more information about the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker, see “About the vCenter Host

Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker,” on page 57.

Prerequisites

Verify that the ESX/ESXi hosts are managed by vCenter Server.

n

Verify that the vCenter Host Agent software is running on each managed ESX/ESXi host.

n

Verify that you have Internet connectivity from the vCenter Server system. This allows new updates to

n

be applied to the tool and allows you to view the reports and the Knowledge Base (KB) articles associated with the reports.

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker and click Install.

3 Select the DSN for the vCenter Server system you are upgrading from and select the login credentials

that are appropriate for that DSN.

If you are not sure which credential type to select, check which authentication type is configured for the DSN (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > ODBC Data Sources > System DSN).

4 If the DSN requires a login for the credential type in use, enter a user name and password and click

Next.

5 Select an option for scanning all hosts or specific hosts.

Option Action

Scan all of the hosts

Specify hosts to scan

Select Standard Mode and click Next.

a Select Custom Mode and click Next.

b Select the hosts to scan and click Next. To select all hosts in a cluster,

double-click the cluster.

6 Click Run Precheck.

The tool takes 30-40 seconds for each host.

7 When the check is complete, click Next.

8 View the pre-upgrade reports.

To view the report for an individual host, click the link next to the host name.

n

To view a summary report for all hosts, click View Report.

n

You have a list of issues to resolve before you upgrade.

What to do next

From the report, use the linked KB articles to research and resolve the issues for each host. After you resolve the issues, rerun the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker. Repeat this process until you resolve all the reported issues, and proceed with your upgrade.

58 VMware, Inc.

Downtime During the vCenter Server Upgrade

When you upgrade vCenter Server, downtime is required for vCenter Server.

Expect downtime for vCenter Server as follows:

The upgrade requires vCenter Server to be out of production for 40-50 minutes, depending on the size

n

of the database. The database schema upgrade takes approximately 10-15 minutes of this time. This estimate does not include host reconnection after the upgrade.

If Microsoft .NET Framework is not installed on the machine, a reboot is required before starting the vCenter Server installation.

VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler does not work while the upgrade is in progress. VMware HA

n

does work during the upgrade.

Downtime is not required for the ESX/ESXi hosts that vCenter Server is managing, or for virtual machines that are running on the hosts.

Download the vCenter Server Installer

Download the installer for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, and associated vCenter components and support tools.

Chapter 4 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server

Procedure

1 Download the vCenter Server installer from the VMware downloads page at

http://www.vmware.com/support/.

2 Confirm that the md5sum is correct.

See the VMware Web site topic Using MD5 Checksums at

http://www.vmware.com/download/md5.html.

Microsoft SQL Database Set to Unsupported Compatibility Mode Causes vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade to Fail

vCenter Server installation with a Microsoft SQL database fails when the database is set to compatibility mode with an unsupported version.

Problem

The following error message appears: The DB User entered does not have the required permissions

needed to install and configure vCenter Server with the selected DB. Please correct the following error(s): %s

Cause

The database version must be supported for vCenter Server. For SQL, even if the database is a supported version, if it is set to run in compatibility mode with an unsupported version, this error occurs. For example, if SQL 2008 is set to run in SQL 2000 compatibility mode, this error occurs.

Solution

Make sure the vCenter Server database is a supported version and is not set to compatibility mode with

u

an unsupported version. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes at

http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/sim/interop_matrix.php?.

VMware, Inc. 59

vSphere Upgrade

60 VMware, Inc.

Upgrading vCenter Server 5

The vCenter Server upgrade includes a database schema upgrade and an upgrade of the vCenter Server software.

vSphere 5.1 introduced vCenter Single Sign-On as part of the vCenter Server management infrastructure. This change affects vCenter Server installation, upgrading, and operation. See “How vCenter Single Sign-On

Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

This chapter includes the following topics:

“vCenter Server Upgrade and Sign-On Process for Environments that Do Not Include vCenter Single

n

Sign-On,” on page 62

“vCenter Server Upgrade and Sign-On Process for Environments with vCenter Single Sign-On,” on

n

page 64

“Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65

n

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade Version 5.0.x and Earlier vCenter Server and Required Components,”

n

on page 69

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade a Basic vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment of Version 5.1.x vCenter

n

Server and Required Components,” on page 77

VMware, Inc.

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter Single

n

Sign-On Deployment,” on page 83

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On

n

Deployment,” on page 92

“Add a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source,” on page 103

n

“Migrate vCenter Server and Components from a Windows Server 2003 Host,” on page 108

n

“vCenter Single Sign-On Installation Fails,” on page 117

n

“Updating vCenter Server with Service Packs,” on page 117

n

“Upgrading and Updating the vCenter Server Appliance,” on page 118

n

“Install or Upgrade vCenter Server Java Components Separately,” on page 122

n

“Install or Upgrade vCenter Server tc Server Separately,” on page 123

n

“vCenter Server Upgrade Fails When Unable to Stop Tomcat Service,” on page 123

n

61

Multiple

locations?

Yes

ID source

Simple Install

upgrade

Custom Install upgrade

Log in SSO and

add domain

Set default identity

source or include

domain in login

No

Yes

Done

1 target

machine?

No

AD

localos

ID source

AD

localos

Add users to localos

or AD domain

vSphere Upgrade

vCenter Server Upgrade and Sign-On Process for Environments that Do Not Include vCenter Single Sign-On

The upgrade process differs based on several factors. Understand the complete upgrade, vCenter Single Sign-On setup, and permission assignment process before you start. This topic explains how to perform the upgrade and user management if you upgrade from vSphere 5.0 or earlier, which does not include vCenter Single Sign-On.

If you are upgrading from vSphere 5.0 or earlier, your original environment does not include a vCenter Single Sign-On server. How you perform the upgrade, and whether you are required to add identity sources or assign permissions depends on your current environment and on what you intend to do, as shown in the following illustration.

NOTE This topic focuses on the most frequently encountered upgrade cases. It does not include a discussion of upgrading an installation that includes a vCenter Single Sign-On high availability deployment. See “Use

Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment,” on page 83..

Figure 5‑1. Upgrade and Sign In Process for Environments that Do Not Include vCenter Single Sign-On

The interaction proceeds as follows.

1 If your current environment is installed on different machines and potentially in different locations, it is

easiest to have the target environment use the same layout.

If your current environment is distributed over several machines or several location, you can

n

perform a Custom Install upgrade. (see step 4)

62 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

If your current environment is not distributed over several machines or several locations, you can

n

distribute the upgrade over multiple machines with a custom install (step 4) or continue placing all vCenter components on the same machine (step 2).

2 If all vCenter Server components are on the same host machine, you can upgrade with Simple Install.

See “Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65. After you upgrade with the Simple Install process, local operating system users and the user administrator@vsphere.local can authenticate.

If your environment was using only local operating system users, the localos identity source is

n

sufficient. You can log in to vCenter Server as administrator@vsphere.local or any local operating system user who previously had permissions.

If your environment was using Active Directory to manage users and permissions, go to Step 3.

n

3 If your pre-upgrade environment used Active Directory to manage users and permissions, the Active

Directory domain is added to vCenter Single Sign-On as an identity source. Users who previously had permissions to access vCenter Server objects continue to have those permissions.

Only one default identity source is supported with vSphere 5.5, and the Active Directory identity source is initially not the default identity source. Users can log in only if they include the domain as part of the login (DOMAIN\user).

You can log in to the vCenter Single Sign-On server as administrator@vsphere.local and make the Active Directory domain the default identity source.

a Log in to the vCenter Single Sign-On server as administrator@vsphere.local and add the Active

Directory domain as an identity source. See “Add a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source,” on page 103.

b Make the Active Directory domain the default identity source. Only one default identity source is

supported. Users from other domains can include the domain as part of the login (DOMAIN\user).

c Users who previously had permissions to access vCenter Server objects continue to have those

permissions.

