01-27-2012 10:31 AM
Bear with me a bit while I try to get the details of this upgrade laid out. I have read all the KB's and blog posts and I'm still unclear on some of the phases of the process. Here is the plan in place right now:
Current Systems
Where this is going
There's no real all-in-one doc for how to do this, so here's what I've been able to piece together based on KBs, blogs and forum posts
Am I in the ballpark or is there a better/easier way that may not require me to shut down every VM? I would appreciate ANY feedback or comments on this as I'm pretty much flying solo in the planning and execution of this upgrade.
Thanks!
02-01-2012 12:25 AM
Hi Dan,
You are on the right track. However you can perform some of these function "online".
First you want to ensure that you are running at a minimum, Nexus 1000v SV1(4a) as ESXi 5.0 only began support on this release. With SV1(4a), it provides support for both ESXi 5.0 and ESX/i 4.1.
Then you can follow the procedure documented here:
Upgrading from VMware Release 4.0/4.1 to VMware Release 5.0.0
This document walks you through upgrading your ESX infrastructure to VMware Release 5.0.0 when Cisco Nexus 1000V is installed. It is required to be completed in the following order:
1. Upgrade the VSMs and VEMs to Release 4.2(1)SV1(4a).
2. Upgrade the VMware vCenter Server to VMware Release 5.0.0.
3. Upgrade the VMware Update Manager to VMware Release 5.0.0.
4. Upgrade your ESX hosts to VMware Release 5.0.0 with a custom ESXi image that includes the VEM bits.
Upgrading the ESX/ESXi hosts consists of the following procedures:
–Upgrading the vCenter Server
–Upgrading the vCenter Update Manager
–Augmenting the Customized ISO
–Upgrading the ESXi Hosts
There is also a 3 part video highlighting the procedure to perfrom the last two steps above (customized ISO and upgrading ESXi hosts)
Video: Upgrading the VEM to VMware ESXi Release 5.0.0
Hope that helps you with your upgrade.
Thanks,
Michael
04-12-2012 06:39 PM
Michael,
Would the procedure you recommended not require any downtime? I'm assuming no since the ESXi hosts will be upgraded through VUM with the VEM bits.
04-20-2012 06:17 AM
Hello,
If done correctly the upgrade should not cause any downtime because you are correct the VEM's will be individually put into maintenance mode and upgraded 1 at a time.
However, a maintenance window is always recommended in the case that an issue does occur. You do not want to come across an issue in production.
You will be performing an upgrade of the entire environment and should plan accordingly.
Joey
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