06/02/2018 Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server 6.

5 (2147686)

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Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server 6.5 (2147686)

Document Id
2147686

Purpose
This article provides pre-upgrade information for vCenter Server 6.5 and related components.

Resolution
Caution:
Though different upgrade paths are possible and may complete successfully, VMware does not recommend some of the resulting
topologies.
If your services are distributed across multiple machines, the upgrades must be done sequentially, not concurrently.

Deployment Models
To determine the deployment model that you want to upgrade to, see
Supported and deprecated topologies for VMware vSphere 6.5 (2147672) (/s/article/2147672?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=
. It is recommended to migrate off of a deprecated support topology before upgrading to vSphere 6.5. For more information, see the Moving from
a Deprecated to a Supported vCenter Server Deployment Topology Before Upgrade or Migration section of the
vSphere Upgrade Guide. (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc/GUID-080CA000-4BD0-40F8-8324-
DABB3A136390.html)

Caution: Repointing vCenter Server between Sites in a vSphere Domain is no longer supported in vSphere 6.5.

Staged upgrade across multiple maintenance Windows

If you have a complex vSphere 5.x or 6.0 environment, you may prefer to upgrade your vSphere environment over the course of several
maintenance windows. It is possible to upgrade the vSphere environment in stages.
These are the general order of the upgrades:

1. Upgrade each vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller one at a time.

Note: For 5.5, only if vCenter Single Sign-On is installed on a separate machine than vCenter Server.
2. Upgrade each vCenter Server one at a time.
3. Upgrade each ESXi host one at a time.

For more information about each transition step including diagrams, see the Upgrade or Migration Order and Mixed-Version Transitional
Behavior for Multiple vCenter Server Instance Deployments section in the
vSphere Upgrade Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc/GUID-FDF1D082-36EB-41EB-9D97-
A48D33A1D843.html)
.

vCenter Server for Windows requirements

Caution: vCenter Server 6.5 uses the Log on as batch job permission for several local users that are automatically created during installation
and are added to the local security policy. If this permission is removed services will fails to start. Ensure that GPO's do not override this
permission. For more information, see:

Error "Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer" (2148054) (/s/article/2148054?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateR
The vCenter Server for Windows Requirements section of the
vSphere Installation and Setup guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp?
topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.install.doc%2FGUID-F072712B-F568-4C3A-A4BC-EE6856D50CDA.html)
.

To install vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, your system must meet specific hardware and software requirements.
For more information, see:

vCenter Server for Windows Requirements section in the

vSphere Installation Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-F072712B-F568-
4C3A-A4BC-EE6856D50CDA.html)
.
Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere network section in the
vSphere Installation Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-9FD3A5E3-6C2D-
4161-9270-4BF57FADCE6D.html)
.
Required free space for system logging section in the
vSphere Installation Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-DD8C6FF2-1949-
4C82-A4BA-578988CA7BA1.html)
.
VMware Solution/Database Interoperability Matrix (http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php)

vCenter Server Appliance requirements

Before upgrading to vSphere 6.5, ensure to review the important information in these sections:
vCenter Server Appliance Requirements section in the
vSphere Installation Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-752FCA83-1A9B-
499E-9C65-D5625351C0B5.html)
.
Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere network section in the
vSphere Installation Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/index.jsp#com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-9FD3A5E3-6C2D-
4161-9270-4BF57FADCE6D.html)
.
Upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance section in the
vSphere Upgrade Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc/GUID-30485437-B107-42EC-
A0A8-A03334CFC825.html)
.

Migrating from vCenter Server for Windows to the vCenter Server Appliance
It is possible to migrate a vCenter Server installation on Windows to a vCenter Server Appliance installation while upgrading to version 6.5.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147686 1/3
06/02/2018 Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server 6.5 (2147686)

For more information, see:

System Requirements for Migrating vCenter Server Deployments to vCenter Server Appliance Deployments section in the
vSphere Upgrade Guide. (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc/GUID-C5D58C2B-7C4A-44BF-
8999-E4F34995D5A7.html)
Prerequisites for Migrating vCenter Server, vCenter Single Sign-On, and Platform Services Controller section in the
vSphere Upgrade Guide. (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc/GUID-A8BD815E-7CA1-45BB-
BF1F-9442A66033CE.html)
Known Limitations section in the
vSphere Upgrade Guide. (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc/GUID-5E19B79A-AE4F-497A-
9047-3E9AAC1D7767.html)
Notes:
The vSphere Web Client 6.5 requires Adobe Flash Player 16 or later. For more information, see the vSphere Web Client Software
Requirement section in the
vSphere Installation and Setup Guide (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.install.doc/GUID-F6D456D7-
C559-439D-8F34-4FCF533B7B42.html)
.

Related Information
For more information, see these sections in the vSphere Upgrade Guide:

vCenter Server Example Upgrade Path (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.doc/GUID-78B9F91E-36B

vSphere 6.5 Component Behavior Changes that Affect Upgrade (http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-65/topic/com.vmware.vsphere.upgrade.d

Distributed vCenter Server 5.5 for Windows Services Relocation During Upgrade or Migration ()
For other important issues, see
Important information before upgrading to vSphere 6.5 (2147548) (/s/article/2147548?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=
.

Important information before upgrading to vSphere 6.5 (/s/article/2147548?

r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=
Supported and deprecated topologies for VMware vSphere 6.5 (/s/article/2147672?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=
vCenter Server 6.5 へのアップグレードのベスト プラクティス (/s/article/2148020?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=
Error "Logon failure: the user has not been granted the requested logon type at this computer" (/s/article/2148054?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=
升级至 vCenter Server 6.5 的最佳实践 (/s/article/2148252?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=
Best Practices für das Upgrade auf vCenter Server 6.5 (/s/article/2148834?
r=1&KM_Utility.getArticleLanguage=1&KM_Utility.getArticle=1&KM_Utility.getGUser=1&KM_Utility.getArticleData=1&Quarterback.validateRoute=

Keywords
vCenter upgrade, best practices, upgrade vcenter 5.5 to 6.5, Upgrading from vcenter 5.1 to 6.5, vsphere upgrade to 6.5, upgrade vcenter 6.0 to
6.5, 6.5 upgrade best practices

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Article : 2147686

Updated : Sep 20, 2017

Total Views : 25868

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2147686 2/3
06/02/2018 Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server 6.5 (2147686)
Total Views : 25868

Language :
English

Product(s):
VMware vCenter Server
VMware vCenter Server Appliance

Product Version(s):
VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x
VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.x

Permalink to: Best practices for upgrading to vCenter Server

6.5 (https://kb.vmware.com/kb/2147686)

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