4 If you decide to install vCenter Server services on different machines, you can use a Custom Install

upgrade process. See “Use Custom Install to Upgrade Version 5.0.x and Earlier vCenter Server and

Required Components,” on page 69.

a If your current environment supports only local operating system users, you must either make sure

those users are available as localos users on the machine where vCenter Single Sign-On is installed, or you can add an Active Directory or OpenLDAP domain that includes those users.

b If your current environment supports an Active Directory domain, you can log in to the vCenter

Single Sign-On server as administrator@vsphere.local and add the Active Directory domain to vCenter Single Sign-On. See “Add a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source,” on page 103.

c You can either set the default identity source or users who log in to vCenter Server can include the

domain name when they log in.

VMware, Inc. 63

Multiple

locations?

Yes

Simple Install

upgrade

Resynchronize

Set default identity

source or include

domain in log in

No

Yes

Done

1 target

machine?

Only localos

localos and AD

No

SSO

Multisite?

Custom Install

upgrade

No

Yes

ID source

vSphere Upgrade

vCenter Server Upgrade and Sign-On Process for Environments with vCenter Single Sign-On

The upgrade process differs based on several factors. Understand the complete upgrade, vCenter Single Sign-On setup, and permission assignment process before you start. This topic explains how to perform the upgrade and user management if you upgrade from vSphere 5.1.x, which includes an earlier version of vCenter Single Sign-On.

If you are upgrading from vSphere 5.1.x, your original environment includes a vCenter Single Sign-On server. How you perform the upgrade, and whether you are required to add identity sources or assign permissions, depends on your current environment and on what you intend to do, as shown in the following illustration.

NOTE This topic focuses on the most frequently encountered upgrade cases. It does not include a discussion of upgrading an installation that includes a vCenter Single Sign-On high availability deployment. See “Use

Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment,” on page 83.

Figure 5‑2. Flowchart of vCenter Upgrade from Environments that Include vCenter Single Sign-On

The interaction proceeds as follows.

1 If your current environment is installed on different machines and potentially in different locations, it is

easiest to have the target environment use a similar layout.

64 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

With vSphere 5.5, multiple vCenter Server systems can use a single vCenter Single Sign-On system.

If your current environment uses vCenter Single Sign-On multisite, resynchronize your

n

environment. See Knowledge Base articles http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2042849 and

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2038677, and start a Custom Install upgrade. See “Use Custom Install to Upgrade Version 5.0.x and Earlier vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 69.

Which users can access vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server depends on the identity sources that are defined before the upgrade. See step 3.

If your current environment does not use vCenter Single Sign-On multisite, you can distribute the

n

upgrade over multiple machines with a Custom Install or continue placing all vCenter services on the same machine (step 2).

2 If all vCenter Server components are on the same host machine, you can upgrade with Simple Install.

See “Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65. After you upgrade with the Simple Install process, local operating system users and the user administrator@vsphere.local can authenticate.

If your environment was using only local operating system users, the localos identity source is

n

sufficient. You can log in to vCenter Server as administrator@vsphere.local, or as any local operating system user who previously had permissions.

NOTE Local operating users in embedded groups are no longer available. You can add those groups explicitly.

If your environment was using an Active Directory or OpenLDAP identity source, those identity

n

sources are included with vCenter Single Sign-On after the upgrade, but they are not the default identity source. Go to Step 3.

3 If your environment was using an Active Directory or OpenLDAP identity source.

Users in the default identity source (localos by default) can log in to vCenter Server if they had

n

permission to do so previously.

Users in other identity sources can log in to vCenter Server if they use the domain name and

n

password, for example, DOMAIN1\user1.

You can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On as administrator@vsphere.local to make the Active

n

Directory or OpenLDAP identity source the default identity source.

Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components

vCenter Server versions 5.1 and later require the vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Inventory Service components. Depending on your existing vCenter Server installation, you can use the Simple Install option to upgrade to vCenter Server, including vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, and Inventory Service, all on a single host machine.

You can use Simple Install to upgrade vCenter Server if you have a version 4.x, 5.0.x, or 5.1.x vCenter Server installation that is supported for upgrade, and all vCenter Server components in the installation you are upgrading are on the same host machine. See the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at

http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php. Depending on the version you

are upgrading from, the Simple Install option installs or upgrades Single Sign-On, and upgrades the vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service, and vCenter Server.

VMware, Inc. 65

vSphere Upgrade

Alternatively, you can upgrade vCenter Server components separately, for installations in which the location and configuration of the components is customized. See “Use Custom Install to Upgrade a Basic

vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment of Version 5.1.x vCenter Server and Required Components,”

on page 77, “Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter

Single Sign-On Deployment,” on page 83, or “Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment,” on page 92.

Prerequisites

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48.

Procedure

1 Install or Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On and the vSphere Web Client as Part of a vCenter Server

2 Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service as Part of vCenter Server Simple Install on page 67

3 Upgrade vCenter Server as Part of a Simple Install on page 68

Simple Install on page 66

Create or upgrade the only node in a basic, Simple Install vCenter Single Sign-On installation, and install or upgrade the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Inventory Service.

You can Install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server together on a single host machine using the vCenter Server Simple Install option.

You can upgrade vCenter Server as part of a Simple Install after you install vCenter Single Sign-On, upgrade the vSphere Web Client, and upgrade Inventory Service.

Install or Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On and the vSphere Web Client as Part of a vCenter Server Simple Install

Create or upgrade the only node in a basic, Simple Install vCenter Single Sign-On installation, and install or upgrade the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Inventory Service.

If you are upgrading a vCenter Server deployment that includes vCenter Single Sign-On, this procedure upgrades the existing vCenter Single Sign-On instance, and does not include all the steps listed below for a new installation.

You can use Simple Install for the first vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server in a deployment with multiple vCenter Servers. Succeeding instances of vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Server in the same deployment must be installed by using Custom Install. For more information about vCenter Single Sign-On, see “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32 and the vSphere Security documentation.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48.

n

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter™ Simple Install, and click Install.

66 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 If the prerequisites check screen shows any problems, cancel the installation, correct the problems, and

restart the installer.

5 Set the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

This is the password for the user administrator@vsphere.local. vsphere.local is a new domain that is created by vCenter Single Sign-On. After installation, you can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On and in to vCenter Server as adminstrator@vsphere.local.

By default, the password must have at least eight characters, at least one lowercase character, one uppercase character, one number, and one special character. See the vSphere Security documentation for information about changing the password policy. The following characters are not supported in passwords: non-ASCII characters, semicolon (;), double quotation mark ("), single quotation mark ('), circumflex (^), and backslash (\).

6 Enter the site name for vCenter Single Sign-On.

Choose your own name for the vCenter Single Sign-On site.

7 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

8 Select the folder in which to install vCenter Single Sign-On.

The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

9 Review the installation options and click Install.

The vCenter Single Sign-On installation or upgrade begins. When the vCenter Single Sign-On installation or upgrade is complete, the installer proceeds with the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Inventory Service installations or upgrades.

No input is required for a Simple Install upgrade of the vSphere Web Client.

NOTE After each component is installed or upgraded, the installer might take a few minutes to start the installer for the next component.

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service as Part of vCenter Server Simple Install

You can Install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server together on a single host machine using the vCenter Server Simple Install option.

Procedure

1 Choose whether to keep the existing database or replace it with a new empty database.

2 Click Install.

Inventory Service is upgraded, and the vCenter Server upgrade wizard starts.

What to do next

Upgrade vCenter Server. Proceed to “Upgrade vCenter Server as Part of a Simple Install,” on page 68.

VMware, Inc. 67

vSphere Upgrade

Upgrade vCenter Server as Part of a Simple Install

You can upgrade vCenter Server as part of a Simple Install after you install vCenter Single Sign-On, upgrade the vSphere Web Client, and upgrade Inventory Service.

This procedure continues the vCenter Server upgrade using Simple Install from the subtask “Upgrade

vCenter Inventory Service as Part of vCenter Server Simple Install,” on page 67. If the upgrade fails, no

automatic rollback occurs to the previous vCenter Server version.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48.

n

Procedure

1 (Optional) Enter your license key.

