How To: Upgrade vCSA 6.0 to vCSA 6.5

Today marks the release of vSphere 6.5 and with that, a new vCenter Server Appliance that is worth paying attention to. Beyond the traditional boost of configuration maximums and security, this version comes loaded with features that have been requested over the past few years. Some highlights include:

  • Built-in migration tool to go from vCenter Server 5.5 or 6.0 to vCSA 6.5
  • Built-in VMware Update Manager
  • Native HA support deployed in Active-Passive-Witness architecture
  • No Client Integration Browser Plug-in
  • Adobe Flex AND HTML5 web clients
  • API Explorer via vCSA portal page for your automation needs
  • Tons of other little enhancements that you can read about here
  • This post will be a guide on getting you from vCSA 6 to 6.5 with setting up vCSA HA at a later date.

    Crack open the ISO in your preferred flavor of OS and run the vCenter Server Appliance Installer. You’ll be greeted by this step1

    Hit next, accept the EULA, and fill out your environmental info. FQDN/IP of 6.0 vCSA, SSO details, and the ESXi host info that is currently housing your 6.0 vCSA. step2

    Now, if you are running VUM on a Windows server in your environment, you will see the following error: Unable to retrieve the migration assistant extension on source vCenter Server. Make sure migration assistant is running on the VUM server. Copy the ‘migration-assistant’ folder to the VUM server and run ‘VMware-Migration-Assistant.exe’, type in the password for the VUM service account and return back to the vCSA 6.5 Installer. step4

    The next few pages are choosing your cluster resources, folder organization, and general deployment information. Since this was done in my lab, I chose to stick with the ‘tiny’ vCenter deployment since I do not expect to ever need anything larger than that… hopefully. step7step8step9step10step11

    Once all that is done and dusted, you will get to the confirmation page to verify you didn’t fat finger any settings. If they all look good, click Finish. step12

    Assuming everything was chosen properly, you will see this lovely screen step16
    Congrats, you now have 2 vCSA’s running… but that’s not what we are here for. We want to decommission the 6.0 in favor of 6.5 with all of our lovely settings. So let’s get that crackin’

    step17

    Hit next and fill in your vCSA 6.0 info as well as the host that is running your 6.0 vCSA. You may get a warning about DRS being enabled on the cluster so feel free to change that setting depending on if your settings are set too aggressively.

    Next you will choose what data you wish to migrate from your old 6.0 to your new 6.5. I wanted all that lovely historical data so I went with the longer, last option. step19

    After that, you should be good to go! You will see some progress bars and then greeted with links to your shiny, new 6.5 vCSA. *Hint* It’s the same info as your 6.0, thanks migrations!

    step20step21step22

    After you login, check out your About vSphere menu and you should see vSphere 6.5 listed as current build. You will also notice that your original 6.0 VM is powered off and can be decommissioned to your liking. step23

    From there, you can hop into the Update Manager tab and upgrade your hosts to 6.5 automatically as well! Happy trails, friends and enjoy all the new awesomeness that vCSA 6.5 has dropped into your lap.