02 Jul How to Upgrade vCenter Server from 7 to 8 – Step-by-Step Guide with ESXi Host Updates and Best Practices
Do you need to get up to vCenter 8 for compliance reasons? Are you converting your environment to VCF? If so you’re in the right place. Learn how to upgrade VMware vCenter Server from version 7 to 8 with this detailed, step-by-step guide. Includes ESXi host upgrade process, compatibility checks, best practices, and post-upgrade tasks.
vCenter Prerequisites
- Check Compatibility using the Broadcom Compatibility Guide.
- Download all appropriate installers from Broadcom
- Check Certificates and resolve any issues per this KB.
- VMware will remove Integrated Windows Authentication (IWA) in the next major release after vSphere 8.0 Update 3. If you’re still using IWA, switch to AD over LDAPS before upgrading.
- Backup the vCenter Server
- VAMI backup instructions
- vCenter Snapshot
- vSphere 8.0 no longer supports certificates with weak signature algorithms. If you receive the message ‘Support for certificates with weak signature algorithms has been removed from vCenter Server 8.0’ during the precheck, use this KB to update your certificates.
- Check for an Ephemeral Port Group if none exist, use this Guide to create one.
- Reboot the vCenter server to make sure there are no pending reboots.
- If you’ve set vSphere DRS to Fully Automated, change it to Manual or Partially Automated before starting the upgrade.
- Optional – Use the VCF Diagnostic Tool for vSphere (VDT) prior to upgrading to ensure a seamless transition.
Upgrade vCenter
Stage 1
Mount the .iso on your workstation then navigate to \vcsa-ui-installer\win32 and select installer.exe.
Click on Upgrade to start the upgrade process.
Click Next on the Introduction page then check the box to accept the EULA and click Next.
Specify the FQDN or IP of the vCenter server you want to upgrade. Then click on Connect to Source to check the connection.
After you connect, the system prompts you to enter the appliance’s Username/Password and the root password.
Scroll down in this section and fill in the ESXi host or vCenter Server that manages the source appliance. (This is typically going to be the host the vCenter resides on). Enter its Username/Password. Click Next to continue.
If you get a certificate warning, click Yes to continue.
Select the target for the new vCenter by entering the info for the ESXi host or vCenter. (This is typically going to be an ESXi host and should have an ephemeral port configured).
If you get a certificate warning, click Yes to continue.
After connecting to the host, the system prompts you to enter a name for the VM and the appliance’s root password.
Choose the appropriate deployment size for your environment. This is also where you could increase the Storage size if you need to. Click Next.
Select the appropriate Datastore and check the box for ‘Enable Thin Disk Mode’ if needed and click Next.
Select the appropriate Network from the dropdown. Note that only Ephemeral port groups are supported. If you need to create one click here. Fill in the temporary IP and other network settings and click Next.
Review all your settings and click Finish to start Stage 1 of the upgrade.
Eventually Stage 1 will complete, click Continue.
Stage 2
On the Update Wizard, click Next to start Stage 2.
Review the findings of the Pre-upgrade checks and correct as needed, then click Close.
Select what data you want to upgrade and click Next.
On the Configure CEIP page, uncheck the box to join CEIP and click Next.
On the review page, check the box stating you have a backup of the source vCenter and click Finish.
Click OK to accept the warning and wait for Stage 2 to complete.
When Stage 2 is complete, click Close.
Log in to vCenter and confirm it’s been updated to version 8.
At this point, you can delete the old vCenter. Right-click the powered down vCenter and select Delete from Disk. Click Yes when asked to confirm.
Now rename the new vCenter VM to the original name. Right-click the New vCenter and selecting Rename. If you just added a ‘-New’ to the end like I did all you have to do is remove the ‘-New’ from the end and click OK.
Reconfigure DRS to Fully Automated if you had it set that way before the upgrade.
Update vSAN HCL and Release Catalog (Only if you are using vSAN for the cluster)
In vCenter navigate to Configure > vSAN > Update > Update from file
ESXi Prerequisites
- Check Compatibility using the Broadcom Compatibility Guide.
- Download all appropriate installers from Broadcom.
- Backup your ESXi configuration (Broadcom KB).
Upgrade ESXi Host
Convert to Images
If you’re already using images, skip to the next section. If not, this is where you’ll build an image that includes everything your hosts need and apply it to the cluster. This approach streamlines host upgrades by automating most of the process and assuming your cluster has enough capacity, avoids downtime.
In vCenter click on the cluster that contains the host you want to upgrade. Then click the Updates tab on the top. Next, select the Manage With a Single Image button.
Because DOD vCenters can’t access the internet, you won’t see updated ESXi versions when setting up the image. You will only see the version currently running on your hosts. So, we will have to set it up manually.
