How to: Upgrade to vSphere 5
ESX host upgrade
Step 4: Upgrade the ESXi host.
My server is running ESXi 4.1.0, which is eligible for an in-place upgrade to ESXi 5.
When you are ready to upgrade an ESXi host and have gathered the information required to configure the host after the upgrade, you should take the following steps:
- Move all virtual machines to other hosts;
- Remove the ESXi host from vCenter Server;
- If you’re using Fiber Channel storage, I recommend you disconnect the storage from the host before the upgrade process and reconnect after the upgrade completes. This prevents you from accidentally formatting any datastores.
When ready, insert the DVD or mount the ISO-file, boot the server and select the ‘ESXi-5.0.0-standard installer‘ from the boot menu.
Accept the Welcome screen and accept the End User License Agreement.
Select the local partition on which ESXi is installed. The asterisk will indicate that it already contains a VMFS partition. Press F1 to see the details of the partition or press Enter to continue.
Because a local VMFS datastore is detected, three options are show.
- Upgrade ESXi, preserve VMFS datastore;
- Install ESXi, preserve VMFS datastore;
- Install ESXi, overwrite VMFS datastore.
Because I wondered if the installation would really preserve all my settings, I selected the first option.
Check the installation path and press F11 to start the installation/upgrade process.
After the installation completes, remove the installation DVD or unmount the ISO-file and reboot the server.
Once the install completes, reconfigure your host settings and add the host back into vCenter Server.
Move your VMs from the other hosts back onto the new ESXi host.
The final step for this phase is to upgrade your datastores to VMFS version 5. This can be done with live virtual machines running on the datastores and do not require any virtual machine downtime. vSphere 5.0 fully supports datastores with VMFS version 3, so the datastore upgrade may be scheduled at a time that’s convenient for you.
Next, the Virtual Machine upgrade.
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Page 1 – vCenter server upgrade
Page 2 – vSphere client upgrade
Page 3 – Web Client server installation
Page 4 – ESXi host upgrade
Page 5 – Virtual Machine upgrade
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Hi,
I have VC on 2005 express edition. Can I do an upgrade to the VC from 4.1 to 5.0 ??
the upgrade pdf doc suggests that 2005 express edition is not supported.
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/332193?tstart=0
can you please advise. thanks
You can do an upgrade but not an inplace one because SQL 2005 Express is not supported. You will have migrate the database to a supported version first.
how to upgrade vcenter 4.0 to vcenter 5.0 …please let me know same is feasible.
If possible kindlt share the me the Link for the same.
You can do an upgrade from vCenter 2.6 Update 6 by using the data migration tool to upgrade to vCenter Server 5.0 on a different machine.
An in place upgrade is only possible if vCenter is installed on a 64-bit system. If it is installed on a 32-bit system, upgrade by using the data migration tool to upgrade to vCenter Server 5.0 on a different machine.
So, VMware supports in-place upgrades on 64-bit systems from vCenter Server 4.x to vCenter Server 5.0. You can upgrade VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 6 or later and vCenter Server 4.0.x to vCenter Server 5.0 by installing vCenter Server 5.0 on a new machine and migrating the existing database.
Do check the supported operating systems and databases for vCenter 5 before upgrading.
http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-50/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-50-upgrade-guide.pdf
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2003866
If I upgrade my 4.1 VCenter server (64 bit server) to 5.0 will it still manage the 4.1 hosts that I have until I get them upgraded?
yes VC 5 can manage 4.1 hosts. You can move the vm’s off a host then take the host under maintanance mode > then remove from cluster > do a FRESH install of ESXi 5 > then add it back to the cluster. Mind you, if you have vDS then before removing it from the cluster, ensure you have removed the host from the vDS. Once the host is upgraded to 5, you will have to reconfigure the vDS.
Heres some more information that might be helpfull,Upgrade vSphere 4 Environment to vSphere 5http://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0000543.htmPetePeteNetLive
oops broken link sorry http://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0000543.htm
32 GB Memory limitation, would it be a commercial catch on VSphere 5
The above comment related to ESXi VSphere 5
vSphere 5 is ONLY available in ESXi version.
Can vSphere Update Manager be used to upgrade the hosts after upgrading Vcenter 4.1 to 5.0 and upgrading the vSphere Update Manager?
Yes, you can. I actually documented this process with the release of vSphere 4.1. The version has changed but the process will be much the same. Check out: http://www.vmguru.nl/wordpress/2010/07/how-to-upgrade-to-vsphere-4-1/