Yikes...I have not updated anything on this site for a long while. Been busy with baby duties and IRL stuff amidst this new COVID world.
More...
My new job doesn't have a big VMware footprint if any at all. I've been mostly Azure focused lately. I've kept up with the VMware news but I don't touch it everyday like I used to. 🙁
So anyway, with the new vSphere 7 out, I decided to upgrade my Home Lab since I haven't touched it in a while to check out the new numbered release.
Planning
After powering everything back on, I had a plan to upgrade all the components but needed to check the upgrade matrices for both vCenter and ESXi
vCenter Server 6.5 to 7.0 upgrade matrix:
Release Date | 04/20/2020 | 05/19/2020 | 06/23/2020 | 07/30/2020 | |
vCenter Server Release - Build Number | vCenter Server 7.0.0 - 15952498 | vCenter Server 7.0.0a - 16189094 | vCenter Server 7.0.0b - 16386292 | vCenter Server 7.0.0c - 16620007 | |
12/19/2019 | vCenter Server 6.5.0 U3f 15259038 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
1/30/2020 | vCenter Server 6.5.0 U3g 15505374* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
2/27/2020 | vCenter Server 6.5.0 U3h 15679215* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
3/26/2020 | vCenter Server 6.5.0 U3i 15808842* | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
5/28/2020 | vCenter Server 6.5.0 U3j 16275158* | No | No | No | Yes |
7/30/2020 | vCenter Server 6.5.0 U3k 16613358 | No | No | No | No |
ESXi 6.x to 7.0 upgrade matrix:
Release Date | 04/02/2020 | 06/23/2020 | |
ESXi Release - Build Number | ESXi 7.0 GA -15843807 | ESXi 7.0b Patch -16324942 | |
05/12/2019 | ESXi 670-201912001 Patch - 15160138 | Yes | Yes |
12/19/2019 | ESXi 650-201912002 Patch -15256549 | Yes | Yes |
04/07/2020 | ESXi 670-202004001 Patch - 15820472 | No | Yes |
04/28/2020 | ESXi 670-202004002 Patch - 16075168 | No | Yes |
05/28/2020 | ESXi 650-202005001 Patch -16207673 | No | Yes |
06/09/2020 | ESXi 670-202006001 Patch - 16316930 | No | Yes |
06/30/2020 | ESXi 650-202006001 Patch - 16389870 | No | No |
07/30/2020 | ESXi 650-202007001 Patch - 16576891 | No | No |
Pre-work
Since I was running some really old 6.5 versions. I decided to go with the following which would allow me an upgrade path directly to 7.0
vCenter 6.5 Build - 15259038
ESXi 6.5 Build - 15256549
Of course I decided to run the HPE SPP on my server so I can get that new delicious iLO4 with the HTML5 Remote Console. Never having to use the gross .NET or Java versions again.
Once all that planning and pre-work was done, it was time to start the upgrade. I've decided to do videos now of my lab to document the process of configuration. I'm just lazy. It's a lot more time consuming to do a ton of SnagIt screenshots, editing and organizing everything for each post.
After spending a few hours getting the hang of Camtasia, it's a lot more fun to record and edit audio and video. 🙂
The Upgrade to vCenter 7.0
The Upgrade to ESXi 7.0
Below is a quick vid on how to upgrade your ESXi host by installing directly over an existing ESXi installation. I've created a previous post on how to upgrade your ESXi host using an Offline Bundle here.