How to Upgrade from VMware vSphere ESXi half-dozen.vii to 7.0

Subscribe banner

VMware vSphere 7, the latest release of VMware's virtualization platform, introduces a number of new useful features and many companies are looking forward to upgrading from vSphere 6.vii to 7.0. The ESXi hypervisor is one of the master vSphere components, and for a vSphere upgrade, you should perform a VMware vCenter upgrade and a VMware ESXi upgrade. Y'all won't have to perform a clean installation of ESXi 7.0 on servers running ESXi six.v or ESXi 6.vii as you can directly upgrade to v7 from these two versions. If you lot're using ESXi half-dozen.0 or earlier in your vSphere environment, you lot tin can upgrade in several steps. For example, upgrade outset to version half-dozen.5 and then to version vii.0. Otherwise, practise a clean installation of ESXi 7.0. This blog post explains how to upgrade from ESXi six.7 to ESXi 7.0 in your vSphere surround.

ESXi Upgrade Requirements

The hardware of a server running ESXi half dozen.7 must exist compatible with ESXi vii.0, that is, it must run across the hardware requirements for ESXi 7.0. If an unsupported device is present (for example, an sometime unsupported CPU or disk controller), the ESXi upgrade will not exist applied to the server. See VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide.

There must be no running VMs on an ESXi host when you lot kickoff the ESXi upgrade process. In that location must as well be enough gratis storage space for the ESXi upgrade.

If an ESXi host is managed by vCenter Server, the vCenter version must be the same or college compared to the target version of ESXi later upgrade. VMware vCenter 7.0 can manage ESXi seven.0, ESXi 6.7 and ESXi vi.5, but vCenter 6.7 cannot manage ESXi 7.0 hosts. Thus, you have to upgrade vCenter get-go so become to ESXi upgrade if you want to upgrade vSphere 6.seven to 7.0. Follow this vSphere upgrade order, otherwise yous can lose the connection between an ESXi host and vCenter.

If there are whatsoever VMware add-ons or plugins installed, check their compatibility by using the VMware Compatibility Matrix.

ESXi Upgrade Methods

This blog post covers two primary methods for a VMware ESXi upgrade:

  1. Upgrade by using ESXCLI, the command line interface. This method can exist used for VMware ESXi half-dozen.7 to vii.0 upgrade for standalone ESXi hosts and ESXi hosts managed by vCenter.
  2. Upgrade by using Lifecycle Manager. This method is applicable only for ESXi hosts managed by vCenter Server. VMware Lifecycle Manager for VMware vSphere vii.0 is a modified VMware Update Manager that was used in vSphere half dozen.seven. This is the preferred method for upgrading ESXi hosts managed past vCenter and allows yous to upgrade multiple ESXi hosts at once by using the same paradigm.

How long does ESXi upgrade take? An ESXi upgrade takes a few minutes if at that place are no compatibility issues or other problems.

ESXi Upgrade by Using ESXCLI

Although ESXi upgrade by using ESXCLI is not hard, you lot should even so perform an ESXi fill-in before upgrading. This way, if anything goes incorrect, you can roll back to a backup version. Read besides how to support ESXi configuration.

Enable ESXi Shell and SSH to access the control line interface on the ESXi host. You can do this by using one of 2 methods:

  1. In the ESXi direct console (DCUI), open Organization customization and in Troubleshooting options, striking Enable ESXi Crush and Enable SSH. This configuration enables SSH and ESXi Shell permanently until y'all manually disable them.
  2. Enter the IP accost of your ESXi host in a web browser. Log into the VMware Host Client by using your ESXi root credentials. In the web interface of the VMware Host Client become to Manage > Services.

Beginning the services:

  • TSM
  • TSM-SSH

These services will exist enabled until ESXi reboot if yous started the services in VMware Host Client.

Enable-SSH-access-for-VMware-ESXi-upgrade-by-using-ESXCLI

Check the current version of ESXi in the ESXi Direct Console or ESXi Shell by using the vmware -v control or in VMware Host Client by going to Help > About.

Checking-the-current-ESXi-version-before-upgrade

Shut down all VMs running on the ESXi host.

ESXi upgrade past using ESXCLI is divided into two types:

  • The offline method – you have to download the offline parcel from the VMware website manually, upload the file to the ESXi datastore, and use this packet for the ESXi upgrade.
  • The online method – you should use VMware online repositories to download and install new packages for an ESXi profile update.