IMPORTANT If you do not enter a license key, your license will expire. After the installation, you can connect to the vCenter Server and reenter the license key.

2 Enter or confirm your database credentials.

3 Select whether to upgrade the vCenter Server database.

Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database to continue with the upgrade to vCenter Server.

n

Select Do not upgrade existing vCenter Server database if you do not have a backup copy of your

n

database.

You cannot continue the upgrade.

4 Click I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.

5 Select how to upgrade vCenter Agent.

Option Description

Automatic

Manual

To automatically upgrade vCenter Agent on all the hosts in the vCenter Server inventory.

If one of the following applies:

You need to control the timing of vCenter Agent upgrades on specific

n

hosts.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable

n

vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

68 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

6 Select the account for the vCenter Service to run in.

Option Description

SYSTEM Account

User-specified account

Select the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next. You cannot use the Use Windows Local System Account account if you are using the bundled database or SQL Server with Windows authentication.

Deselect the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the account password and the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next.

7 Accept or change the port numbers to connect to vCenter Server.

8 (Optional) Select Increase the number of available ephemeral ports.

9 Select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for several Java services that are

used by vCenter Server.

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in the topic vCenter Server Hardware Requirements.

10 Click Install.

The vCenter Simple Install is complete.

Use Custom Install to Upgrade Version 5.0.x and Earlier vCenter Server and Required Components

You can upgrade vCenter Server and other vCenter components separately to customize the location and configuration of each component.

This procedure upgrades vCenter Server versions 5.0.x and earlier, which do not include vCenter Single Sign-On. If you are upgrading vCenter Server 5.1.x, see one of the following procedures:

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade a Basic vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment of Version 5.1.x vCenter

n

Server and Required Components,” on page 77.

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter Single

n

Sign-On Deployment,” on page 83.

“Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On

n

Deployment,” on page 92.

For most basic vCenter Single Sign-On deployments, if all components are on the same host machine, you can upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, Inventory Service, and vCenter Server together on a single host machine using the vCenter Server Simple Install option.

See “Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review Chapter 4, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server,” on page 31.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

VMware, Inc. 69

vSphere Upgrade

Procedure

1 Install the First or Only vCenter Single Sign-On Instance in a vCenter Server Deployment on page 70

2 (Optional) Install an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Node at an Existing Site on page 72

3 (Optional) Install an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Node at a New Site on page 72

4 Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client on page 73

5 Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install on page 74

Create the only vCenter Single Sign-On instance in a basic vCenter Single Sign-On installation or the first vCenter Single Sign-On instance in a deployment with multiple vCenter Single Sign-On instances.

Create an additional vCenter Single Sign-On node at an existing vCenter Single Sign-On installation. An additional vCenter Single Sign-On node might be useful if your deployment includes multiple vCenter Server instances.

Create an additional vCenter Single Sign-On node for a multisite vCenter Single Sign-On installation. An additional node can be useful if you need multiple vCenter Server instances in different locations. Authentication information is replicated between vCenter single Sign-On instances that are related.

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

6 Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install on page 75

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Install the First or Only vCenter Single Sign-On Instance in a vCenter Server Deployment

Create the only vCenter Single Sign-On instance in a basic vCenter Single Sign-On installation or the first vCenter Single Sign-On instance in a deployment with multiple vCenter Single Sign-On instances.

These instructions let you install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On only. You must install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On and upgrade Inventory Service before upgrading vCenter Server. For most deployments, you can install vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server together on a single host machine by using vCenter Server Simple Install. See “vCenter

Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33 and “Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65.

For more information about vCenter Single Sign-On, see “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter

Server Upgrades,” on page 32and the vSphere Security documentation.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

70 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 If the prerequisites check screen shows any problems, cancel the installation, correct the problems, and

restart the installer.

5 Set the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

This is the password for the user administrator@vsphere.local. vsphere.local is a new domain that is created by vCenter Single Sign-On. After installation, you can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On and in to vCenter Server as adminstrator@vsphere.local.

By default, the password must have at least eight characters, at least one lowercase character, one uppercase character, one number, and one special character. See the vSphere Security documentation for information about changing the password policy. The following characters are not supported in passwords: non-ASCII characters, semicolon (;), double quotation mark ("), single quotation mark ('), circumflex (^), and backslash (\).

6 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

7 Select the deployment mode vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server.

8 Enter the site name for vCenter Single Sign-On.

Choose your own name for the vCenter Single Sign-On site.

9 Review the installation options and click Install.

vCenter Single Sign-On is installed.

After vCenter Single Sign-On is installed or upgraded, the following default identity sources and users are available:

localos

All local operating system users. These users can be granted permissions to vCenter Server. If you are upgrading, those users who already have permissions keep those permissions.

vsphere.local

Contains all users who have administrator access to the vCenter Single SignOn server. Initially, only the user administrator is defined.

What to do next

To deploy vCenter Server with multiple vCenter Single Sign-On instances, install an additional vCenter Single Sign-On at an existing or new site. See “(Optional) Install an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Node

at an Existing Site,” on page 72 or “(Optional) Install an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Node at a New Site,” on page 72. If your vCenter Server deployment requires only one vCenter Single-Sign-On instance,

install the vSphere Web Client. See “Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client,” on page 126.

To add other identity sources, such as a native Active Directory (Integrated Windows Authentication) domain or an OpenLDAP directory service, see “Add a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source,” on page 103.

VMware, Inc. 71

vSphere Upgrade

(Optional) Install an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Node at an Existing Site

Create an additional vCenter Single Sign-On node at an existing vCenter Single Sign-On installation. An additional vCenter Single Sign-On node might be useful if your deployment includes multiple vCenter Server instances.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48.

n

Install the first node in the vCenter Single Sign-On installation. See “Install the First or Only vCenter

n

Single Sign-On Instance in a vCenter Server Deployment,” on page 70.

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

5 Select the deployment mode vCenter Single Sign-On for an additional vCenter Server in an existing

site.

6 Enter the information to point this additional node to the first vCenter Single Sign-On server.

NOTE If the primary node is in a high-availability cluster, enter the address of the primary node load balancer.

a Enter the Partner host name.

The partner host name is the DNS name of the existing vCenter Single Sign-On server to replicate from.

b Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account of the existing vCenter

Single Sign-On server (administrator@vsphere.local).

7 Select an existing site as the partner or enter a new site.

8 Click Install.

(Optional) Install an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Node at a New Site

Create an additional vCenter Single Sign-On node for a multisite vCenter Single Sign-On installation. An additional node can be useful if you need multiple vCenter Server instances in different locations. Authentication information is replicated between vCenter single Sign-On instances that are related.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48.

n

Install the first node in the vCenter Single Sign-On installation. See “Install the First or Only vCenter

n

Single Sign-On Instance in a vCenter Server Deployment,” on page 70.

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

72 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

5 Select the deployment mode vCenter Single Sign-On for an additional vCenter Server with a new

site.

6 Enter the information to point this additional node to the first vCenter Single Sign-On server.

NOTE If the primary node is in a high-availability cluster, enter the address of the primary node load balancer.

a Enter the Partner host name.

The partner host name is the DNS name of the existing vCenter Single Sign-On server to replicate from.

b Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account of the existing vCenter

Single Sign-On server (administrator@vsphere.local).

7 Select an existing site as the partner or enter a new site.

8 Click Install.

The additional vCenter Single Sign-On server is installed.

What to do next

Repeat this procedure for each additional node.

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

If an earlier version of the vSphere Web Client is installed, this procedure upgrades the vSphere Web Client.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Verify that the system has an Internet connection.

n

Verify that the system meets the software requirements for the vSphere Web Client. See “vSphere Web

n

Client Software Requirements,” on page 24.

Before you install or upgrade any vSphere product, synchronize the clocks of all machines on the

n

vSphere network. See “Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network,” on page 53.

Install vCenter Single Sign-On, or upgrade to the current version.

n

Verify that the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server are registered to the same vCenter Single Sign-

n

On server, to ensure that the vSphere Web Client can access the vCenter Server inventory.

