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Upgrading vCenter Server vSphere software from vSphere 6.5 or 6.7 to 7.0

Upgrading vCenter Server vSphere software from vSphere 6.5 or 6.7 to 7.0

The VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic - Automated offering is a fully automated deployment solution for the VMware vSphere® SDDC stack. It includes vSphere, VMware NSX®, and optionally vSAN™ products. While the offering automates the most challenging parts of deploying, expanding, and contracting a VMware® SDDC-based infrastructure, it is not a managed service.

It has a policy of supporting the automation of VMware® SDDC software versions within the range of n-1. If you want to continue to benefit from the VMware Solutions automation, you must use the most recent version of vCenter Server.

Adding and removing services is not supported for instances that are upgraded to vSphere 7. Due to this limitation and the architecture improvements, IBM Cloud® suggests that you deploy a new vSphere 7 instance and migrate your current network topology and workloads to the new instance.

If your instance is at a version earlier than the version level that is needed for automation support, it continues to be supported as required by the Broadcom Support policy. However, your instance might not function with the current IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions automation.

You must apply patches and upgrade the VMware software periodically, over the lifecycle of an instance. This maintenance includes upgrading the VMware SDDC software to a version that is supported by the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions automation.

The following procedure provides the steps that are required to convert a VMware vSphere 6.5 or 6.7-based instance to a VMware vSphere 7 based instance.

Important considerations

  • You are responsible to ensure that all VMware ESXi™ servers have proper firmware and drivers to support vSphere 7. Broadwell and Skylake servers are not supported. Research and plan carefully for Cascade Lake servers.
  • IBM Cloud supports only Cascade Lake bare metal servers for newly deployed vSphere 7 instances.
  • If you add clusters or hosts to a vSphere 7 instance from the VMware Solutions console, only Cascade Lake bare metal servers are provisioned.
  • After you upgrade, your existing clusters will continue to use N-VDS switches, which are deprecated by VMware. Support for N-VDS (NSX-T Virtual Distributed Switch) will be removed in a future VMware NSX-T™ release. Plan to migrate your workloads to a new VCF for Classic - Automated instance with vSphere 7. For more information, see NSX-V to NSX-T migration overview.
  • If you are using VMware NSX-V, familiarize yourself with the product lifecycle for NSX-V from VMware and plan to migrate your workloads to a VCF for Classic - Automated instance. For more information, see NSX-V to NSX-T migration overview.
  • VCF for Classic - Automated is designed to allow for a "rolling" upgrade. That is, virtual machine (VM) workloads that are currently functioning continue to function without an outage if you complete the following procedure. Enterprises must engage their change management policies to enable a structured and communicated upgrade and plan for contingencies. However, during the upgrade process of certain management functions, such as vCenter Server and NSX Manager, temporary outages of management functions, configuration changes, powering off and on VMs, might be impacted.

Before you begin

The time to complete the upgrade is unknown. It is possible that it might take several maintenance windows to completely upgrade an environment. Running up-leveled and down-leveled versions of the SDDC software is supported by VMware during the upgrade process. However, some functions such as vMotion, might be limited during this process.

Complete the following requirements before you begin the upgrade:

  • Upgrade any extensions or snap-ins within the environment. Review the following documentation before you plan your upgrade:
  • Set up vSphere Update Manager (VUM) within your Automated instance to download updates from VMware vSphere. For more information, see VMware Update Manager introduction.
  • Open a support ticket with the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions team to notify them that an upgrade is being planned. The ticket remains open until the instance is registered at the upgraded level in the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions console.
  • Confirm whether the instance that you are upgrading is linked to another instance as primary or secondary in the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions console. All linked instances must have their Platform Services Controllers (PSCs) upgraded first as part of a particular site upgrade.
  • Confirm the following requirements for vSAN based instances:
    • Ensure that the vSAN Health tool is enabled and reports no critical errors. If critical errors are present, contact the IBM Support team with the upgrade support ticket ID.
    • Ensure that each node has space to handle rebuilding redundancy of vSAN objects in case an ESXi host fails to come back up during the upgrade. You might need to either reduce disk usage or add an ESXi host before the upgrade.
    • Verify whether the overall vSAN volume usage is higher than 70%. You might need to either reduce disk usage or add an ESXi host before the upgrade.
  • Verify that the vCenter Server root user ID with its credentials are visible on the console. If your instance was initially ordered in a VMware Solutions version between V2.5 and V5.7, only the customerroot account is visible on the console. For new instances, clusters, hosts, and VMs ordered in VMware Solutions V5.7 and later, the customerroot user is no longer created by the VMware Solutions automation.
  • Confirm that you have a My VMware user ID for which to download the required binary files to upgrade. If you don't have a user ID, contact IBM Support with the upgrade support ticket ID.
  • Confirm that VUM is configured to reach https://www.vmware.com to download patches. If it can't be configured because of security policies, then you must manually download the most recent patch sets and upload them into VUM. For more information, see VMware Update Manager introduction.