The offline method for ESXi upgrade

Download the ESXi 7 offline bundle from the VMware website. The zip archive of the offline packet is bachelor forth with the ESXi ISO installation image. In our case the name of the downloaded VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi) offline bundle file is:

VMware-ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-depot.zip

Downloading-the-VMware-ESXi-7-offline-bundle-from-the-VMware-website

Upload the downloaded zip file to the ESXi datastore. You can use VMware Host Customer or any SFTP client (if you want to upload a file via SSH). Let's use VMware Host Customer to upload the file.

Go to Storage > Datastores, select the datastore (datastore1 in our case), and click Datastore Browser.

Opening-the-datastore-browser-by-using-VMware-Host-Client

Select a directory to shop parcel files or create a new directory in the datastore browser. Nosotros create the ESXi7-bundle directory to shop the VMware-ESXi-seven.0.0-15843807-depot.zip file. Click Upload to scan a cypher bundle file and upload the file to the selected directory in the datastore.

The-ESXi-7-offline-installation-bundle-is-uploaded-to-the-ESXi-datastore-for-ESXi-upgrade

Brand certain that at that place are non whatsoever VMs in the running state on this ESXi host before starting the ESXi upgrade process.

vmware -v is the command that allows you to check the electric current version of ESXi running on your server in the console.

Run the update command to upgrade ESXi 6.seven to 7.0:

esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/ESXi7-bundle/VMware-ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-depot.zip

where ESXi-vii.0.0-15843807-standard is the ESXi profile name that contains the version and build number that is equal to the ESXi version and build number divers in the name of the VMware-ESXi-seven.0.0-15843807-depot.zip file used for ESXi upgrade. A profile consists of VIBs and defines an ESXi image. A VIB is an ESXi software bundle.

Await for a while until you see the control output.

Running-the-command-to-upgrade-ESXi-6-7-to-7-by-using-the-offline-method

After successful execution of the command you tin see a list of updated packages (VIBs – VMware installation bundles) in the console output.

ESXi-packages-are-updated-and-server-reboot-is-required-to-complete-ESXi-upgrade

Reboot the ESXi host to end the ESXi upgrade:

reboot

Don't forget to assign a serial number for ESXi 7.0 because the serial number for ESXi half dozen.7 doesn't piece of work for ESXi 7.0. Since the vSphere half-dozen license is non valid, the upgraded ESXi 7.0 host starts to piece of work in the full-featured evaluation mode for a threescore-twenty-four hour period period. Thus, yous have 60 days after upgrade to enter a vSphere 7 serial number otherwise the functionality of ESXi 7.0 volition exist express.

The online method for ESXi upgrade

When using the online method, you should configure internet admission for the ESXi host that you desire to upgrade and place the host in maintenance mode manually.

List the current image profile and contained packages:

esxcli software profile get

Viewing-the-current-ESXi-profile

Enter ESXi to the maintenance mode:

vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

or

esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true

Allow http traffic by editing settings in the built-in firewall on the ESXi host:

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient

List profiles provided by VMware for ESXi 7.0 in VMware repositories:

esxcli software sources contour list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep ESXi-7.0.0

A software depot is a collection of VIBs and paradigm profiles that has a hierarchy of files and directories that tin can be accessed via HTTPS. Companies who have large VMware vSphere environments can create own depots and apply vSphere machine deploy to install updates on numerous ESXi hosts.

Permit's use this profile:
ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard

You can check which packages will be installed before running the ESXi upgrade command:

esxcli software profile update -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/primary/vmw-depot-alphabetize.xml -p ESXi-seven.0.0-15843807-standard --dry-run

Run the update procedure:

esxcli software profile update -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/primary/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard

Configuring-the-firewall-selecting-the-profile-and-starting-the-ESXi-upgrade-process

Wait for a few minutes until the upgrade process is finished.

Prefer using esxcli software contour update rather than esxcli software contour install to preclude overwriting existing packages, drivers, and configuration.

If you encounter the error bulletin

Got no information from process: LANG=en_US.UTF-8 /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software profile.update  -d "https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/Production/main/vmw-depot-index.xml" -p "ESXi-seven.0.0-15843807-standard",

check whether in that location is a persistent scratch partition. A persistent scratch partition may exist absent if you run ESXi from a USB wink drive. Read the weblog mail about running ESXi from the USB flash drive to learn more virtually ESXi partitions.

