1. vSphere Upgrade Series Part 1: vCenter Server Josh Gray, VMware Justin King, VMware VSVC5690 #VSVC5690

2. 2 vSphere Deployment Best Practices vCenter Server 5.1 Upgrade Overview Before vCenter and vCenter Single Sign-On Components of vCenter 5.1 Upgrade Matrix vCenter Server 5.5 Requirements Upgrade / Install order New Install vs In Place Upgrade Reference Architecture Linked Mode vCenter Appliance VMware Update Manager (VUM) 3. 3 vSphere Upgrade Overview Upgrading vSphere is a multistage process Plan your upgrade Order is important Always start with vCenter Dont forget about plug-ins Rolling ESXi host upgrades are supported Know your VM upgrade requirements Dont forget about VMFS and VDS Step 3 ESXi Step 4 VMs Step 5 VMFS Step 1 vCenter Step 2 VUM This session focuses on Steps 1 - 2For Steps 3 5 see VSVC4945: vSphere Upgrade Part 2 4. 4 vSphere Upgrade Resources vSphere Documentation Center https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/ VMware Compatibility Guide http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility Product Interoperability Matrix http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php 5. 5 Before vCenter had vCenter Single Sign-On vCenter Server vCenter Server Database vSphere Web Client (5.0) Server-side settings VMware Plugins Third Party Plugins vCenter Data SSL Certificates ADAM 6. 6 Added with vCenter Server 5.1 Single Sign-On Inventory Service Identity sources Database Embedded users / groups and policies xDB file format (Inventory Cache) Tags No new components added with vCenter Server 5.5 7. 7 Upgrade Matrix VMware supports in-place upgrades on 64-bit systems from vCenter Server 4.x vCenter Server 5.0.x vCenter Server 5.1.x *Exception being Windows XP Professional x64 VMware does not support directly migrating an existing, 5.0.x or earlier vCenter Server to a new machine during an upgrade to version 5.5 You can migrate such an existing vCenter Server to a new machine during an upgrade to version 5.0.x, and then perform an in-place upgrade from version 5.0.x to version 5.5 vCenter Server 5.5 can manage ESX 4.x/ESXi 4.x, ESXi 5.0.x, and 5.1 x hosts in the same cluster with ESXi 5.5 hosts vCenter Server 5.5 cannot manage ESX 2.x or 3.x hosts 8. 8 System Requirements (Hardware) Simple Install (Minimums) 2CPU / 12GB RAM / 100GB Disk / 1Gbps Custom Install (Minimums) Single Sign-On 1CPU / 3GB RAM / 2GB Disk / 1Gbps vSphere Web Client 1CPU / 2GB RAM / 2GB Disk / 1Gbps** Inventory Service 1CPU / 3GB RAM / 5GB Disk / 1Gbps vCenter Server 2CPU / 4GB RAM / 60GB Disk / 1Gbps 9. 9 System Requirements (Hardware) - Recommended Simple Install (Recommended) 4CPU / 24GB RAM / 200GB Disk / 1Gbps Custom Install (Recommended) Single Sign-On 2CPU / 4GB RAM / 8GB Disk / 1Gbps vSphere Web Client 2CPU / 4GB RAM / 8GB Disk / 1Gbps** Inventory Service 1CPU / 8GB RAM / 32GB Disk / 1Gbps vCenter Server 4CPU / 8GB RAM / 100GB Disk / 1Gbps Based on an Inventory Size of 400 hosts or 4000 virtual machines 10. 10 Deprecated Operating Systems vCenter Server 5.5 removes support for Windows Server 2003 as a host operating system Windows Server 2008 (no SP) as a host operating system Windows Server 2008 SP1 as a host operating system Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 SP2 before upgrading vCenter Server to version 5.5 vSphere Documentation Center https://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/ VMware Compatibility Guide http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility Product Interoperability Matrix http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php 11. 11 New Install vs In Place Upgrade New Install Pros Clean Start Reconfigure Architecture New Hardware Cons Loss of Historical data Rebuild of environment Settings manually recreated Time Involved In place Upgrade Pros Most Common All Settings Maintained Slipstreamed Process Historical data maintained Cons Carry over of old/unused data Performance (hardware?) 12. 12 Installation Then and Now Download and Install vCenter Download and Install VI Client on desktop vCenter 4.x / 5.0 vCenter on Windows vCenter Server Appliance 13. 13 Installers 14. 14 Installer Simple Install Changes Added Web Client Installer Order changes 5.1 Single Sign-On Inventory Service vCenter 5.5 Single Sign-On vSphere WebClient Inventory Service vCenter Why? In the rare case SSO goes wrong, users can log into Web Client and configure/edit Best practice: Simple Install puts all components in a single server VMwares suggested best practice 15. 15 Custom Install Why would you run this? Distribute services across multiple servers Customize location Advanced configurations E.g. additional vCenter servers 1 2 3 4 16. 16 Single vCenter Server 5.5 Design Recommendation VC Database vCenter Server Host or VM vCenter Server SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc Use Simple Installer Installs / Upgrades core components with a single virtual machine 1. vCenter Single Sign-On 2. vSphere Web Client 3. vCenter Inventory Service 4. vCenter Server No change to architecture All services are local Reduces complexity Supports 1-1000 Hosts / 1- 10,000 Virtual Machines 17. 17 Multiple vCenter Server 5.5 (Remote) Design Recommendation By Default Each site is independent Does not provide a single pane of glass view SSO automated replication SSO Users & Groups SSO Policies Identity sources Site awareness Linked Mode Maintains single pane of glass Replicates Licenses, permissions and roles Availability vSphere HA vCenter Heartbeat vCenter Server vCenter Server New York vCenter Server vCenter Server Miami vCenter Server vCenter Server Web Client Inventory Svc SSO Server vsphere.local Los Angeles Web Client Inventory Svc Web Client Inventory Svc SSO Site 1 SSO Site 2 SSO Site 3 Single SSO Authentication Domain 18. 