Supported upgrade paths

The following table is a summary of the supported upgrade paths:

Upgrade paths for VMware Solutions offerings
Deployment offering Supported paths Unsupported paths
NSX-V instances with vSphere V6

Preferred path
Provision a new Automated instance with vSphere V7 and migrate workloads. See NSX-V to NSX-T migration.
Alternative path
Self-upgrade by using the upgrade procedure.

  • For Cascade Lake servers, upgrade from vSphere V6 to V7.
  • Open a support ticket to obtain new V7 licenses.
  • Cluster expansion uses Cascade Lake servers.
    Before December 2023, you must provision a new instance with vSphere V7 and migrate workloads. See NSX-V to NSX-T migration.
  • Broadwell and Skylake servers are not supported.
  • Add-on services to upgraded instance are not supported.
Instances with vSphere V6

Preferred path
Provision a new Automated instance with vSphere V7 and migrate workloads. See NSX-V to NSX-T migration.
Alternative path
Upgrade the instance by using the upgrade procedure.

  • For Cascade Lake servers, upgrade from vSphere V6 to V7.
  • Open a support ticket to obtain new V7 licenses.
  • Cluster expansion uses Cascade Lake servers.
    Before December 2023, provision a new Automated instance with NSX-T and vSphere V7 and migrate workloads. See NSX-V to NSX-T migration.
  • Broadwell and Skylake servers are not supported.
  • Add-on services to upgraded instance are not supported.
  • Conversion of vSphere switching from N-VDS to VDS is not supported.
Old VMware vSphere Server instances

Preferred path
Consider provision vSphere bare metal server and deploy a new VSS bare metal server or a bare metal server within VPC Architecture.
Upgrade your VMware vSphere servers by using the upgrade procedure.

  • For Broadwell servers, provision new servers as this server type is not supported by vSphere V7.
  • For Cascade Lake servers, upgrade from vSphere V6 to V7.
  • Open a support ticket to obtain new V7 licenses.
  • Cluster expansion uses Cascade Lake servers.
  • Broadwell and Skylake servers are not supported.
Roll-your-own (classic bare metals servers)

Preferred path
Consider provision vSphere bare metal server and deploy a new bare metal server or a bare metal server within VPC Architecture.

  • Provision a new bare metal server with VMware ESXi V7.
  • Swap out the ESXi V6 servers.
  • Reload OS image with ESXi V7.
    Alternative path
    Consider provision a new bare metal server within VPC Architecture.
  • In-place upgrade from V6 to V7 is not supported.

Preparing your jump server

Because the IBM Cloud client access VPN is limited to 512 Kbps, take one of the following actions.

  • Provision an IBM Cloud Windows® 2012-2016 server Virtual Server Instance (VSI).
  • Set up a similar Windows® VM on a separate VCF for Classic - Automated environment within the same IBM Cloud data center. The Windows VM is used as a jump server into the new instance for the upgrade that downloads the binary files from https://my.vmware.com. Do not place this VM on the old instance that is being upgraded.

Complete the following steps to download the most recent files to your jump server:

  1. From the VMware portal, download the following product files onto your jump server:
    • For VMware vCenter Server Appliance, VMware-VCSA-all-7.0.x-xxxx.iso
    • For ESXi 7, VMware-ESXi-7.0Ux-xxxx-depot.zip
    • For Hypervisor, VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0Ux-xxxx.x86_64.iso
  2. Download the most recent STOR_CLI, for example, 007.xxx.0000.0000_Unified_StorCLI_PUL.zip file from https://docs.broadcom.com/.

Procedure to upgrade vCenter Server vSphere software from 6.5 or 6.7 to 7.0

You can also upgrade vCenter Server to version 8.0. For more information, see Upgrading to vCenter Server 8.0.

