VMworld 2013: vSphere 5.5 Upgrade Part 1

NOTE: I’ve started my vSphere 5.5 Install series. This is a complete How-To guide for installing, configuring, and securing your vCenter 5.5 installation. Check it out here. The information in this post has been incorporated into that series.

—

Twitter: #VSVC5690. This session covered the recommended vCenter 4.x and 5.x to 5.5 upgrade paths. They quickly touched on a few new vCenter 5.5 features, such as a completely re-written SSO service, and simplified install architecture. There are supported and direct upgrade paths from vCenter 4.x through 5.1. You will be very glad to know that vCenter 5.5 does not add any new components, it’s just new and improved.

vSphere 5.5 Upgrade Overview

Five steps: vCenter, VUM, ESXi, VMs, VMFS
Review: Documentation Center, Compatibility Guide, Intero Matrix
Prior to 5.1: vCenter Server, vCenter Database server, and vSphere web client – Simple, life before vSphere 5.1
vCenter Server has SSL certificates, ADAM database – The vCenter server is not stateless
Web client – Third party products
vCenter 5.1 adds Single Sign on and Inventory Service
No new components added to vCenter 5.5

Upgrade Matrix

In-place supports vCenter 4.x, 5.0.x, 5.1.x
VMware does NOT support directly migrating an existing 5.x earlier vCenter Server to a new machine during the upgrade process
vCenter Server 5.5 can manage 4.x and 5.x hosts

System Requirements

Simple install – 2 vCPUs, 12GB RAM, 100GB disk
Strongly recommend installing ALL vCenter components on a single VM – Simplified model
Recommended for 400 hosts and 4000 VMs: 4 vCPU, 24GB RAM, 200GB disk
vCenter OS Support: Removes WS2003, only supports Windows Server 2008 SP2 and later (including WS2012)

New Install Vs. In Place Upgrade

New Install Pros: Clean start, reconfigure architecture, new hardware
New Install Cons: Loss of historical data, rebuild environment, settings manually created, time involved
VMware recommends a fresh install, but sometimes its not just possible
In Place Upgrade Pros: Most common, all settings maintained, slipstreamed process, historical data maintained
In Place Upgrade Cons: Carry over of old/unused data, possible performance
vCenter 5.5 appliance does NOT support IPv6, Linked Mode, vCenter Heartbeat, but can be a good option
vCenter appliance may support SQL server in the future, when Microsoft released from tech-preview the SUSE Linux ODBC connector

Installation – Then and Now

New Install splash screen – Simple Install is now strongly, strongly preferred
Simple Install should only be used for the first vCenter only
5.5 Install order changed: Single Sign-On, vSphere WebClient, Inventory Service, vCenter
vSphere Web client is installed right after SSO to aid in troubleshooting
Custom install: Needed if you want to customize install location, distribute the components, or advanced config like SSO

Design Recommendations

Use simpler installer
Installs/Upgrades core components with single VMs
Multi-site vCenters: Single SSO domain (vsphere.local); Multi-master SSO replication
Each site is independent, does NOT provide a single pane of glass view
SSO automated replication – SSO users and groups, SSO policies, identity sources
Site awareness
Linked Mode – Maintains single pane of glass, replicates licenses, permissions and roles
Availability: Use vSphere HA and vCenter heartbeat

Multi-vCenter Design Recommendations (6 or more vCenters)

Centralized SSO authentication, same physical location
Single centralized vSphere web client
Availability (required) – vSphere HA, vCenter heartbeat, network load balancer
VM #1: SSO Server, Web Client; VM 2 – 6: vCenter 5.5, Inventory service

vCenter Linked Mode

vCenter Server linked mode groups – Does not support different versions of vCenter
DNS and network time are absolutely critical
All vCenter servers need to be a part of the same SSO domain

Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker

Perform checks include: Host is reachable, disk space is sufficient, network is functioning, file system intact, required patches installed
Aim is to prevent hosts going disconnected after host