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9.5 Installing vCenter Server Update Manager

After upgrading vCenter Server 5.5 to 6.0, the next step is to upgrade VMware ESXi hosts to 6.0. There are two ways to upgrade, one is to use Update Manager in vCenter Server 6 to upgrade, and the other is to use VMware ESXi 6.0 installation image to upgrade ESXi 5.5. In this article, we use the former to upgrade.

vCenter Server Update Manager can be installed in a vCenter Server virtual machine, but we recommend creating a virtual machine specifically for vCenter Server Update Server, allocating 2 CPUs, 2GB of memory, 300GB of hard disk space, and planning IP address 172.16.16.21 for this server.

(1) Log in to vCenter Server using vSphere Client and deploy a new virtual machine from the Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 template virtual machine, in this example named vc-Update_16.21, as shown in Figure 1-34.

(2) After deploying the virtual machine, modify the settings of the virtual machine to configure it with 2 CPUs and 2 GB of memory, as shown in Figure 1-35.

Figure 1-34 Deploying a VM from a templateFigure 1-35 Modifying a VM configuration

(3) If you want to add CPU and expand memory to the virtual machine during its operation, enable the memory hot add and CPU hot add functions in the Options → Advanced → Memory/CPU hot straight option, as shown in Figure 1-36.

Figure 1-36 Memory vs. CPU Hot Add

(4) Then power on the virtual machine and open the virtual machine console.

vSphere Update Manager requires at least 120GB of space. If your virtual machine has less hard disk space, you can modify the settings of the virtual machine to expand the space for the virtual hard disk. In this example, the hard disk of the original virtual machine was 60GB, and we expanded it to 300GB. After entering the virtual machine, open Server Manager → Storage → Disk Management, create a partition for the free space and assign the letter D, as shown in Figure 1-37.

Figure 1.37 Adding a new partition

After that, load the vCenter Server 6.0 installer and start the installation of Update Manager. The main steps are as follows.

(1) Run VMware vCenter Server Setup, select vSphere Update Manager, click and select Use Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express as an embedded database, click the Install button, as shown in Figure 1-38.

(2) Enter the Update Manager installer and select the installation language before starting the installation, as shown in Figure 1-39.

Figure 1-38 Installing Update Manager Figure 1-39 Selecting an Installation Language

(3) After that, start the Update Manager installer, as shown in Figure 1-40.

Figure 1-40 Starting the installer

(4) Before installation, the installer detects the current system environment. Setup requires Microsoft. NET Framework 3.5 SP1, if not, install this software before starting installation, as shown in Figure 1-41.

(5) After installing. NET 3.5, proceed to the installation wizard, as shown in Figure 1-42.

Figure 1-41 Detecting the. NET Framework Figure 1-42 Installation Wizard

(6) In the License Agreement dialog box, accept the license agreement, as shown in Figure 1-43.

(7) In the Support Information dialog box, Update Manager is shown upgrading ESXi 5.X hosts to ESXi 6.0, as shown in Figure 1-44.

Figure 1-43 Acceptance of License Agreement Figure 1-44 Support Information

(8) In the vCenter Server Information dialog box, enter the IP address, administrative username and password of vCenter Server, as shown in Figure 1-45. In this example, vCenter Server is installed on a machine with IP address 172.16.16.20, while the current machine (the virtual machine on which Update Manager is installed has IP address 172.16.16.21).

(9) In VMware vSphere Update Manager Port Settings, specify the IP address of Update Manager (which is automatically read by the installer from the current system) and each service port. Simply select the default value on this page, as shown in Figure 1-46.

Figure 1-45 Entering vCenter Server Location and Credentials Figure 1-46 Port Settings

(10) In the Destination Folder dialog box, select the installation location of VMware Update Manager and the configuration patch download location, where the patch location is changed to drive D and the others remain default, as shown in Figure 1-47.

(11) In the "Ready to install program" dialog box, click the "Install" button, as shown in Figure 1-48, to start installation.

Figure 1-47 Destination Folder Figure 1-48 Installation

After (12), start installation until installation is complete, as shown in Figure 1-49.

Figure 1-49 Installation Complete

9.6 Enable Update Manager plug-in

After installing vSphere Update Manager, you need to load the Update Management Client plug-in in the vSphere Client to use it, as follows.

(1) Log in to vCenter Server using vSphere Client and select Manage Plugins from the Plugins menu, as shown in Figure 5-10.

