UCCX procedure to "Upgrade VM Compatibility" on vSphere

[jeffrey.hundstad@mnsu.edu]

Hello,

I'm in the process of upgrading our ESXi server that hosts a UCCX guest.  In order to do that upgrade I need to update the "Compatibility" of the guest.  I can't find a document that shows the advised procedure is for this upgrade.

I'm running UCCX 12.5(1)SU1 / 12.5.1.11001-348 on the guest.  The compatibility matrix at:

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/uc_system/virtualization/virtualization-cisco-unified-contact-center-express.html#12.5.1

says I can use 6.x and 7.0 ESXi.

Can I just go to vSphere and use their Actions -> Compatibility -> Upgrade VM compatibility

and select 6.5?  I mean, like every other OS I use?  Or is there some special Cisco salt that needs to be added to be safe?

I've looked for a specific document and can only find mixed messages like:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/voice_ip_comm/uc_system/virtualization/virtualization-software-requirements.html?dtid=osscdc000283#vmw
That says:

To date, Cisco has not discovered any issues with Collaboration apps due to a newer vmv version.

and then almost immediate say:

For customers using vSphere Client instead of vCenter, it is NOT recommended to upgrade to a newer vmv. E.g. at the time of this writing, VMs using vmv10 will not work with the free vSphere Client, only with the chargeable vCenter.

Then back tracks with:

Otherwise, unless indicated NOT to by a Cisco Collaboration app, customers are free to manually upgrade the vmv to a newer vmv supported by the ESXi version. Cisco does not produce OVA files for newer vmv versions, or test newer vmv versions since VMware indicates these are backwards compatible.

Any clues would be helpful, official document even better.  And your time continues to be appreciated.

--
Jeffrey Hundstad
jeffrey.hundstad@mnsu.edu
+1-507-389-6923
ITS Systems Architect
IT Solutions
Minnesota State University, Mankato

[Elliot Dierksen]

Oh, heck no!!! DO NOT DO THAT! You will possibly break the virtual machine, and generate error messages during boot at the very least. It may be paranoid or old school, but my experience says NEVER change the VM version after it is running! Besides, what would actually be the benefit to changing that?

[jeffrey.hundstad@mnsu.edu]

Thank you for your response.  The machine definition has been pulled along for many, many, many upgrades.  The OVA for a new install shows it as a ESXi 6.5 compatibility.  As we know that is supported and tested and the default in the OVA it seems prudent to not have the compatible dragged way back to ESXi 5.0 compatibility.

Cisco doesn't really say if it uses new features, only that it's compatible to the ancient.  I'd prefer to stay on the same compatibility version as the install OVA uses.  But I don't want to:

1. upgrade
2. do a backup
3. create a completely new install from the install media
4. do a restore
5. That seems like the only other way to do what I want, and that seems like a crazy path.

[jim-j · Accepted solution]

---

jeffrey.hundstad@mnsu.edu wrote:

...

Can I just go to vSphere and use their Actions -> Compatibility -> Upgrade VM compatibility

and select 6.5?

...

---

Yes, that's what I did.  When I upgraded from 11.6.2 to 12.5.1 I followed these steps:

1. In vCenter right click on SERVER NAME, Compatibility > Upgrade VM Compatibility
2. Right click on SERVER NAME, Edit Settings->VM Options->General Options->Guest OS Version = set it to "CentOS 7 (64-bit)"  (Note the "Guest OS" version that VMware reports doesn't update until you power on the VM)

You can always open a case with TAC and have them confirm your upgrade plan.  I always like to have a pro-active case open with them when I upgrade my UCCX cluster in case I run into problems during the upgrade.

[jeffrey.hundstad@mnsu.edu]

Many thanks.  I applied this procedure and had no issues.  As the 12.5 branch uses Docker internally now, so, I suspect there is far less coupling with the Guest OS or the VMWare host.