This guide will walk you through the steps to upgrade your vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 6.0 to 6.5.
Upgrading vCenter Appliance 6.0 to 6.5
To begin with the upgrade process, you need to download the ISO image from VMware. For Windows, under the vcsa-ui-installer\win32 directory double click installer.exe file to initiate the setup wizard.
This setup wizard allows you to choose Install, Upgrade, Migrate, or Restore. Since, you are upgrading your existing vCenter Appliance, Click Upgrade.
The vCenter 6.5 upgrade is a two stage process.
- In first stage, a new appliance will be deployed to the target vCenter or ESXi host.
- In 2nd stage, the upgrade process copies data from the existing vCenter Appliance
It is recommended practice to create backup of your existing appliance before proceeding to upgrade.
Click Next to begin with Stage 1
Accept EULA agreement. Click Next
At this point, You need to provide the details for the source appliance that you want to upgrade. Click Next
Click Yes
Specify the appliance deployment target settings. The target can be either ESXi host or vCenter Server instance.
Click Yes
Here you need to specify the VM name and root password. Once done, Click Next
Choose deployment size according to your environment. Click Next
Select the storage location and Click on "Enable Thin Disk Mode" then Click Next
Configure network settings. Click Next
Verify network settings. Click Next
Stage 1 upgrade process started.
Stage 1 process completed.
Lets begin with stage 2. Click Next
Wait while the pre-upgrade checks are in progress.
Pre-upgrade check shows a warning and resolution. Ensure the following within your environment and Click Close.
Choose the upgrade data to be copied from source vCenter. I am going with last option. Click Next
Click Join the VMware CEIP. Click Next
Click to confirm that you have backed up and Click Next to proceed.
Here you have a warning about your existing vCenter. Click OK.
Stage 2 in progress
Data has been copied. Now setting up target vCenter
Importing copied data to target vCenter
This is information window, Click Close
Stage 2 upgrade process completed.
Upgraded.
Conclusion
We have successfully upgraded from vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 to 6.5