Before you begin

  • If you encounter a problem during the upgrade process, use the IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions upgrade ticket that you opened at the beginning of the process to contact IBM Support. If required, IBM Support will open tickets with Broadcom Support.
  • You must follow the support process to ensure that IBM Cloud for VMware Solutions provides Broadcom Support with all the information about the vCenter Server design and setup, and the IBM Cloud information.
  • By following the support process, you ensure that accurate information is shared with Broadcom Support, which shortens the support experience. After IBM Support provides the necessary information to Broadcom Support, you can interact with Broadcom Support directly.
  • Ensure that you keep a record of all the new passwords and credentials that you create as part of the upgrade process. IBM Support requires these credentials at the end of the upgrade process to update their internal database.

Procedure to set the cluster Distributed Resource Schedule to manual

You must set the cluster Distributed Resource Schedule (DRS) to manual to prevent unexpected migrations during the upgrade process.

Complete the following steps from the vCenter Server user interface.

  1. Select Host and Clusters > Cluster > Configure > DRS.
  2. Click EDIT.
  3. Set the DRS field to Manual.

Procedure to create a standard switch for the new vCenter Server Appliance

Temporarily install the new vCenter Server Appliance that you deploy onto a vSphere Standard Switch. One of the existing vmnics is reassigned from the distributed switch during the upgrade.

Complete the following steps from the vCenter Server user interface.

  1. Select Hosts and Clusters > HOST > Configure > Virtual Switches. Select a host for the new vCenter Server Appliance.
  2. For the private network switch, select Managed Physical Adapters. The private network switch name ends with -private.
  3. Select uplink1/vmnic2, then click the Close icon Close icon to delete the adapter. Click OK.
  4. Return to the Virtual Switches and click Add Networking.
    1. Select Virtual Machine Port Group for a standard switch and click Next.
    2. For New Standard Switch, set the MTU to 9000 and click Next.
    3. Click the green Add icon Add icon to add an adapter. Click OK, then Next to accept vmnic2.
    4. For Connection Settings, keep the VM Network and VLAN ID None defaults. Click Next, then Finish. Standard Switch: vSwitch0 is displayed in the list of switches.
  5. Make a note of the Network Setting for the vCenter Server Appliance VM. You must update the new vCenter appliance to match.
    • From the vCenter Server user interface, click the VM for the vCenter appliance. Note the name, ending with vc.
    • From the middle pane, click the Networks tab. Note the name of the distributed port group, ending with -dpg-mgmt.

Procedure to upgrade vCenter Server

Follow the VMware instructions for upgrading vCenter. For more information, see Upgrade a vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 or 6.7 with an embedded Platform Services Controller by using the GUI.

Ensure to complete the following requirements during the upgrade:

  • Mount the VMware-VCSA ISO, go to the visa-ui-installer\win32 directory, and run the installer.
  • In the vCenter Server installer dialog, select the Upgrade flow and complete the steps in the installer.
  • You must use the IP and credentials (administrator and root) for the current vCenter Server appliance. Use the IP and root password for the ESXi host of the current vCenter Server Appliance and the host where you want to deploy the new 7.0 or later vCenter Server Appliance. You must use a new temporary IP address, gateway, and subnet mask for the new vCenter Server Appliance during installation.
  • Complete Stage 2 when prompted. Ensure to note any warnings and take the appropriate actions.

Procedure to upgrade Stor VIB (Broadcom driver)

You must upgrade the Broadcom driver before you upgrade the ESXi host.

  1. Extract the 007.xxx.0000.0000_Unified_StorCLI_PUL.zip file to a directory on your windows jump server.
  2. Locate the vmware-storcli.vib file in the extracted file contents.
  3. Copy the .vib file to either a vSAN or NFS data store that is mounted on the ESXi hosts for the instance. Use vCenter Server to reference the extracted file on your jump server.
  4. SSH into each ESXi host and run the following VIB Upgrade command: esxcli software vib update -v /<path to vsan or nfs datastore from step 3>/vmware-storcli.vib --no-sig-check The following installation results are displayed. Message: Operation finished successfully.    Reboot Required: false    VIBs Installed: Broadcom_bootbank_vmware-storcli_007.xxx.0000.0000-01    VIBs Removed: LSI_bootbank_vmware-storcli_007.xxx.0000.0000-01    VIBs Skipped:
  5. Run the following command to validate the installation: > esxcli software vib list |grep vmware-storcli vmware-storcli 007.xxx.0000.0000-01    Broadcom  PartnerSupported  yyyy-mm-dd
  6. Repeat for each host.

