inconsistencies in 1.1a documentation and upgrade path to 1.1a and vSphere 5.1

[steffenoezcan]

Hi guys,

I hope someone from within Cisco or who already upgraded to Nexus1000v.4.2.1.SV2.1.1a and vSphere 5.1 can help here.

1. I found some small inconsistencies in the compatibility documentation for the Nexus 1.1a release regarding files to use for the 5.0 and 5.1 versions of vSphere:

For 5.0 the current Compatibility Informations lists VEM500-20130121152102-BG-release.zip, but the current download has a file with a different name included, VEM500-201301152102-BG-release.zip.

For 5.1 the current Compatibility Informations lists VEM510-20130121152105-BG-release.zip, but the current download has a file with a different name included, VEM510-201301152105-BG-release.zip.

The referenced cross_cisco-VIBs do match, but not the Offline-Bundles. Seems like a typo to me, or is there really a different version available/working?

2. While preparing the upgrade path to use, I also found several inconsistencies in the documentation and am stuck which upgrade path works in my situation. Following environment:

currently vSphere 5.0 Update 1 (vCenter 623373, Hosts 623860) with Nexus 4.2(1)SV1(5.1) in HA config, no VUM

target is vSphere 5.1 (vCenter 5.1.0b, Hosts 5.1a) with Nexus 4.2(1) SV2(1.1a) in HA config, no VUM

The Nexus 1000V and VMware ESX/ESXi Upgrade Utility recommends this upgrade path (I´ll call it "Plan A"):

1. Upgrade VMware vCenter and vCenter Update Manager to 5.1 and reload vCenter [link]
2. Upgrade VSM to 4.2(1)SV2(1.1a) and reload the VSM [link]
3. In maintenance mode, simultaneously upgrade VEM to 4.2(1)SV2(1.1a) and upgrade ESX/ESXi to 5.1 [link] then reboot ESX

Well, while going through the Install and Upgrade Guide for 1.1a, Cisco refers to this as a "Combined Upgrade". But, the 1.1a documentation clearly states:

"You can upgrade the VEM and ESX version simultaneously. It requires vSphere version 5.0 Update1 and later versions. It is supported in Cisco Nexus 1000V Release 4.2(1)SV1(5.2) and later. "

Ok. Now here is my problem - the Upgrade Utililty tells me to do a combined upgrade when coming from 4.2(1)SV1(5.1), but the documentation says it is not supported with Nexus 4.2(1)SV1(5.1). What to do?

My "Plan B" would mean I first have to update Nexus to 1.1a on its own (VSMs and VEMs), then upgrade vCenter and Hosts to 5.1. But this would take a lot of additional time compared to the combined upgrade.

3. When upgrading the vCenter, connected to a N1KV, from 5.0 U1 to 5.1.0b, do we still have to register the VC-Plugin with the PowerShell-script (to register with the Web Client Server)? (Download the registerVCPlugin.ps1 script from the location: http://VSM-IP-Address/vcplugin/registerVCPlugin.ps1)

I hope someone can shed some light in here. The documentation is very confusing this time, albeit I already did several N1KV upgrades in the past...

BR

Steffen

[lwatta]

Steffen,

#1. Looks like typo. I'm researching

#2. The document is not clear but I beleive it's refering to the fact that the VSM can be at 2.1x and the VEM can be at 1.5.2x. The change you can make on the VSM are limited but it allows you a longer window to upgrade all the components of the N1KV. I will get clarification and get them to clarify in the document.

#3. I'm confused here. The VCPlugin only works with 2.1 code and with web-client 5.1. Do you somehow have the plugin working with 1.5x?

louis

[steffenoezcan]

Hi Louis,

thanks a lot for your response!

#2 That is what I also understand. Question is, why is the nice Nexus Upgrade Utility telling me that I CAN do a Combined Upgrade from 4.2(1)SV1(5.1) to 4.2(1)SV2(1.1a), but the documentation states it can NOT - but from

4.2(1)SV1(5.2) and later on. Would be really cool to get a statement which one is true. I'd really like to use the combined upgrade method. Otherwise we will have to do a way more complex and time-consuming upgrade :/.

#3 No, not yet. But my goal at the end is to be on vSphere 5.1 (w/WebClient) and 4.2(1)SV2(1.1a). The Upgrade documentation does not state that I need/can/should to run the ps-script at the end of my upgrade. No mentioning of it at all. I only found out about it by browsing through the installation part.

