Upgrading ESX 4.1 to 5.1 on C210 M2

[marks]

I want to upgrade my host to ESXi 5.1 (from 4.1) but I have not found the upgrade on Cisco's site. Am I supposed to get the Cisco branded ESXi 5.1 iso from VMware? And is there a difference if my hosts are running my CUCM phone system?

My hosts are currently running ESXi 4.1.0, 433742. I should be able to jump to ESXi 5.1.0, 799733, right?

[Joseph Martini · Accepted solution]

It's my understanding that the custom ISO is only required for certain B series servers to pickup additional drivers that are no included in the standard ESXi ISO (reference http://tools.cisco.com/squish/47385).  You can use the regular ISO and upgrade directly from 4.1 to 5.1 as documented by VMware

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2032757.

There's no difference in terms of upgrading based on what's running on the hosts other than if the VMs support the new ESXi version.

[marks]

Good info, thanks.

It looks like I already have the ESXi iso I need so I  went ahead and downloaded the cisco driver iso for the C210 M2 series. I  should be good now. I guess my real concern was if the ESXi iso for  Unified Messaging (CUCM) was any different than that of other UCS  chassis, it appears to not be.

Thanks again!