Close all browsers before installing or uninstalling the vSphere Web Client.

n

VMware, Inc. 73

vSphere Upgrade

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vSphere Web Client and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

4 Either accept the default destination folder or click Change to select another location.

5 Accept or change the default port settings.

6 Enter the information to register the vSphere Web Client with vCenter Single Sign-On.

Log in as a member of the Administrators group on the host machine, with a user name that does not contain any non-ASCII characters.

patent and license agreements.

The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

If 8.3 name creation is disabled on the host machine, do not install the vSphere Web Clientin a directory that does not have an 8.3 short name or has a name that contains spaces. This situation will make the vSphere Web Client inaccessible.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered for the administrator user when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP: 7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

7 Click Install.

8 Start the vSphere Web Client by taking one of the following actions.

If you are starting the vSphere Web Client for the first time, open a supported browser, and go to

n

https://vSphere_Web_Client_host_name_or_IP:9443/vsphere-client.

In subsequent sessions, you can start the vSphere Web Client from the Windows Start menu, by

n

selecting Programs > VMware > VMware vSphere Web Client > vSphere Web Client.

NOTE After you upgrade the vSphere Web Client, when you log in for the first time, you may see the

error message Failed to navigate to desired location. This can happen when a vSphere Web Client session from the previous version remains open when you upgrade. In this case, refresh the browser and log in again.

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

These instructions upgrade vCenter Inventory Service only. You must install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On before upgrading Inventory Service and vCenter Server.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

74 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Download the vCenter Server Installer.

n

Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Inventory Service and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 If you are upgrading or reinstalling an existing instance of Inventory Service, choose whether to keep

the existing database or replace it with a new empty database.

5 Click Install.

Inventory Service is upgraded.

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Alternatively, you can upgrade vCenter Server as part of a Simple Install. See “Use Simple Install to

Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65 and “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

This procedure requires downtime for the vCenter Server that you are upgrading. You do not need to turn off virtual machines.

If an earlier version of vCenter Server is on your machine, the vCenter Server installer detects and upgrades it. If the upgrade fails, no automatic rollback occurs to the previous vCenter Server version.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Install vCenter Single Sign-On and Inventory Service.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Server and click Install.

VMware, Inc. 75

vSphere Upgrade

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

4 Enter or confirm your database credentials.

5 Select whether to upgrade the vCenter Server database.

6 Click I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.

7 Select how to upgrade vCenter Agent.

patent and license agreements.

Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database to continue with the upgrade to vCenter Server.

n

Select Do not upgrade existing vCenter Server database if you do not have a backup copy of your

n

database.

You cannot continue the upgrade.

Option Description

Automatic

Manual

To automatically upgrade vCenter Agent on all the hosts in the vCenter Server inventory.

If one of the following applies:

You need to control the timing of vCenter Agent upgrades on specific

n

hosts.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable

n

vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

8 Select the account for the vCenter Service to run in.

Option Description

SYSTEM Account

User-specified account

Select the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next. You cannot use the Use Windows Local System Account account if you are using the bundled database or SQL Server with Windows authentication.

Deselect the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the account password and the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next.

9 Accept or change the port numbers to connect to vCenter Server.

10 (Optional) Select Increase the number of available ephemeral ports.

11 Select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for several Java services that are

used by vCenter Server.

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in the topic vCenter Server Hardware Requirements.

76 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

12 Enter the information to register vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP:7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

NOTE If you installed vCenter Single Sign-On in a vCenter Server Appliance, you can enter the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user as root@localos. In this case, the password is the root password of the vCenter Server Appliance. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://vCenter_Appliance_IP_or_host_name:{7444}/lookupservice/sdk.

13 Enter the Inventory Service URL.

The Inventory Service URL takes the form https://Inventory_Service_host_FQDN_or_IP:10443. 10443 is the default Inventory Service HTTPS port number. If you entered a different port number when you installed Inventory Service, use that port number here.

14 Click Install.

Installation might take several minutes. Multiple progress bars appear during the installation of the selected components.

What to do next

Review the topics in Chapter 6, “After You Upgrade vCenter Server,” on page 125 for other postupgrade actions you might want to take.

Use Custom Install to Upgrade a Basic vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment of Version 5.1.x vCenter Server and Required Components

You can upgrade vCenter and components separately to customize the location and configuration of the components. The basic vCenter Single Sign-On deployment contains only one vCenter Single Sign-On node.

For most basic vCenter Single Sign-On deployments, with all components on the same host machine, you can upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server together on a single host machine using the vCenter Server Simple Install option.

See “Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review the topics in Chapter 4, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server,” on page 31.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Procedure

1 Install or Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On in a Basic Deployment on page 78

Create or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On in a vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

VMware, Inc. 77

vSphere Upgrade

2 Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client on page 79

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

3 Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install on page 81

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

4 Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install on page 81

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Install or Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On in a Basic Deployment

Create or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On in a vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

These instructions let you install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On only. You must install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On and upgrade Inventory Service before upgrading vCenter Server. For most deployments, you can install vCenter Single Sign-On, the vSphere Web Client, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server together on a single host machine by using vCenter Server Simple Install. See “vCenter

Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33 and “Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65.

For more information about vCenter Single Sign-On, see “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter

Server Upgrades,” on page 32 and the vSphere Security documentation.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 If the prerequisites check screen shows any problems, cancel the installation, correct the problems, and

restart the installer.

5 If you are installing a new instance of vCenter Single Sign-On, proceed to Step 6Step 7. If you are

upgrading an existing installation of vCenter Single Sign-On, take the following steps:

a Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

b Proceed to Step 10.

78 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

6 Set the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

This is the password for the user administrator@vsphere.local. vsphere.local is a new domain that is created by vCenter Single Sign-On. After installation, you can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On and in to vCenter Server as adminstrator@vsphere.local.

By default, the password must have at least eight characters, at least one lowercase character, one uppercase character, one number, and one special character. See the vSphere Security documentation for information about changing the password policy. The following characters are not supported in passwords: non-ASCII characters, semicolon (;), double quotation mark ("), single quotation mark ('), circumflex (^), and backslash (\).

7 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

8 Select the deployment mode vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server.

9 Enter the site name for vCenter Single Sign-On.

Choose your own name for the vCenter Single Sign-On site.

10 Review the installation options and click Install.

vCenter Single Sign-On is installed or upgraded.

After vCenter Single Sign-On is installed or upgraded, the following default identity sources and users are available:

localos

All local operating system users. These users can be granted permissions to vCenter Server. If you are upgrading, those users who already have permissions keep those permissions.

vsphere.local

Contains all users who have administrator access to the vCenter Single SignOn server. Initially, only the user administrator is defined.

To add other identity sources, such as a native Active Directory (Integrated Windows Authentication) domain or an OpenLDAP directory service, see “Add a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source,” on page 103.

What to do next

Upgrade the vSphere Web Client. See “Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client,” on page 126.

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

If an earlier version of the vSphere Web Client is installed, this procedure upgrades the vSphere Web Client.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Verify that the system has an Internet connection.

n

Verify that the system meets the software requirements for the vSphere Web Client. See “vSphere Web

n

Client Software Requirements,” on page 24.

VMware, Inc. 79

vSphere Upgrade

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vSphere Web Client and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

4 Either accept the default destination folder or click Change to select another location.

Before you install or upgrade any vSphere product, synchronize the clocks of all machines on the vSphere network. See “Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network,” on page 53.

Install vCenter Single Sign-On, or upgrade to the current version.

Verify that the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server are registered to the same vCenter Single SignOn server, to ensure that the vSphere Web Client can access the vCenter Server inventory.

Close all browsers before installing or uninstalling the vSphere Web Client.

Log in as a member of the Administrators group on the host machine, with a user name that does not contain any non-ASCII characters.

patent and license agreements.

The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

If 8.3 name creation is disabled on the host machine, do not install the vSphere Web Clientin a directory that does not have an 8.3 short name or has a name that contains spaces. This situation will make the vSphere Web Client inaccessible.

