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Prior to upgrading vCenter to 6.5, make sure to review the best practices from VMware.
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Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server 6.5 (2147686)
KB: 2147686
Updated: Mar 24, 2017
Languages:
English
English
Product(s):
VMware vCenter Server
VMware vCenter Server Appliance
VMware vCenter Server
VMware vCenter Server Appliance
Product Version(s):
VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x
Purpose
This article provides pre-upgrade information for vCenter Server 6.5 and related components.
Resolution
Caution:
- Though different upgrade paths are possible and may complete successfully, VMware does not recommend some of the resulting topologies.
- If your services are distributed across multiple machines, the upgrades must be done sequentially, not concurrently.
Deployment Models
To determine the deployment model that you want to upgrade to, see Supported and deprecated topologies for VMware vSphere 6.5 (2147672).  It is recommended to migrate off of a deprecated support topology before upgrading to vSphere 6.5.  For more information, see the Moving from a Deprecated to a Supported vCenter Server Deployment Topology Before Upgrade or Migration section of the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Caution: Repointing vCenter Server between Sites in a vSphere Domain is no longer supported in vSphere 6.5.
Staged upgrade across multiple maintenance Windows
If you have a complex vSphere 5.x or 6.0 environment, you may prefer to upgrade your vSphere environment over the course of several maintenance windows. It is possible to upgrade the vSphere environment in stages.
These are the general order of the upgrades:
- Upgrade each vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller one at a time.
Note: For 5.5, only if vCenter Single Sign-On is installed on a separate machine than vCenter Server.
- Upgrade each vCenter Server one at a time.
- Upgrade each ESXi host one at a time.
For more information about each transition step including diagrams, see the Upgrade or Migration Order and Mixed-Version Transitional Behavior for Multiple vCenter Server Instance Deployments section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
vCenter Server for Windows requirements
To install vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, your system must meet specific hardware and software requirements.
For more information, see:
- vCenter Server for Windows Requirements section in the vSphere Installation Guide.
- Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere network section in the vSphere Installation Guide.
- Required free space for system logging section in the vSphere Installation Guide.
- VMware Solution/Database Interoperability Matrix
vCenter Server Appliance requirements
Before upgrading to vSphere 6.0, ensure to review the important information in these sections:
- vCenter Server Appliance Requirements section in the vSphere Installation Guide.
- Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere network section in the vSphere Installation Guide.
- Upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Migrating from vCenter Server for Windows to the vCenter Server Appliance
It is possible to migrate a vCenter Server installation on Windows to a vCenter Server Appliance installation while upgrading to version 6.5.
For more information, see:
- System Requirements for Migrating vCenter Server Deployments to vCenter Server Appliance Deployments section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
- Prerequisites for Migrating vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On, and Platform Services Controller section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
- Known Limitations section in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Notes:
- The vSphere Web Client 6.5 requires Adobe Flash Player 16 or later. For more information, see the vSphere Web Client Software Requirement section in the vSphere Installation and Setup Guide.
Additional Information
For more information, see these sections in the vSphere Upgrade Guide:
- vCenter Server Example Upgrade Path
- vSphere 6.5 Component Behavior Changes that Affect Upgrade
- Distributed vCenter Server 5.5 for Windows Services Relocation During Upgrade or Migration
For other important issues, see Important information before upgrading to vSphere 6.5 (2147548).
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Roger Lund