As with most things VMware there is more than one way to do this. You can upload the newer ESXi .iso to Lifecycle Manager (LCM) and build the image from scratch. But I’ll focus on updating one host first and letting LCM build the image from that updated host.
Installing ESXi on Host
First, we need to get into one of the hosts with iLO, UCSM, IDRAC, or whatever your hardware uses for out-of-band (OOB) management. If your vCenter lives on one of these hosts, make sure and pick one that vCenter isn’t on and put that host in Maintenance Mode.
Using your preferred OOB management, mount the ESXi .iso to the host then reboot it.
When the host boots to the .iso press Enter to continue.
Press F11 to Accept the EULA and continue.
Select the disk you want to upgrade. If the system detects multiple disks, which is likely, highlight a disk and press F1 to view its details. Look for the one labeled as having ESXi installed. Once you are on the correct disk press Enter.
On the next screen, make sure to select Upgrade so it retains the VMFS datastore. Press Enter.
If you get an error about unsupported CPU, you can choose to override and install anyway. You’ll just have to confirm you want to override the CPU warning by pressing Enter to continue.
Next is just confirming you want to continue with the upgrade. Again, make sure it says “upgrade” then click F11.
Once it finishes, remove the mounted .iso and press Enter to reboot the host, then wait for it to show connected in vCenter.
Once the host shows back up in the cluster take it out of Maintenance Mode.
Building the Image
Now we can go back to Cluster>Updates>Image and click on Check again.
After rechecking you’ll see the update version. Select the updated image then click Proceed with this Image.
vCenter starts the process of converting to an image. Once the process completes, apply the image to the entire cluster.
- In Cluster>Updates>Image we can edit the image and check compliance. You may need to download additional vendor-specific VIBs to bring the image into compliance before proceeding. That is outside the scope of this SOP. I will say that if you’re using common hardware (Dell, HPE, Cisco) you can most likely find the custom ISOs and OEM add-ons on Broadcom’s Support Portal. You can find out more about that HERE.
- Shifting back to our image, click on Validate and ensure your image is valid, then click Save.
The system will now check all hosts for compliance with the image. Once that finishes click on Finish Image Setup.
Confirm you want to finish image setup.
After you click Yes, Finish Image Setup, simply click Remediate All to complete the process. An Impact Report will pop up for you to review. Check the Impact Report for any issues. If everything looks good, click Start Remediation.
Lifecycle Manager places each host in maintenance mode and, if DRS is enabled, migrates all VMs off the host before upgrading it one at a time.
Note: If you have plenty of capacity on the cluster and you can afford for more than one host to be in maintenance mode at a time there is a way to enable LCM to remediate multiple host. See this Tech Doc from Broadcom
Appendix
Set Up an Ephemeral Port Group
To upgrade, we need to make sure an ephemeral port group is available on the target ESXi host. I’m setting this up on my distributed switch, but you can also do it on a standard switch.
In vCenter on the Inventory page, click on the Networking icon. Then right-click your vDS, click Distributed Port Group>New Distributed Port Group.
Name it something to signify it is Ephemeral. Then click Next.
On Configure settings, change Port binding to Ephemeral – no binding. If you’re using vLANs set it to the same vLAN as your current management portgroup. Check the box next to Customize default policies configuration. Then click Next until you get to Teaming and failover.
This is going to vary depending on your environment. In my lab, I use Uplinks 1 and 2 for management, so I’m keeping them as Active uplinks and moving the rest to Unused uplinks.
Click Next until you get to the Ready to complete step. Then click Finish.
Now we have an ephemeral portgroup created that we need to add to our host. We could add it to just one, but I’m going to add it to all of them. This way no matter what host vCenter is on, I will always have a way to access it if our vDS gets wonky.
Right-click your vDS and go to Add and Manage Hosts. Select Manage host networking and click Next.
Select all your hosts on the next screen and click Next.
Everything else we’re going to leave alone for now so just click Next until the ready to complete page. Then click Finish.
All hosts now have the new port group attached. We can verify it’s working by logging into the host that vCenter is on. From there click on Virtual Machines and select your vCenter. Click Edit then scroll down to Network Adapter and change it to the ephemeral portgroup we just made. Save your changes.
vCenter is now using the ephemeral portgroup. If you refresh your browser on the vCenter page, you will not lose your connection. The upgrade process uses this port group, so you won’t encounter delays during that step.
vCenter VAMI Backup
Start by navigating to https://vCenterFQDN:5480
If you haven’t configured automatic backups yet, now’s a great time to set them up. Select Backup from the left menu. Then click on Configure.
Supply the appropriate information for your environment. Then click Create.
Once configured you can select Backup Now to create an up-to-date backup of your vCenter.
Make sure you check the box to use the backup schedule you created above, and enter the appropriate passwords. Then click Start.
Verify the backup completes successfully.
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