5 Accept or change the default port settings.

6 Enter the information to register the vSphere Web Client with vCenter Single Sign-On.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered for the administrator user when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP: 7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

7 Click Install.

8 Start the vSphere Web Client by taking one of the following actions.

If you are starting the vSphere Web Client for the first time, open a supported browser, and go to

n

https://vSphere_Web_Client_host_name_or_IP:9443/vsphere-client.

In subsequent sessions, you can start the vSphere Web Client from the Windows Start menu, by

n

selecting Programs > VMware > VMware vSphere Web Client > vSphere Web Client.

NOTE After you upgrade the vSphere Web Client, when you log in for the first time, you may see the

error message Failed to navigate to desired location. This can happen when a vSphere Web Client session from the previous version remains open when you upgrade. In this case, refresh the browser and log in again.

80 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

These instructions upgrade vCenter Inventory Service only. You must install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On before upgrading Inventory Service and vCenter Server.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Download the vCenter Server Installer.

n

Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Inventory Service and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 If you are upgrading or reinstalling an existing instance of Inventory Service, choose whether to keep

the existing database or replace it with a new empty database.

5 Click Install.

Inventory Service is upgraded.

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Alternatively, you can upgrade vCenter Server as part of a Simple Install. See “Use Simple Install to

Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65 and “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

This procedure requires downtime for the vCenter Server that you are upgrading. You do not need to turn off virtual machines.

If an earlier version of vCenter Server is on your machine, the vCenter Server installer detects and upgrades it. If the upgrade fails, no automatic rollback occurs to the previous vCenter Server version.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

VMware, Inc. 81

vSphere Upgrade

Prerequisites

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Server and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

4 Enter or confirm your database credentials.

5 Select whether to upgrade the vCenter Server database.

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

Install vCenter Single Sign-On and Inventory Service.

patent and license agreements.

Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database to continue with the upgrade to vCenter Server.

n

Select Do not upgrade existing vCenter Server database if you do not have a backup copy of your

n

database.

You cannot continue the upgrade.

6 Click I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.

7 Select how to upgrade vCenter Agent.

Option Description

Automatic

Manual

To automatically upgrade vCenter Agent on all the hosts in the vCenter Server inventory.

If one of the following applies:

You need to control the timing of vCenter Agent upgrades on specific

n

hosts.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable

n

vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

8 Select the account for the vCenter Service to run in.

Option Description

SYSTEM Account

User-specified account

Select the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next. You cannot use the Use Windows Local System Account account if you are using the bundled database or SQL Server with Windows authentication.

Deselect the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the account password and the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next.

9 Accept or change the port numbers to connect to vCenter Server.

10 (Optional) Select Increase the number of available ephemeral ports.

82 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

11 Select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for several Java services that are

used by vCenter Server.

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in the topic vCenter Server Hardware Requirements.

12 Enter the information to register vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP:7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

NOTE If you installed vCenter Single Sign-On in a vCenter Server Appliance, you can enter the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user as root@localos. In this case, the password is the root password of the vCenter Server Appliance. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://vCenter_Appliance_IP_or_host_name:{7444}/lookupservice/sdk.

13 Enter the Inventory Service URL.

The Inventory Service URL takes the form https://Inventory_Service_host_FQDN_or_IP:10443. 10443 is the default Inventory Service HTTPS port number. If you entered a different port number when you installed Inventory Service, use that port number here.

14 Click Install.

Installation might take several minutes. Multiple progress bars appear during the installation of the selected components.

What to do next

Review the topics in Chapter 6, “After You Upgrade vCenter Server,” on page 125 for other postupgrade actions you might want to take.

Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment

In high availability mode, two vCenter Single Sign-On nodes work with the same database, data, and user stores to ensure that vCenter Single Sign-On is not a single point of failure.

This procedure upgrades an existing vCenter Server that was installed with a high availability vCenter Single Sign-On deployment.

You can upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On in a high availability installation without taking all vCenter Single Sign-On nodes offline at the same time. While the first Single Sign-On node is being upgraded, the load balancer will redirect all requests to the second node. After the first node is successfully upgraded, you can upgrade the second node.

VMware, Inc. 83

vSphere Upgrade

vCenter Server can continue running while you upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On. Logged in users can continue accessing vCenter Server and related solutions that are connected to vCenter Single Sign-On during the upgrade. However, vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client, and vCenter Inventory Service cannot be started while the first Single Sign-On node is offline.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

n

Procedure

1 Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Node in a High Availability Installation on page 84

Review the topics in Chapter 4, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server,” on page 31.

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

Verify that the load balancer in your existing vCenter Single Sign-On high availability deployment is configured as described in VMware Knowledge Base articles 2034157 and 2033588 .

Upgrade the first node in a vCenter Single Sign-On installation for high availability.

2 Upgrade an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Server for High Availability on page 85

Upgrade an additional vCenter Single Sign-On node for an existing high availability vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

3 Reconfigure the Load Balancer After Upgrading a vCenter Single Sign-On High Availability

Deployment to Version 5.5 on page 86

After you upgrade both nodes of a 5.1.x vCenter Single Sign-On high availability deployment to version 5.5, reconfigure the load balancer.

4 Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client on page 88

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

5 Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install on page 89

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

6 Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install on page 90

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Node in a High Availability Installation

Upgrade the first node in a vCenter Single Sign-On installation for high availability.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

For more information about vCenter Single Sign-On, see “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter

Server Upgrades,” on page 32 and the vSphere Security documentation.

84 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

Prerequisites

Review Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

5 Click Install.

The first high availability vCenter Single Sign-On node is upgraded.

After vCenter Single Sign-On is installed or upgraded, the following default identity sources and users are available:

localos

All local operating system users. These users can be granted permissions to vCenter Server. If you are upgrading, those users who already have permissions keep those permissions.

vsphere.local

Contains all users who have administrator access to the vCenter Single SignOn server. Initially, only the user administrator is defined.

To add other identity sources, such as a native Active Directory (Integrated Windows Authentication) domain or an OpenLDAP directory service, see “Add a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source,” on page 103.

What to do next

Upgrade the second vCenter Single Sign-On instance. See “Upgrade an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On

Server for High Availability,” on page 85.

Upgrade an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Server for High Availability

Upgrade an additional vCenter Single Sign-On node for an existing high availability vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

Prerequisites

See the previous steps in this multitask topic, “Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a

Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment,” on page 83

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

5 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

6 Select the deployment mode Additional server in an existing domain.

VMware, Inc. 85

vSphere Upgrade

7 Enter the information to point this additional node to the first vCenter Single Sign-On server.

NOTE If the primary node is in a high-availability cluster, enter the address of the primary node load balancer.

a Enter the Partner host name.

The partner host name is the DNS name of the existing vCenter Single Sign-On server to replicate from.

b Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account of the existing vCenter

Single Sign-On server (administrator@vsphere.local).

8 Select an existing site as the partner or enter a new site.

9 Click Install.

Reconfigure the Load Balancer After Upgrading a vCenter Single Sign-On High Availability Deployment to Version 5.5

After you upgrade both nodes of a 5.1.x vCenter Single Sign-On high availability deployment to version 5.5, reconfigure the load balancer.

Prerequisites

Upgrade both vCenter Single Sign-On nodes to version 5.5.

Procedure

1 In the httpd.conf file of the load balancer, in the section Configure the STS for clustering, change

values from ims to sts.

Use the following example as a model.

# Configure the STS for clustering ProxyPass /sts/ balancer://stscluster/ nofailover=On ProxyPassReverse /sts/ balancer://stscluster/

Header add Set-Cookie "ROUTEID=.%{BALANCER_WORKER_ROUTE}e; path=/sts" env=BALANCER_ROUTE_CHANGED <Proxy balancer://stscluster> BalancerMember https://sso1.example.com:7444/sts route=node1 loadfactor=100 retry=300 BalancerMember https://sso2.example.com:7444/sts route=node2 loadfactor=1 retry=300 ProxySet lbmethod=byrequests stickysession=ROUTEID failonstatus=500 </Proxy>

2 Configure both vCenter Single Sign-On servers for load balancing.

a In the first vCenter Single Sign-On node, edit the file server.xml to add the entry

jvmRoute="node1".

