The document provides an overview of the vSphere upgrade process, specifically focusing on upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5. It details the upgrade requirements, resources, and system specifications, along with the advantages and disadvantages of new installations versus in-place upgrades. Additionally, it discusses design recommendations for single and multiple vCenter Server deployments, ensuring effective management of virtual environments during the upgrade process.

1. vSphere Upgrade Series Part 1:
vCenter Server
Josh Gray, VMware
Justin King, VMware
VSVC5690
#VSVC5690

2. 2
vSphere Deployment Best Practices – vCenter Server 5.1
 Upgrade Overview
 Before vCenter and vCenter Single Sign-On
 Components of vCenter 5.1
 Upgrade Matrix
 vCenter Server 5.5 Requirements
 Upgrade / Install order
 New Install vs In Place Upgrade
 Reference Architecture
 Linked Mode
 vCenter Appliance
 VMware Update Manager (VUM)

3. 3
vSphere Upgrade Overview
 Upgrading vSphere is a multistage process
• Plan your upgrade
• Order is important
• Always start with vCenter
• Don’t forget about plug-ins
• Rolling ESXi host upgrades are supported
• Know your VM upgrade requirements
• Don’t forget about VMFS and VDS
Step 3
ESXi
Step 4
VMs
Step 5
VMFS
Step 1
vCenter
Step 2
VUM
This session focuses on Steps 1 - 2For Steps 3 – 5
see VSVC4945: vSphere Upgrade Part 2

4. 4
vSphere Upgrade Resources
 vSphere Documentation Center
https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/
 VMware Compatibility Guide
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility
 Product Interoperability Matrix
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php

5. 5
Before vCenter had vCenter Single Sign-On
vCenter Server
vCenter Server
Database
vSphere Web Client
(5.0)
• Server-side setting’s
• VMware Plugins
• Third Party Plugins
• vCenter Data• SSL Certificates
• ADAM

6. 6
Added with vCenter Server 5.1
Single Sign-On Inventory Service
• Identity sources
• Database
• Embedded users /
groups and policies
• xDB file format
(Inventory Cache)
• Tags
No new components added with vCenter Server 5.5

7. 7
Upgrade Matrix
 VMware supports in-place upgrades on 64-bit systems from
• vCenter Server 4.x
• vCenter Server 5.0.x
• vCenter Server 5.1.x
*Exception being Windows XP Professional x64
 VMware 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
 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

8. 8
System Requirements (Hardware)
Simple Install (Minimums)
• 2CPU / 12GB RAM / 100GB Disk /
1Gbps
Custom Install (Minimums)
 Single Sign-On
• 1CPU / 3GB RAM / 2GB Disk / 1Gbps
 vSphere Web Client
• 1CPU / 2GB RAM / 2GB Disk / 1Gbps**
 Inventory Service
• 1CPU / 3GB RAM / 5GB Disk / 1Gbps
 vCenter Server
• 2CPU / 4GB RAM / 60GB Disk / 1Gbps

9. 9
System Requirements (Hardware) - Recommended
Simple Install (Recommended)
• 4CPU / 24GB RAM / 200GB Disk / 1Gbps
Custom Install (Recommended)
 Single Sign-On
• 2CPU / 4GB RAM / 8GB Disk / 1Gbps
 vSphere Web Client
• 2CPU / 4GB RAM / 8GB Disk / 1Gbps**
 Inventory Service
• 1CPU / 8GB RAM / 32GB Disk / 1Gbps
 vCenter Server
• 4CPU / 8GB RAM / 100GB Disk / 1Gbps
Based on an Inventory Size of 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines

10. 10
Deprecated Operating Systems
 vCenter Server 5.5 removes support for
• Windows Server 2003 as a host operating system
• Windows Server 2008 (no SP) as a host operating system
• Windows Server 2008 SP1 as a host operating system
Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 SP2 before upgrading vCenter
Server to version 5.5
 vSphere Documentation Center
https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/
 VMware Compatibility Guide
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility
 Product Interoperability Matrix
http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php

11. 11
New Install vs In Place Upgrade
New Install
Pro’s
 Clean Start
 Reconfigure Architecture
 New Hardware
Con’s
 Loss of Historical data
 Rebuild of environment
 Settings manually
recreated
 Time Involved
In place Upgrade
Pro’s
 Most Common
 All Setting’s Maintained
 Slipstreamed Process
 Historical data maintained
Con’s
 Carry over of old/unused
data
 Performance (hardware?)