If everything is correct, reboot the ESXi host for the changes to have outcome.

reboot

Leave the maintenance mode with the command:

vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

or

esxcli system maintenanceMode gear up --enable false

ESXi Host Upgrade in vCenter

Open VMware vSphere Client in your web browser to access vCenter.

There are two ESXi 6.7 hosts in this example and these hosts are managed by vCenter. Shut down virtual machines on ESXi hosts that must be upgraded or migrate those VMs to other ESXi hosts. You can practice upgrading ESXi hosts in virtual environment by running ESXi hosts and vCenter as virtual machines.

Let'south upgrade the ESXi host with IP address is 192.168.11.27. Select the needed ESXi host and check the current hypervisor version. As you tin can see on the screenshot below, the current version of our ESXi host before upgrade is 6.7.0 build 10302608. If you want to upgrade multiple ESXi hosts, you can select a cluster or a datacenter.

Checking-the-current-ESXi-version-in-VMware-vSphere-Client-before-starting-ESXi-upgrade

Open Lifecycle Manager. You can exercise information technology past using multiple methods.

  1. Click Domicile and in the left pane (navigation pane) click Lifecycle Manager.
  2. Click Carte in the peak of the vSphere Client window, and hit Lifecycle Manager.

Once you have opened VMware Lifecycle Manager in vSphere Client, select the Imported ISOs tab and click Import ISO.

Importing-the-ESXi-7-installation-ISO-image-for-performing-VMware-ESXi-upgrade

Hit Scan and select the ESXi 7 installation ISO image file. You lot can download the ESXi installation epitome from the VMware website after registration (a VMware account is required).

Browsing-the-installation-ISO-image-for-ESXi-6-7-to-7-upgrade

Once you have selected the ISO file, the importing process starts. In this case, nosotros use the VMware-VMvisor-Installer-vii.0.0-15843807.x86_64.iso file.

The-ESXi-7-installation-ISO-image-is-uploading-to-the-repository-of-Lifecycle-Manager

Subsequently importing the ISO file, you tin can see that the ESXi 7.0 installation image in the Imported ISOs tab.

Click New baseline to create a new baseline.

Creating-a-new-baseline-after-importing-the-ISO-image

Name and Clarification. Enter the baseline name and clarification, for case, ESXi7-0 and ESXi 7.0 baseline.

Entering-a-name-and-description-for-a-new-baseline

Select ISO. Select the ESXi 7 ISO paradigm you lot take uploaded earlier (VMware-VMvisor-Installer-seven.0.0-15843807.x86_64.iso).

Selecting-the-ESXi-7-installation-ISO-image-for-a-new-baseline

Summary. Review your selections before finishing creating a baseline.

Checking-the-summary-for-a-new-baseline-creation

A baseline is at present created.

Become back to the Hosts and clusters screen, select the ESXi host that must be updated (192.168.11.27 in our case), and in the top right corner of the interface click the Updates tab.

Selecting-the-Updates-tab-after-selecting-the-ESXi-host-that-must-be-upgraded

When a baseline is created, you lot have to attach that baseline to ESXi hosts you want to update. As you remember, we are going to update a single ESXi host in this walkthrough.

Hit Baselines, roll down and find the Fastened Baselines department, then click Adhere and in the menu that opens, click Attach Baseline or Baseline Group.

Attaching-a-baseline-or-baseline-group-to-the-selected-ESXi-host-for-configuring-VMware-ESXi-upgrade

Select the ESXi7-0 baseline you take created before and click Attach. If there are whatever other baselines attached, remove those baselines past selecting them and clicking Disassemble.

VMware-upgrade_selecting-the-baseline-to-attach

Now you accept to cheque compliance. This step is needed to check whether the ESXi host has already the update installed. If you lot see the non-compliant status, it means that the update is not installed on your ESXi host. Click Check Compliance.

Checking-compliance-before-performing-ESXi-upgrade

Every bit you can see on the adjacent screenshot, the ESXi status after checking is non-compliant and it ways that you can install the needed update and upgrade ESXi half dozen.7 to ESXi vii.0.

The-non-compliant-status-notifies-you-that-updates-have-not-been-installed-on-an-ESXi-host-yet

Pre-check remediation checks for whatsoever compliance issues that may occur later installing updates and the ESXi upgrade.