The default location of the file is

C:\ProgramData\VMware\cis\runtime\VMwareSTService\conf\server.xml.

b Restart TC server.

c In the second vCenter Single Sign-On node, edit the file server.xml to add the entry

jvmRoute="node2".

The default location of the file is

C:\ProgramData\VMware\cis\runtime\VMwareSTService\conf\server.xml.

d Restart TC server.

86 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

3 In the first vCenter Single Sign-On node, take the following actions:

a From a command prompt, run ssolscli.cmd listServices to get the service endpoints.

b Edit the files sts_id, admin_id, and gc_id to match the ServerId's from the output of the

ssolscli.cmd listServices command.

Each file should contains single line similar to:

SSO node1 Site name:a03772af-b7db-4629-ac88-ba677516e2b1

4 Edit the file sts.properties to replace the vCenter Single Sign-On hostname with the load balancer

hostname.

Use the following example as a model:

service

friendlyName=The security token service interface of the SSO server version=1.5 ownerId= type=urn:sso:sts description=The security token service interface of the SSO server productId=product:sso viSite=SSO node1 site name

endpoint0

uri=https://loadbalancer fqdn.com:7444/sts/STSService/vsphere.local ssl=C:\updateInfo\cacert.pem protocol=wsTrust

5 Edit the file admin.properties to replace the vCenter Single Sign-On hostname with the load balancer

hostname.

Use the following example as a model:

service

friendlyName=The administrative interface of the SSO server version=1.5 ownerId= type=urn:sso:admin description=The administrative interface of the SSO server productId=product:sso viSite=SSO node1 site name

endpoint0

uri=https://loadbalancer fqdn.com:7444/sso-adminserver/sdk/vsphere.local ssl=C:\updateInfo\cacert.pem protocol=vmomi

6 Edit the file gc.properties to replace the vCenter Single Sign-On hostname with the load balancer

hostname.

Use the following example as a model:

service

friendlyName=The group check interface of the SSO server version=1.5 ownerId= type=urn:sso:groupcheck description=The group check interface of the SSO server productId=product:sso viSite=SSO node1 site name

VMware, Inc. 87

vSphere Upgrade

7 For each of the service ID, run the command ssolscli.cmd updateService:

8 Restart the first vCenter Single Sign-On node.

9 Restart the second vCenter Single Sign-On node.

10 Restart the load balancer.

What to do next

Upgrade the vSphere Web Client.

endpoint0

uri=https://loadbalancer fqdn.com:7444/sso-adminserver/sdk/vsphere.local ssl=C:\updateInfo\cacert.pem protocol=vmomi

ssolscli.cmd updateService -d https://sso1.example.com/lookupservice/sdk -u Administrator@vsphere.local -p ****** -si sts_id -ip sts.properties ssolscli.cmd updateService -d https://sso1.example.com/lookupservice/sdk -u Administrator@vsphere.local -p ****** -si admin_id -ip admin.properties ssolscli.cmd updateService -d https://sso1.example.com/lookupservice/sdk -u Administrator@vsphere.local -p ****** -si gc_id -ip gc.properties

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

If an earlier version of the vSphere Web Client is installed, this procedure upgrades the vSphere Web Client.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Verify that the system has an Internet connection.

n

Verify that the system meets the software requirements for the vSphere Web Client. See “vSphere Web

n

Client Software Requirements,” on page 24.

Before you install or upgrade any vSphere product, synchronize the clocks of all machines on the

n

vSphere network. See “Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network,” on page 53.

Install vCenter Single Sign-On, or upgrade to the current version.

n

Verify that the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server are registered to the same vCenter Single Sign-

n

On server, to ensure that the vSphere Web Client can access the vCenter Server inventory.

Close all browsers before installing or uninstalling the vSphere Web Client.

n

Log in as a member of the Administrators group on the host machine, with a user name that does not

n

contain any non-ASCII characters.

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

88 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

2 Select vSphere Web Client and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Either accept the default destination folder or click Change to select another location.

The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

If 8.3 name creation is disabled on the host machine, do not install the vSphere Web Clientin a directory that does not have an 8.3 short name or has a name that contains spaces. This situation will make the vSphere Web Client inaccessible.

5 Accept or change the default port settings.

6 Enter the information to register the vSphere Web Client with vCenter Single Sign-On.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered for the administrator user when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP: 7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

7 Click Install.

8 Start the vSphere Web Client by taking one of the following actions.

If you are starting the vSphere Web Client for the first time, open a supported browser, and go to

n

https://vSphere_Web_Client_host_name_or_IP:9443/vsphere-client.

In subsequent sessions, you can start the vSphere Web Client from the Windows Start menu, by

n

selecting Programs > VMware > VMware vSphere Web Client > vSphere Web Client.

NOTE After you upgrade the vSphere Web Client, when you log in for the first time, you may see the

error message Failed to navigate to desired location. This can happen when a vSphere Web Client session from the previous version remains open when you upgrade. In this case, refresh the browser and log in again.

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

These instructions upgrade vCenter Inventory Service only. You must install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On before upgrading Inventory Service and vCenter Server.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Download the vCenter Server Installer.

n

VMware, Inc. 89

vSphere Upgrade

Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Inventory Service and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 If you are upgrading or reinstalling an existing instance of Inventory Service, choose whether to keep

the existing database or replace it with a new empty database.

5 Click Install.

Inventory Service is upgraded.

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Alternatively, you can upgrade vCenter Server as part of a Simple Install. See “Use Simple Install to

Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65 and “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

This procedure requires downtime for the vCenter Server that you are upgrading. You do not need to turn off virtual machines.

If an earlier version of vCenter Server is on your machine, the vCenter Server installer detects and upgrades it. If the upgrade fails, no automatic rollback occurs to the previous vCenter Server version.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Install vCenter Single Sign-On and Inventory Service.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Server and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Enter or confirm your database credentials.

90 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

5 Select whether to upgrade the vCenter Server database.

Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database to continue with the upgrade to vCenter Server.

n

Select Do not upgrade existing vCenter Server database if you do not have a backup copy of your

n

database.

You cannot continue the upgrade.

6 Click I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.

7 Select how to upgrade vCenter Agent.

Option Description

Automatic

Manual

To automatically upgrade vCenter Agent on all the hosts in the vCenter Server inventory.

If one of the following applies:

You need to control the timing of vCenter Agent upgrades on specific

n

hosts.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable

n

vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

8 Select the account for the vCenter Service to run in.

Option Description

SYSTEM Account

User-specified account

Select the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next. You cannot use the Use Windows Local System Account account if you are using the bundled database or SQL Server with Windows authentication.

Deselect the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the account password and the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next.

9 Accept or change the port numbers to connect to vCenter Server.

10 (Optional) Select Increase the number of available ephemeral ports.

11 Select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for several Java services that are

used by vCenter Server.

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in the topic vCenter Server Hardware Requirements.

VMware, Inc. 91

vSphere Upgrade

12 Enter the information to register vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On.

13 Enter the Inventory Service URL.

14 Click Install.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP:7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

NOTE If you installed vCenter Single Sign-On in a vCenter Server Appliance, you can enter the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user as root@localos. In this case, the password is the root password of the vCenter Server Appliance. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://vCenter_Appliance_IP_or_host_name:{7444}/lookupservice/sdk.

The Inventory Service URL takes the form https://Inventory_Service_host_FQDN_or_IP:10443. 10443 is the default Inventory Service HTTPS port number. If you entered a different port number when you installed Inventory Service, use that port number here.

Installation might take several minutes. Multiple progress bars appear during the installation of the selected components.

What to do next

Review the topics in Chapter 6, “After You Upgrade vCenter Server,” on page 125 for other postupgrade actions you might want to take.

Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment

The vCenter Server 5.1.x multisite deployment enables a single administrator to administer vCenter Server instances that are deployed on geographically dispersed sites in Linked Mode. when you upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5, the vCenter Single Sign-On deployment changes.