Figure 5-10. Managing plug-ins

(2) In Plug-in Manager, under Available Plug-ins, under VMware vSphere Update Manager Extensions, click the Download and Install link, as shown in Figure 5-11.

Figure 5-11. Downloading and installing plug-ins

(3) Then enter the vSphere Update Management Client installer, as shown in Figure 5-12.

Figure 5-12 Update Management Client Plug-in

Enter the VMware vSphere Update Manager Client installation wizard, as shown in Figure 5-13.

(5) Then install according to the wizard until the installation is complete, as shown in Figure 5-14.

Figure 5-13 Installation Wizard Figure 5-14 Starting Installation

When the installation is complete, close vSphere Client and go to Home → Solutions and Applications again, you can see that Update Manager has appeared, as shown in Figure 5-15.

Figure 5-15 Update Manager

9.7 Upgrade ESXi hosts with Update

There are three ESXi hosts in the current network that need to be upgraded. During the upgrade process, in order to avoid service interruption, the host to be upgraded needs to be placed in "maintenance mode" before the upgrade. In this way, the virtual machines in the host in maintenance mode will be migrated to other hosts to continue running. During the migration process, the running virtual machines will not be affected, thus ensuring business continuity. Moreover, when upgrading, it was not the three mainframes that were upgraded together, but one by one. The overall upgrade process is as follows (taking three hosts A, B and C in the network as an example):

(1) Modify vSphere HA settings to disable DPM functionality. If there is a host in standby mode, turn on the host.

(2) Put one of the hosts into "maintenance mode," for example, host A. Before A is in maintenance mode, the virtual machines running on A will be automatically migrated to hosts B and C.

(3) Use Update Manager Client to import VMware ESXi 6.0 installation image and upgrade host A.

(4) After the A host completes the upgrade, the A host exits the maintenance mode.

(5) Upgrade B host, B host repeat the operations of (2)~(4).

(6) After host B finishes upgrading, upgrade host C and repeat the operations of (2)~(4) for host C.

In the following procedure, we upgrade host B as an example, and other host upgrades are similar.

(1) Log in to vCenter Server using vSphere Client, right-click Cluster Name, and select Edit Settings, as shown in Figure 9-10.

Figure 9-10 Cluster setup

(2) Select "OFF" in vSphere DRS→ Power Management, as shown in Figure 9-11, to turn off DPM function.

Figure 9-11 Turning off DPM

(3) If there is a host in standby mode, right-click the host and turn on the power of the host, as shown in Figure 9-12.

Figure 9-12. Host computer in standby mode

(4) Right-click the host to be upgraded and select Enter Maintenance Mode, as shown in Figure 9-13.

Figure 9-13 Entering Maintenance Mode

(5) In the Confirm Maintenance Mode dialog box, select Move powered off and suspended virtual machines to other hosts in the cluster, as shown in Figure 9-14.

Figure 9-13. Confirm Maintenance Mode

Note: Select this option only if the virtual machine is stored in shared storage. Do not select this option if the virtual machine is powered off and suspended is stored locally on the host.

(6) After all virtual machines are migrated to other hosts, the current host enters maintenance mode. Then select Update Manager from the Home menu, as shown in Figure 9-14.

Figure 9-14 Selecting Update Manager

(7) Enter the Update Manager management interface of vCenter, as shown in Figure 9-15.

Figure 9-15 Update Manager management interface

Update Manager is VMware's patch management program that not only upgrades ESXi, but also installs patches for ESXi hosts. In this section, we only describe its ability to upgrade ESXi hosts. First, we describe how to upload an ESXi 6.0 image. The main steps are as follows.

(1) In Update Manager Management for vCenter, in the ESXi Image tab, click the Import ESXi Image link, as shown in Figure 9-16.

Figure 9-16. Importing an ESXi image

(2) In the Open dialog box, select VMware ESXi 6.0 installation image, as shown in Figure 9-17.

Figure 9-17. Selecting an ESXi 6.0 installation image

(3) In the Select ESXi Image dialog box, the ESXi image has been loaded, as shown in Figure 9-18.

Figure 9-18. Browse Select ESXi Mirrors

(4) In the Upload ESXi Image dialog box, the name and version of the successfully uploaded ESXi image are displayed, as shown in Figure 9-19.

(5) In the Datum Name dialog box, in the Name text box, set a name and description information for the uploaded ESXi mapping. Here, set the name to "ESXi 6.0.0," as shown in Figure 9-20.

Figure 9-19 Uploading an ESXi Image Figure 9-20 Baseline Name

6) After uploading, as shown in Figure 9-21.