Running-pre-check-remediation-to-check-for-any-compliance-issues-that-may-occur-after-VMware-ESXi-upgrade

As you can encounter on the screenshot below, there are no problems after running remediation pre-check. Hit Done and go to upgrade the ESXi host.

VMware-upgrade_no-issues-found-after-remediation-pre-check

In the Attached Baselines section select your ESXi7-0 baseline created before and click Remediate to start the ESXi 6.7 to 7.0 upgrade process.

Clicking-Remediate-to-start-the-upgrade-process-of-ESXi-6-7-ESXi-7

A pop-up screen appears. Read the End User License Agreement (EULA) and select the I accept the terms and license agreement checkbox. Hitting OK to keep.

The-end-user-license-agreement-must-be-accepted-to-perform-upgrade-to-ESXi-7

Brand certain that your ESXi host is selected and striking Remediate to upgrade ESXi 6.7 to seven.0. Don't forget that virtual machines must be powered off or migrated from the ESXi host that is beingness upgraded.

Remediating-the-selected-ESXi-6-7-host-for-upgrade-to-the-version-7

You can see the ESXi upgrade progress in the Recent chore toolbar that can be expanded in the bottom of the VMware vSphere Client interface. The ESXi host is automatically entered into the maintenance mode to install the upgrade.

The-ESXi-host-is-entered-the-maintenance-mode-and-the-upgrade-process-is-started

When the ESXi upgrade process is finished, the maintenance manner is turned off for the host and the upgraded ESXi host is ready to piece of work. You tin select the ESXi host in the Hosts and Clusters view and check the version later on ESXi upgrade. As you lot tin see on the screenshot below, the version of ESXi is now ESXi 7.0.0, 15843807.

The-ESXi-host-has-been-upgraded-to-the-version-7-successfully

If yous come across that a license is expired after an ESXi six.seven to 7.0 upgrade on the upgraded host, yous should utilise a vSphere vii.0 license.

If you lot need to upgrade an ESXi host on which a vCenter VM (virtual apparatus) is running you can apply ane of the approaches:

  • Migrate a vCenter VM to some other ESXi host and upgrade the source ESXi host.
  • Close down a vCenter VM and other VMs running on the ESXi host and upgrade ESXi by using ESXCLI as explained in the kickoff part of this blog postal service. Observe, that SSH access must exist enabled and the lockdown mode must be disabled (you must exist able to manage an ESXi host directly without vCenter).

Notation: If whatsoever of explained ESXi upgrade methods are not suitable for you, y'all can write the ESXi ISO installation image to a DVD deejay or USB flash drive, boot from that medium, run the ESXi 7.0 installer, and select the disk where ESXi half dozen.7 is installed as the destination disk. The upgrade is performed in the interactive fashion in this example. Some other more complex ESXi upgrade method is a scripted upgrade by using a traditional kicking medium like DVD and flash drive or the preboot execution environment (PXE) to run the installer. The scripted method allows you to use predefined settings for upgrading multiple ESXi hosts.

What is VM compatibility upgrade? VM compatibility upgrade is the upgrade of VM hardware version. A VM hardware version defines which emulated devices (virtual hardware) are used by a virtual machine running on a VMware hypervisor.

Should you upgrade VMware hardware version? It is recommended to upgrade the hardware version of virtual machines after an ESXi upgrade and to update VMware Tools.

Decision

After the release of vSphere 7, many VMware customers want to upgrade from vSphere half dozen.7 to seven.0. VMware ESXi upgrade is a part of VMware vSphere upgrade. This web log mail service has covered ESXi six.seven to 7.0 upgrade by using multiple methods. VMware ESXi upgrade in ESXCLI, which is a command line interface, is the universal method that can be used to upgrade standalone ESXi hosts and ESXi hosts managed by vCenter if information technology is not restricted by vCenter configuration. If y'all apply vCenter to manage a loftier number of ESXi hosts, consider ESXi upgrade by using VMware Lifecycle Manager that is component of vCenter 7.0 and is a successor of VMware Update Manager. Information technology is recommended to perform ESXi backup before going to VMware ESXi upgrade. Don't forget to back up your VMware VMs on a regular footing to protect your data. NAKIVO Fill-in & Replication can perform VMware fill-in, including for vSphere 7, and provide comprehensive data protection for your environment.

VMware Backup