In vCenter Server 5.5, each vCenter Single Sign-On instance uses the default identity source, and can use other identity sources if the domain is included when a user logs in.

There are no components in the vSphere suite that communicate with multiple vCenter Single Sign-On servers. Each vSphere component should be configured to communicate with its local vCenter Single SignOn instance for faster access.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review the topics in Chapter 4, “Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server,” on page 31.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

When you upgrade from an existing multisite Single Sign-On deployment of vCenter Server, to

n

maintain Linked Mode functionality you must upgrade all Single Sign-On instances to the same version and manually resynchronize all Single Sign-On instances. See Knowledge Base articles

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2042849 and http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2038677.

92 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

Procedure

1 Install or Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Server in a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On

Installation on page 93

Create or upgrade the first vCenter Single Sign-On server for a multisite vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

2 Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client on page 94

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

3 Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install on page 96

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

4 Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install on page 96

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

5 Install or Upgrade an Additional Single Sign-On Server for a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On

Installation on page 98

Create or upgrade an additional vCenter Single Sign-On server for a multisite vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

6 Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client on page 99

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

7 Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install on page 100

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

8 Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install on page 101

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Install or Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Server in a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Installation

Create or upgrade the first vCenter Single Sign-On server for a multisite vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

VMware, Inc. 93

vSphere Upgrade

4 If you are installing a new instance of vCenter Single Sign-On , proceed to Step 5. If you are upgrading

5 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

6 Select the deployment mode vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server.

7 Set the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

8 Review the installation options and click Install.

The first vCenter Single Sign-On multisite server is installed or upgraded.

an existing installation of vCenter Single Sign-On , take the following steps:

a Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account.

b Proceed to Step 8.

This is the password for the user administrator@vsphere.local. vsphere.local is a new domain that is created by vCenter Single Sign-On. After installation, you can log in to vCenter Single Sign-On and in to vCenter Server as adminstrator@vsphere.local.

By default, the password must have at least eight characters, at least one lowercase character, one uppercase character, one number, and one special character. See the vSphere Security documentation for information about changing the password policy. The following characters are not supported in passwords: non-ASCII characters, semicolon (;), double quotation mark ("), single quotation mark ('), circumflex (^), and backslash (\).

After vCenter Single Sign-On is installed or upgraded, the following default identity sources and users are available:

localos

All local operating system users. These users can be granted permissions to vCenter Server. If you are upgrading, those users who already have permissions keep those permissions.

vsphere.local

Contains all users who have administrator access to the vCenter Single SignOn server. Initially, only the user administrator is defined.

To add other identity sources, such as a native Active Directory (Integrated Windows Authentication) domain or an OpenLDAP directory service, see “Add a vCenter Single Sign-On Identity Source,” on page 103.

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

If an earlier version of the vSphere Web Client is installed, this procedure upgrades the vSphere Web Client.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Verify that the system has an Internet connection.

n

Verify that the system meets the software requirements for the vSphere Web Client. See “vSphere Web

n

Client Software Requirements,” on page 24.

94 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

Before you install or upgrade any vSphere product, synchronize the clocks of all machines on the

n

vSphere network. See “Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network,” on page 53.

Install vCenter Single Sign-On, or upgrade to the current version.

n

Verify that the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server are registered to the same vCenter Single Sign-

n

On server, to ensure that the vSphere Web Client can access the vCenter Server inventory.

Close all browsers before installing or uninstalling the vSphere Web Client.

n

Log in as a member of the Administrators group on the host machine, with a user name that does not

n

contain any non-ASCII characters.

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vSphere Web Client and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Either accept the default destination folder or click Change to select another location.

The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

If 8.3 name creation is disabled on the host machine, do not install the vSphere Web Clientin a directory that does not have an 8.3 short name or has a name that contains spaces. This situation will make the vSphere Web Client inaccessible.

5 Accept or change the default port settings.

6 Enter the information to register the vSphere Web Client with vCenter Single Sign-On.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered for the administrator user when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP: 7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

7 Click Install.

8 Start the vSphere Web Client by taking one of the following actions.

If you are starting the vSphere Web Client for the first time, open a supported browser, and go to

n

https://vSphere_Web_Client_host_name_or_IP:9443/vsphere-client.

In subsequent sessions, you can start the vSphere Web Client from the Windows Start menu, by

n

selecting Programs > VMware > VMware vSphere Web Client > vSphere Web Client.

NOTE After you upgrade the vSphere Web Client, when you log in for the first time, you may see the

error message Failed to navigate to desired location. This can happen when a vSphere Web Client session from the previous version remains open when you upgrade. In this case, refresh the browser and log in again.

VMware, Inc. 95

vSphere Upgrade

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

These instructions upgrade vCenter Inventory Service only. You must install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On before upgrading Inventory Service and vCenter Server.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Download the vCenter Server Installer.

n

Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Inventory Service and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 If you are upgrading or reinstalling an existing instance of Inventory Service, choose whether to keep

the existing database or replace it with a new empty database.

5 Click Install.

Inventory Service is upgraded.

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

You can upgrade vCenter Server separately after installing vCenter Single Sign-On, and upgrading Inventory Service.

Alternatively, you can upgrade vCenter Server as part of a Simple Install. See “Use Simple Install to

Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components,” on page 65 and “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

This procedure requires downtime for the vCenter Server that you are upgrading. You do not need to turn off virtual machines.

If an earlier version of vCenter Server is on your machine, the vCenter Server installer detects and upgrades it. If the upgrade fails, no automatic rollback occurs to the previous vCenter Server version.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

96 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

Prerequisites

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

Review “How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades,” on page 32.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48

n

Install vCenter Single Sign-On and Inventory Service.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Server and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

4 Enter or confirm your database credentials.

5 Select whether to upgrade the vCenter Server database.

Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database to continue with the upgrade to vCenter Server.

n

Select Do not upgrade existing vCenter Server database if you do not have a backup copy of your

n

database.

You cannot continue the upgrade.

6 Click I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.

7 Select how to upgrade vCenter Agent.

Option Description

Automatic

Manual

To automatically upgrade vCenter Agent on all the hosts in the vCenter Server inventory.

If one of the following applies:

You need to control the timing of vCenter Agent upgrades on specific

n

hosts.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable

n

vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

vCenter Agent is installed on each host in the inventory to enable vCenter Server to manage the host. vCenter Agent must be upgraded when vCenter Server is upgraded.

8 Select the account for the vCenter Service to run in.

Option Description

SYSTEM Account

User-specified account

Select the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next. You cannot use the Use Windows Local System Account account if you are using the bundled database or SQL Server with Windows authentication.

Deselect the Use Windows Local System Account check box, type the account password and the fully qualified domain name of the vCenter Server host, and click Next.

9 Accept or change the port numbers to connect to vCenter Server.

10 (Optional) Select Increase the number of available ephemeral ports.

VMware, Inc. 97

vSphere Upgrade

11 Select the size of your vCenter Server inventory to allocate memory for several Java services that are

12 Enter the information to register vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On.

13 Enter the Inventory Service URL.

used by vCenter Server.

This setting determines the maximum JVM heap settings for VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices (Tomcat), Inventory Service, and Profile-Driven Storage Service. You can adjust this setting after installation if the number of hosts in your environment changes. See the recommendations in the topic vCenter Server Hardware Requirements.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP:7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

NOTE If you installed vCenter Single Sign-On in a vCenter Server Appliance, you can enter the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user as root@localos. In this case, the password is the root password of the vCenter Server Appliance. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://vCenter_Appliance_IP_or_host_name:{7444}/lookupservice/sdk.

The Inventory Service URL takes the form https://Inventory_Service_host_FQDN_or_IP:10443. 10443 is the default Inventory Service HTTPS port number. If you entered a different port number when you installed Inventory Service, use that port number here.

14 Click Install.

Installation might take several minutes. Multiple progress bars appear during the installation of the selected components.

What to do next

Review the topics in Chapter 6, “After You Upgrade vCenter Server,” on page 125 for other postupgrade actions you might want to take.

