Browsing through the VMware blogs and communities today I noticed some excellent questions from individuals planning to start their upgrade from vSphere 4.1 to 5.1.
Announced in late August 2012 I would guess that most organizations didn’t jump in right away and start upgrading. Even more, since the 5.1 release was exactly one year after the 5.0 release it makes sense that there are many out there just like me who were planning the upgrade from 4.1 to 5.0 and decided to bypass that and go directly to 5.1.
I went through this upgrade in my production environment a couple of months back. The Production upgrade along with the lessons learned from building, breaking, rebuilding and destroying my home lab form the base for this overview.
Many thanks to the outstanding efforts by the Autolab and #vBrownBag teams that make such lab work possible.
Let’s start with the most common questions that people appear to be looking to get answers for:
Q: The documentation says I need 10GB of memory for vCenter. Really?
A: With vSphere 5.1 VMware has changed the way vCenter is installed. We now have two extra servers/services that must be in place for vCenter to function; vCenter Single Sign-On and vCenter Inventory Service. Both services require 3GB of memory a piece. vCenter itself has a 4GB memory requirement. There is your 10GB.
Q: Do all the vCenter services have to be installed on the same server?
A: No. you can split them up between multiple servers just as you can install the vCenter database on a remote server. The requirements per service however remain the same. in fact, when you install all the services on a single server you may very well realize that you need a bit more than 10GB. If you run all the services along with their respective databases on one machine and add to that the JVM heap which will require between 1-3 GB you will probably want to guarantee you have enough horse power. Throw on the vSphere client, the web client and perhaps the Update Manager database and there is no question that you need the memory.
Q: Which method is recommended? All on the same server or spread out?
A: That would depend on the size of your infrastructure and any policies that exist in your organization. Naturally, if you have a large infrastructure you will probably be better off placing components and databases on different servers. Your company may have certain requirements for placements of databases which will prevent you from having everything on the same server.
When you go to install vCenter you are given the option of using “vCenter Simple Install”. As the name implies, with this method all will be installed one after the other on the same machine.
Q: Do all vCenter components install easily? Any common issues?
A: From my own personal experience and judging by the amount of related questions on-line, Single Sign-On presents the biggest challenge. In theory there is nothing complicated about it and yet it has caused much grief for many people.
Q: If I just follow the installation documentation I should be fine, right?
I found the documentation that VMware published for 5.1 extremely confusing. In the past I was always impressed with their documentation but this time around it is not very good. It is the type of documentation that leaves you more confused having read it.
A big part of the added confusion is centered around the databases and credentials that go along with the added services. Even though VMware provides database setup scripts they do not appear to execute as smoothly as before. My recommendation is to try them out, edit in your own install paths and credentials and test for any issues. This part with the databases took the longest for me.
Q: I am finally ready to virtualize my vCenter. Since vCenter must be upgraded first, will my new 5.1 vCenter be ok residing on a 4.1 host?
A: Yes, it will be ok. vCenter 5.1 can manage older hosts. Even if vCenter is on an older version host you should not experience any issues. Just be careful when working on two separate versions. Don’t attempt to immediately upgrade your VMFS Data Stores to VMFS 5 and your virtual hardware to version 9. Wait until you got your hosts done before looking at all that.
Q: Would you recommend going to 5.1 via an “upgrade” or a fresh new install?
A: In my production environment I prefer a fresh install whenever possible.
I would build a new vCenter and start with a new ESXi host. Present the storage and configure networking.
Then I would take over the management of an older ESXi host with the new vCenter.
vMotion the VMs from old host to new host.
Perform fresh install on old host. Add to new vCenter when done. And repeat.
It is a little more involved than that and depending on the size of your environment may not be appropriate for you. Which is why you should consider an upgrade
The in place upgrade provided by VMware is extremely friendly. You will be shocked to realize how friendly.
If you aren’t looking to move database locations then the vCenter upgrade is almost a Click > Next Click process. Almost. Remember that you will need to install the above mentioned Single Sign-On and inventory services. Research that. test it out.
Once you have upgraded and installed all components you will need to upgrade Update Manager. When that is done you may begin setting up your ESXi host upgrades. You will need the appropriate 5.1 VMvisor ISO imported into Update manager. Then you will perform the same process Update Manager uses for patches, except you will need an upgrade baseline. Start the process and Update manager will do all the rest. After the host reboots it will come up in version 5.1. Very cool stuff.
Q:Can I use one vSphere client to manage 4.1 and 5.1 hosts?
If you connect with a 4.1 vSphere client to a 5.1 vCenter you will be informed that you need to download and install the new client. Go ahead and do that. As long as you have both client versions installed you will be fine. The vSphere client that you launch is just that, a launcher. It will detect if you are connecting to a 4.1 or a 5.1 vCenter and provide you with the appropriate client.
This has actually caused a great deal of confusion and mistakenly caused me to install clients from scratch and create separate desktop shortcuts to the different client executable. It wasn’t necessary.
Those are the answers to some of the popular upgrade questions. Obviously there is more to consider and plan as will be dictated by your infrastructure. The best recommendation I can give is to spend the time trying out different scenarios in a lab. Use the Autolab link at the beginning and get it up and running in no time and with minimal memory requirements. You will thank yourself for knowing how to handle Single Sign-On when it is time for your production install. Also, your personal lab experiences may be the basis for your recommendation/decision for a fresh install or an in place upgrade.
If you think I missed some of the common questions let me know. if there is anything else you would like to ask or could use some examples leave a reply. I hope this will answer at least some of your questions and make the transition from vSphere 4.1 to 5.1 a bit easier for you.