Figure 9-21 Upload complete

After uploading the ESXi 6.0 installation image to Update Manager, you can upgrade the host. The main steps are as follows.

(1) Select the host to be upgraded on the left, and click the Attach link in the Update Manager tab, as shown in Figure 9-22.

(2) In the Attach Baseline or Group dialog box, select Upgrade Baseline →ESXi 6.0, as shown in Figure 9-23, and then click Attach, as shown in Figure 9 -23.

Figure 9-22 Additional

Figure 9-23. Additional Datums or Groups

(3) Go back to vSphere Client and click the Repair button, as shown in Figure 9-24.

Figure 9-24. Repair

(4) In "Repair Selection," select "Upgrade Baseline →ESXi 6.0.0," as shown in Figure 9-25, click "Next" button.

(5) In the End User License Agreement dialog box, accept the license agreement, as shown in Figure 9-26.

Figure 9.25. Repair Options Figure 9.26. Accepting the License Agreement

(6) In the ESXi 6.0 Upgrade dialog box, click the Next button, as shown in Figure 9-27.

(7) In the Schedule dialog box, specify the time for the repair task and select Immediately, as shown in Figure 9-28.

Figure 9-27 Confirm Upgrade Settings Figure 9-28 Upgrade Time

(8) Specify the maintenance mode option of the repair task in the "Host Repair Options" dialog box. Since we have put the host in maintenance mode, we can directly select the default value, as shown in Figure 9-29.

(9) In Cluster Repair Options, you can select cluster features that are temporarily disabled as needed. When the number of hosts in the current cluster is small, you can select the Disable HA Access Control option, and other options can be selected as needed, as shown in Figure 9-30. Click Generate Report to view a report on the current configuration and changes, as shown in Figure 9-31.

(10) In the "Almost Finished" dialog box, the repair settings information is displayed, as shown in Figure 9-32.

(11) After that, Update Manager will upload the upgrade image to the host to be upgraded and automatically restart the remote host. During the upgrade process, the host being upgraded will be disconnected, which is normal. You can see details and prompts for the upgrade in Recent Tasks, as shown in Figure 9-33.

Figure 9-29. Host Repair Options Figure 9-30. Cluster Repair Options

Figure 9-31. Current Configuration Problem Figure 9-32. Fix Settings Information

Figure 9-33. Host has prompted disconnection during upgrade

(12) After waiting for some time, the ESXi host upgrade is complete. Select the host on the left, and you can see that the current ESXi version is 6.0.0 on the right, as shown in Figure 9-34. Then right-click the host to exit maintenance mode.

Figure 9-34. Exiting Maintenance Mode

(13) Navigate to Configuration → Software → Licensed Features and click the Edit link, as shown in Figure 9-35.

Figure 9-35. Permission to edit

(14) In the Assign Licenses dialog box, assign licenses added in vCenter Server to hosts upgraded to ESXi 6.0, or enter new licenses via Enter Key, as shown in Figure 9-36.

Figure 9-36. Allocating licenses

(15) Then follow the steps above to place the second host in maintenance mode and upgrade to ESXi 6.0, as shown in Figure 9-37.

(16) Finally upgrade the third host to ESXi 6.0, as shown in Figure 9-38.

After all hosts are upgraded, modify the cluster configuration to enable DPM functionality in Power Management, as shown in Figure 9-39.

Figure 9-37 Upgrading to Two Hosts to 6.0.0

Figure 9-38 Upgrading the third host to ESXi 6.0

Figure 9-39. Enabling Power Management

The upgrade was complete.

[Description] You can upgrade the virtual machine in the ESXi host according to your needs, upgrade the original virtual machine hardware version to the latest 11, which can be set according to your needs, and will not be described here.

After upgrading, return to vCenter Server,"exit maintenance mode" the current host, and then upgrade the other hosts. The related steps are not described again.

Finally, let's look at the options for installing ESXi on a USB drive, SSD, or native SAS. Specifically, whether to install ESXi on SSD, USB disk, or SAS disk installation, depending on the specific requirements, my personal suggestion:

1. If shared storage is used, it is the best choice to divide the storage space into a smaller space of 10G~30G and install ESXi.

2. If it is a server local storage, multiple hard disks do RAID, then divide a smaller volume, about 10~20G, install ESXi

3. For VSAN environments, it is recommended that ESXi be installed on a USB stick.

4. User requirements are more demanding, then install SSD ESXi.

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