Install or Upgrade an Additional Single Sign-On Server for a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Installation

Create or upgrade an additional vCenter Single Sign-On server for a multisite vCenter Single Sign-On installation.

Prerequisites

Install or upgrade the first node in the multisite vCenter Single Sign-On installation. See “Install or

n

Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Server in a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Installation,” on

page 93.

Review “vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes,” on page 33.

n

See “Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,” on page 48.

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vCenter Single Sign-On and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

patent and license agreements.

98 VMware, Inc.

Chapter 5 Upgrading vCenter Server

4 If you are installing a new instance of Single Sign-On, proceed to Step 5. If you are upgrading an

existing installation of Single Sign-On, take the following steps:

a Enter the password for the Single Sign-On administrator account.

b Proceed to Step 9.

5 Accept or change the HTTPS port for vCenter Single Sign-On.

6 Select the deployment mode vCenter Single Sign-On for an additional vCenter Server with a new

site.

7 Enter the information to point this additional node to the first vCenter Single Sign-On server.

NOTE If the primary node is in a high-availability cluster, enter the address of the primary node load balancer.

a Enter the Partner host name.

The partner host name is the DNS name of the existing vCenter Single Sign-On server to replicate from.

b Enter the password for the vCenter Single Sign-On administrator account of the existing vCenter

Single Sign-On server (administrator@vsphere.local).

8 Select an existing site as the partner or enter a new site.

9 Click Install.

The additional vCenter Single Sign-On server is installed.

What to do next

Repeat this procedure for each additional multisite node.

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

The vSphere Web Client lets you connect to a vCenter Server system to manage your vSphere deployment through a browser.

If an earlier version of the vSphere Web Client is installed, this procedure upgrades the vSphere Web Client.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

Prerequisites

Download the vCenter Server installer. See “Download the vCenter Server Installer,” on page 59.

n

Verify that the system has an Internet connection.

n

Verify that the system meets the software requirements for the vSphere Web Client. See “vSphere Web

n

Client Software Requirements,” on page 24.

Before you install or upgrade any vSphere product, synchronize the clocks of all machines on the

n

vSphere network. See “Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network,” on page 53.

Install vCenter Single Sign-On, or upgrade to the current version.

n

Verify that the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Server are registered to the same vCenter Single Sign-

n

On server, to ensure that the vSphere Web Client can access the vCenter Server inventory.

VMware, Inc. 99

vSphere Upgrade

n

Procedure

1 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the installer.

2 Select vSphere Web Client and click Install.

3 Follow the prompts in the installation wizard to choose the installer language, and agree to the end user

4 Either accept the default destination folder or click Change to select another location.

5 Accept or change the default port settings.

6 Enter the information to register the vSphere Web Client with vCenter Single Sign-On.

Close all browsers before installing or uninstalling the vSphere Web Client.

Log in as a member of the Administrators group on the host machine, with a user name that does not contain any non-ASCII characters.

patent and license agreements.

The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation points (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).

If 8.3 name creation is disabled on the host machine, do not install the vSphere Web Clientin a directory that does not have an 8.3 short name or has a name that contains spaces. This situation will make the vSphere Web Client inaccessible.

The vCenter Single Sign-On administrator user name is administrator@vsphere.local, and the password must match the password you entered for the administrator user when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. The Lookup Service URL takes the form https://SSO_host_FQDN_or_IP: 7444/lookupservice/sdk, where 7444 is the default vCenter Single Sign-On HTTPS port number. Your entry should match the entry you made when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On. If you entered a different port number when you installed vCenter Single Sign-On, use that port number.

7 Click Install.

8 Start the vSphere Web Client by taking one of the following actions.

If you are starting the vSphere Web Client for the first time, open a supported browser, and go to

n

https://vSphere_Web_Client_host_name_or_IP:9443/vsphere-client.

In subsequent sessions, you can start the vSphere Web Client from the Windows Start menu, by

n

selecting Programs > VMware > VMware vSphere Web Client > vSphere Web Client.

NOTE After you upgrade the vSphere Web Client, when you log in for the first time, you may see the

error message Failed to navigate to desired location. This can happen when a vSphere Web Client session from the previous version remains open when you upgrade. In this case, refresh the browser and log in again.

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

You can use Custom Install to upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On, vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Server separately to customize the location and configuration of the components.

These instructions upgrade vCenter Inventory Service only. You must install or upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On before upgrading Inventory Service and vCenter Server.

NOTE vCenter Server 5.5 supports connection between vCenter Server and vCenter Server components by IP address only if the IP address is IPv4-compliant. To connect to a vCenter Server system in an IPv6 environment, you must use the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) or host name of the vCenter Server. The best practice is to use the FQDN, which works in all cases, instead of the IP address, which can change if assigned by DHCP.

100 VMware, Inc.

VMware vSphere - 5.5 User’s Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

About vSphere Upgrade

Updated Information

Overview of the Upgrade Process 1

System Requirements 3

ESXi Hardware Requirements

Recommendation for Enhanced ESXi Performance

Hardware Requirements for vCenter Server, the vSphere Web Client , vCenter Inventory Service, and vCenter Single Sign-On

vCenter Server Software Requirements

vSphere Web Client Software Requirements

Providing Sufficient Space for System Logging

Required Ports for vCenter Server

Required Ports for the vCenter Server Appliance

Conflict Between vCenter Server and IIS for Port 80

DNS Requirements for vSphere

Supported Remote Management Server Models and Minimum Firmware Versions

Update Manager Hardware Requirements

Supported Operating Systems and Database Formats

About the vCenter Server Upgrade

How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects vCenter Server Upgrades

vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Modes

vCenter Single Sign-On and High Availability

vCenter Single Sign-On Components

Setting the vCenter Server Administrator User

Authenticating to the vCenter Server Environment

How vCenter Single Sign-On Affects Log In Behavior

Identity Sources for vCenter Server with vCenter Single Sign-On

vCenter Server Upgrade Summary

Best Practices for vCenter Server Upgrades

Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade

vCenter Server Database Configuration Notes

Upgrading to vCenter Server on a Different Machine

Supported Database Upgrades

Confirm That vCenter Server Can Communicate with the Local Database

Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network

Synchronize ESX and ESXi Clocks with a Network Time Server

Synchronize the vCenter Server Appliance Clock with an NTP Server

Configure a Windows NTP Client for Network Clock Synchronization

JDBC URL Formats for the vCenter Server Database

DNS Load Balancing Solutions and vCenter Server Datastore Naming

About the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker

Run the vCenter Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker

Downtime During the vCenter Server Upgrade

Download the vCenter Server Installer

Microsoft SQL Database Set to Unsupported Compatibility Mode Causes vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade to Fail

Upgrading vCenter Server 5

vCenter Server Upgrade and Sign-On Process for Environments that Do Not Include vCenter Single Sign-On

vCenter Server Upgrade and Sign-On Process for Environments with vCenter Single Sign-On

Use Simple Install to Upgrade vCenter Server and Required Components

Install or Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On and the vSphere Web Client as Part of a vCenter Server Simple Install

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service as Part of vCenter Server Simple Install

Upgrade vCenter Server as Part of a Simple Install

Use Custom Install to Upgrade Version 5.0.x and Earlier vCenter Server and Required Components

Install the First or Only vCenter Single Sign-On Instance in a vCenter Server Deployment

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

Use Custom Install to Upgrade a Basic vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment of Version 5.1.x vCenter Server and Required Components

Install or Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On in a Basic Deployment

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x High Availability vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment

Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Node in a High Availability Installation

Upgrade an Additional vCenter Single Sign-On Server for High Availability

Reconfigure the Load Balancer After Upgrading a vCenter Single Sign-On High Availability Deployment to Version 5.5

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

Use Custom Install to Upgrade vCenter Server from a Version 5.1.x Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment

Install or Upgrade the First vCenter Single Sign-On Server in a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Installation

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client

Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service Separately by Using Custom Install

Upgrade vCenter Server Separately by Using Custom Install

Install or Upgrade an Additional Single Sign-On Server for a Multisite vCenter Single Sign-On Installation

Install or Upgrade the vSphere Web Client