Procedure to upgrade the ESXi hosts

  1. From the vCenter Server user interface, go to LCM menu > LifeCycle Manager.
  2. Select IMPORT ISO > IMPORT ISO, and then the VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0U1c-17325551.iso file.
  3. Create the baseline. Select BASELINE > CREATE and use the imported ISO from the previous step.
  4. For each host, choose the host in the vCenter browser tree. Then, select update (located in the far left in the main window).
  5. If the Zerto VRA is present on the host, put the host into maintenance mode first. Recent releases of Zerto stop the VRA, which otherwise would prevent the update.
  6. Complete the update.
    1. [ATTACH] Baseline, select the previously created baseline.
    2. Select Baseline and [REMEDIATE].
  7. Remediate each host in turn. After remediation, ensure to pull the host out of maintenance mode.

If the upgrade process fails immediately and the host cannot enter maintenance mode error message is displayed, shut down the Zerto ZVAs and try again. The ZVRA VMs automatically start as each server comes out of remediation. For more information about continuing Zerto replication during the upgrade process, see How to Place a Host with an Associated VRA into Maintenance Mode.

Updating vCenter Server and ESXi host licenses

After you upgrade the vCenter Server and ESXi hosts to vSphere 7, you must update the licenses on the vCenter Server and the ESXi hosts. If you have a vSAN cluster, you must update the vSAN license. To obtain the new licenses for vSphere 7, contact IBM Support.

Procedure to update the vCenter Server license

Complete the following steps from the vCenter Server user interface.

  1. Select Administration menu > Licensing > Licenses.
  2. From the Licenses page, click + Add New Licenses.
  3. Enter the new vCenter Server license key in the New Licenses field. Then, enter a name for the license and click OK.
  4. From the Assets page, select the vCenter instance under VCENTER SERVER SYSTEMS and click Assign License. Then, select the new license and click OK.
  5. From the Licenses page, find the license with the product name VMware vCenter Server 6 Standard and click Remove Licenses.

Procedure to update ESXi host licenses

  1. From the Licenses page, click + Add New Licenses.
  2. Enter the new vSphere 7 license keys in the New Licenses field. If you have multiple vSphere 7 license keys, input the all of the licenses in the New Licenses filed, enter a name for each license, and click OK.
  3. Complete the following steps from the Assets page.
    1. Select HOSTS.
    2. Select the host and click Assign License.
    3. Select one of the new vSphere 7 license keys and click OK.
    4. Repeat this step for each upgraded host.
  4. From the Licenses page, select all of the old vSphere 6 licenses and click Remove Licenses.

Procedure to update the vSAN cluster license

  1. From the Licenses page, click + Add New Licenses.
  2. Enter the new vSAN license keys in the New Licenses field. If you have multiple vSAN license keys, enter all the licenses in the New Licenses field, specify a name for each license, and then click OK.
  3. Complete the following steps from the Assets page.
    1. Select VSAN CLUSTERS.
    2. Select the vSAN cluster and click Assign License.
    3. Select one of the new vSAN license keys and click OK.
    4. Repeat this step for each vSAN cluster.
  4. From the Licenses page, select all the old vSAN cluster licenses and click Remove Licenses.

Procedure to remove the temporary standard switch

Reassign the vmnic that you temporarily used on the standard switch back to the distributed switch it was originally associated with.

Complete the following steps from the vCenter Server user interface.

  1. Go to the new vCenter Server appliance.
  2. Under Actions click Edit Settings.
  3. For network adapter 1, browse to the name of the distributed port group that ends with -dpg-mgmt that you previously noted. Save the changes.
  4. Go to the host where you deployed the new appliance. Select Hosts and Clusters > HOST > Configure > Virtual Switches. Then, click MANAGE PHYSICAL ADAPTERS for vSwitch0.
  5. Select vmnic2 and click the red X to delete the adapter. Click OK. The There are no active physical network adapters for the switch. warning is displayed. Click OK.
  6. Click the ... in the vSwitch0 display and then select Remove. Click OK to confirm you want to remove the switch.
  7. In the same display, select the private switch and click MANAGE PHYSICAL ADAPTERS.
  8. Select uplink1 and click +. vmnic2 is displayed.
  9. Click OK, and then OK again to exit the window.