18 SSO Server Web Client Multiple vCenter Server 5.5 (Local) Design Recommendations A Datacenter with 6 or more vCenter Servers Centralized SSO authentication Same Physical location Single Centralized vSphere Web Client Availability (Required) vSphere HA vCenter Heartbeat Network Load Balancer 18 vCenter Server 2 vCenter Server 5.5 Inventory Svc SSO Server Web Client Database Server VCDB1,VCDB2,VCDB3 vCenter Server 3 vCenter Server 5.5 Inventory Svc vCenter Server 1 vCenter Server 5.1 Inventory Svc Backwards compatible to vCenter Server 5.1 19. 19 Supports Upgrade of all vCenter 5.1 configurations Previous vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1 deployment models Fully Maintained via Upgrade Basic Single Sign-On High Availability Single Sign-On Multisite New recommendations with vSphere 5.5 Better use of new technology Single virtual machine for all vCenter components** Distributed virtual machines add complexity Availability Backup & Restore Easily migrate to new recommendations during upgrade ** Enterprise customers with 6 or more local vCenter servers can use a centralized instance 20. 21 What about 4.0/4.1/5.0 upgrade configurations? Architecture is unchanged vSphere 5.5vSphere 4.0 / 4.1 / 5.0 vCenter Server VC Database vCenter Server Host Web Client (*5.0) VC Database vCenter Server Host vCenter Server SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc 21. 22 What about 5.1 upgrade configurations? (Basic SSO) Architecture is unchanged Removal of SSO database vSphere 5.5vSphere 5.1 VC Database vCenter Server Host vCenter Server SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc VC Database SSO Database vCenter Server Host vCenter Server SSO Server (Basic) Web Client Inventory Svc 22. 23 What about 5.1 upgrade configurations? (SSO HA) Shared Database Host or VM SSO Server (Primary) Load Balancer Host or VM SSO Server (HABackup) Host or VM Load Balancer Host or VM SSO Server vSphere 5.1 vSphere 5.5 No SSO Database 23. 24 Multiple Remote vCenter Server Design Recommendations Local Databases vCenter Server vCenter Server vCenter Server vCenter Server Inventory Svc vCenter Server vCenter Server New York Los Angeles Miami Multi Site SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc Multi Site SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc Primary SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc 24. 25 Multiple Remote vCenter Server Design Recommendations vCenter Server vCenter Server vCenter Server vCenter Server Inventory Svc vCenter Server vCenter Server New York Los Angeles Miami SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc SSO Server Web Client Inventory Svc Automatic Replication Identity Sources SSO Users/Groups/Policies Registered Solutions 25. 26 vCenters in Linked Mode vCenter Server Linked Mode groups does not support different versions of vCenter Server All vCenters Servers in a Linked Mode group need to be part of the same Single Sign-On vSphere Authentication Domain Upgrade Process Unjoin vCenter Server from Linked Mode group Upgrade vCenter Server to 5.5 Upgrade other vCenter Servers to 5.5 Rejoin vCenter Servers to Linked Mode group domain user who is an administrator on both the machines Notes DNS Network Time synchronization 26. 27 VMware vCenter Server 5.0: Upgrade Process Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker 27. 28 VMware vCenter Server 5.5: Upgrade Process Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker 28. 29 VMware vCenter Server 5.0: Upgrade Process Host Agent Pre-Upgrade Checker Performs checks include Host is reachable Disk space is sufficient Network is functioning File system is intact Required patches are applied Aim is to prevent hosts going disconnected after uninstallation of prior agent installing the new agent 29. 30 VMware vSphere 5.5 vCenter Appliance VMware vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) SLES 11 Linux based virtual machine appliance Same license as Windows vCenter Pros Linux, No windows All in one, self contained Deploy in minutes Cons Cannot migrate from Windows to VCSA Embedded vPostgres Database, 5 host / 50VMs max Limited external database support only Oracle No linked mode, vCenter Heartbeat, IPv6 30. 31 VMware Update Manager You can upgrade to Update Manager 5.5 from Update Manager version 4.x Update Manager 5.0 Update Manager 5.1 that are installed on a 64-bit operating system If on a 32-bit operating system, use the data migration tool that is provided with Update Manager 5.0 and in place upgrade from Update Manager 5.0 Notes Upgrades cannot change installation or download path use the Update Manager Utility to replace the existing 512-bit key certificate with 2048-bit key certificate Scheduled tasks for scan and remediation are maintained Patch Baselines removed 31. 32 Thank You Stay up to date with vCenter Server http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/ @vCenterGuy @jasper9 32. 33 Other VMware Activities Related to This Session vSphere Upgrade Series Part 2: vSphere Hosts and Virtual Machines VSVC4945: vSphere Upgrade Series Part 2: vSphere Hosts and Virtual Machines Performance VSVC5234 Extreme Performance Series: vCenter of the Universe vCenter Single Sign-On VSVC5635 vSphere vCenter Single Sign-On Best Practices vSphere Web Client VSVC5436 vSphere Web Client Technical Walkthrough vCenter Deep Dive VSVC4830 vCenter Deep Dive Group Discussions: VSVC1000-GD vCenter Upgrades with Justin King 33. 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