12. 12
Installation – Then and Now
Download and Install
vCenter
Download and Install
VI Client on desktop
vCenter 4.x / 5.0
vCenter on
Windows
vCenter
Server
Appliance

13. 13
Installers

14. 14
Installer
 Simple Install Changes
• Added Web Client
• Installer Order changes
5.1
Single Sign-On
Inventory Service
vCenter
5.5
Single Sign-On
vSphere WebClient
Inventory Service
vCenter
 Why?
• In the rare case SSO goes wrong, users can
log into Web Client and configure/edit
 Best practice: Simple Install puts all
components in a single server
• VMware’s suggested best practice

15. 15
Custom Install
Why would you run this?
 Distribute services across multiple
servers
 Customize location
 Advanced configurations
• E.g. additional vCenter servers
1 2 3 4

16. 16
Single vCenter Server 5.5 Design Recommendation
VC Database
vCenter Server Host or VM
vCenter
Server
SSO
Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
Use Simple Installer
Installs / Upgrades core
components with a single
virtual machine
1. vCenter Single Sign-On
2. vSphere Web Client
3. vCenter Inventory Service
4. vCenter Server
 No change to architecture
 All services are local
• Reduces complexity
 Supports 1-1000 Hosts / 1-
10,000 Virtual Machines

17. 17
Multiple vCenter Server 5.5 (Remote) Design Recommendation
By Default
 Each site is independent
 Does not provide a single pane of glass view
 SSO automated replication
 SSO Users & Groups
 SSO Policies
 Identity sources
 Site awareness
 Linked Mode
 Maintains single pane of glass
 Replicates Licenses, permissions and roles
 Availability
 vSphere HA
 vCenter Heartbeat
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
New York
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
Miami
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
SSO Server – vsphere.local
Los Angeles
Web Client
Inventory Svc
Web Client
Inventory Svc
SSO Site 1 SSO Site 2 SSO Site 3
Single SSO Authentication Domain

18. 18
SSO
Server
Web Client
Multiple vCenter Server 5.5 (Local) Design Recommendations
A Datacenter with 6 or more vCenter Servers
 Centralized SSO authentication
• Same Physical location
 Single Centralized vSphere Web Client
 Availability (Required)
• vSphere HA
• vCenter Heartbeat
• Network Load Balancer
18
vCenter Server 2
vCenter
Server 5.5
Inventory Svc
SSO
Server
Web Client
Database
Server
VCDB1,VCDB2,VCDB3
vCenter Server 3
vCenter
Server 5.5
Inventory Svc
vCenter Server 1
vCenter
Server 5.1
Inventory Svc
Backwards compatible to vCenter Server 5.1

19. 19
Supports Upgrade of all vCenter 5.1 configurations
Previous vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1 deployment models
• Fully Maintained via Upgrade
• Basic
• Single Sign-On High Availability
• Single Sign-On Multisite
New recommendations with vSphere 5.5
• Better use of new technology
• Single virtual machine for all vCenter components**
• Distributed virtual machines add complexity
• Availability
• Backup & Restore
• Easily migrate to new recommendations during upgrade
** Enterprise customers with 6 or more local vCenter servers can use a centralized instance

20. 21
What about 4.0/4.1/5.0 upgrade configurations?
Architecture is unchanged
vSphere 5.5vSphere 4.0 / 4.1 / 5.0
vCenter
Server
VC Database
vCenter Server Host
Web Client
(*5.0)
VC Database
vCenter Server Host
vCenter
Server
SSO
Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc

21. 22
What about 5.1 upgrade configurations? (Basic SSO)
Architecture is unchanged
Removal of SSO database
vSphere 5.5vSphere 5.1
VC Database
vCenter Server Host
vCenter
Server
SSO
Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
VC Database
SSO Database
vCenter Server Host
vCenter
Server
SSO Server
(Basic)
Web Client
Inventory Svc

22. 23
What about 5.1 upgrade configurations? (SSO HA)
Shared Database
Host or VM
SSO Server
(Primary)
Load Balancer
Host or VM
SSO Server
(HABackup)
Host or VM
Load Balancer
Host or VM
SSO Server
vSphere 5.1 vSphere 5.5
No SSO Database

23. 24
Multiple Remote vCenter Server Design Recommendations
Local
Databases
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
Inventory Svc
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
New York
Los Angeles
Miami
Multi Site
SSO Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
Multi Site
SSO Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
Primary
SSO Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc

24. 25
Multiple Remote vCenter Server Design Recommendations
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
Inventory Svc
vCenter Server
vCenter
Server
New York
Los Angeles
Miami
SSO Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
SSO Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
SSO Server
Web Client
Inventory Svc
Automatic Replication
Identity Sources
SSO Users/Groups/Policies
Registered Solutions

25. 26
vCenter’s in Linked Mode
 vCenter Server Linked Mode groups
• does not support different versions of vCenter Server
 All vCenters Servers in a Linked Mode group need to be part of the
same Single Sign-On vSphere Authentication Domain
 Upgrade Process
• Unjoin vCenter Server from Linked Mode group
• Upgrade vCenter Server to 5.5
• Upgrade other vCenter Servers to 5.5
• Rejoin vCenter Servers to Linked Mode group
• domain user who is an administrator on both the machines
 Notes
• DNS
• Network Time synchronization

26. 27
VMware vCenter Server 5.0: Upgrade Process
 Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker

27. 28
VMware vCenter Server 5.5: Upgrade Process
 Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker

28. 29
VMware vCenter Server 5.0: Upgrade Process
 Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker
• Performs checks include
• Host is reachable
• Disk space is sufficient
• Network is functioning
• File system is intact
• Required patches are applied
• Aim is to prevent hosts going disconnected after
• uninstallation of prior agent
• installing the new agent

29. 30
VMware vSphere 5.5 vCenter Appliance
 VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA)
• SLES 11 Linux based virtual machine appliance
• Same license as Windows vCenter
 Pro’s
• Linux, No windows
• All in one, self contained
• Deploy in minutes
 Con’s
• Cannot migrate from Windows to VCSA
• Embedded vPostgres Database, 5 host / 50VMs max
• Limited external database support – only Oracle
• No linked mode, vCenter Heartbeat, IPv6

30. 31
VMware Update Manager
 You can upgrade to Update Manager 5.5 from
• Update Manager version 4.x
• Update Manager 5.0
• Update Manager 5.1
that are installed on a 64-bit operating system
 If on a 32-bit operating system, use the data migration tool that is
provided with Update Manager 5.0 and in place upgrade from
Update Manager 5.0
 Notes
• Upgrades cannot change installation or download path
• use the Update Manager Utility to replace the existing 512-bit key certificate
with 2048-bit key certificate
• Scheduled tasks for scan and remediation are maintained
• Patch Baselines removed

31. 32
Thank You
Stay up to date with vCenter Server
http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/
@vCenterGuy @jasper9

32. 33
Other VMware Activities Related to This Session
• vSphere Upgrade Series Part 2: vSphere Hosts and Virtual Machines
• VSVC4945: vSphere Upgrade Series Part 2: vSphere Hosts and Virtual Machines
• Performance
• VSVC5234 Extreme Performance Series: vCenter of the Universe
• vCenter Single Sign-On
• VSVC5635 vSphere vCenter Single Sign-On Best Practices
• vSphere Web Client
• VSVC5436 vSphere Web Client – Technical Walkthrough
• vCenter Deep Dive
• VSVC4830 vCenter Deep Dive
 Group Discussions:
VSVC1000-GD vCenter Upgrades with Justin King


33. THANK YOU