So my question here is - if I have my N1KV connected to a vCenter 5.0 U1 and upgrade the vCenter to 5.1, do I still need to run this ps-script (to integrate with the WebClient Server)? Or do I not b/c the N1KV already was linked to the vCenter prior to the upgrade?

Seems that with vSphere 5.1 everything got unnecessarily complex ;).

BR

Steffen

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Am 14.02.2013 um 14:30 schrieb lwatta <community@cisco.com>:

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Re: inconsistencies in 1.1a documentation and upgrade path to 1.1a and vSphere 5.1

created by lwatta in Nexus 1000V - View the full discussion

Steffen,

#1. Looks like typo. I'm researching

#2. The document is not clear but I beleive it's refering to the fact that the VSM can be at 2.1x and the VEM can be at 1.5.2x. The change you can make on the VSM are limited but it allows you a longer window to upgrade all the components of the N1KV. I will get clarification and get them to clarify in the document.

#3. I'm confused here. The VCPlugin only works with 2.1 code and with web-client 5.1. Do you somehow have the plugin working with 1.5x?

louis

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[lwatta]

Steffen,

Let me clarify #2 a little bit more. I left some detail out.

In 2.1 we introduced some enhancements to the code that improve upgrades. I beleive the statement in the document is referring to the enhancements and the enhancements only. You can do the combined upgraded from 1.5.1 to 2.1, but if you want to take advantage of the enhancements you need to be at 1.5.2.  I'm trying to find out if indeed that is the case, but I'm pretty positive you can do the combined upgrade from 1.5.1 to 2.1

#3. If you are not at 5.1 then you are not using the VCPlugin. Nothing to worry about during the upgrade. After the upgrade if you want to use the plugin run through the installation. If you are referring to the VSM plugin that is needed to allow the VSM to talk to vCenter thats different. As long as you are doing an upgrade on the vCenter and not a new install you should be fine. The VSM plugin will not get deleted with a vCenter upgrade

louis

[steffenoezcan]

Many thanks, Louis.

#2 Sounds good and is what I assumed, without being explained in the documentation. We do not want do use any of the mentioned enhancements (config changes while VSMs are already upgraded, but VEMs/Hosts not). Just a upgrade from vCenter, then VSMs, then one host after the other including the VEMs. I am now also pretty positive that the combined upgrade will work. I will let everybody know here in about 10 days, if it worked.

#3 Ok, good to know! So after being upgraded to vSphere 5.1 and Nexus 1.1a everything will work fine. We only need to run the PS-Script from the VSM against vCenter, IF we want to use the WebClient-Plugin with vCenter 5.1s Web Client. As far as I now understand, this PS-Script/Plugin just adds some functionality to the WebClient in regard to Nexus 1000V. But it is not needed for the VSMs to communicate with vCenter (this would still be the xml-Plugin like in older versions).

Thanks for the clarifications, Louis, you´ve been a great help!

BR

Steffen

[lwatta · Accepted solution]

Steffen,

I got some clarification and I was wrong.

Officially if you want to upgrade the ESXi host to 5.1 and the VEM code to 2.1 at the same time you have to be at 1.5.2 or later.

Since you are at 1.5.1 without VUM I would do the following

Upgrade vCenter

Build ESXi upgrade image with 1.5.1 VEMs

Upgrade ESXi

Upgrade VSM to 2.1.x

Upgrade VEMs to 2.1.x on ESXi host from VSM using "vmware upgrade" and esxcli commands

Apparently there are some issues if you try to upgrade both VEM and ESXi at the same time prior to 1.5.2. It might still work for you but I wanted to make sure I clarified what we support and what we don't.

[steffenoezcan]

Hi Louis,

thanks for your clarification. Damn it.

Well, I am not sure if this path works either. This means vCenter would be already at 5.1, while the VSM is still at 1.5.1 - and this is AFAIK not supported. And in that unspported configuration state I would upgrade the Hosts from 5.0 to 5.1 (with the 1.5.1 VEM included). Does not sound better than the unsupported combined upgrade. I think I will go the safe way after your clarification.

I will upgrade the VSMs and the VEMs first to 1.1a, then the vCenter to 5.1, then the Hosts to 5.1 including the VEMs for 5.1/1.1a. Will take a lot more time, but this is the only supported way I can think of right now. To bad the combined upgrade has some issues prior 1.5.2.

Again, thanks a lot for your research and support, Louis!

BR

Steffen

[lwatta]

Yup your way is correct. Sorry about that.

louis