How to upgrade VCSA 6.7 to 7.0
by Caleb Wells · November 16, 2020
- First, you want to verify that the software in your environment supports the version you are upgrading to. VMware has a Product Interoperability Matrices that can help you find out a lot of that information.
- Then you want to back up your current VCSA
- Next, run the installer
***The following steps will walk you through Stage 1 of the upgrade process. ***
- Select Upgrade
- General introduction
- Check the box to accept the EULA and hit NEXT
- Enter the IP address for the VCSA you want to upgrade and click CONNECT TO SOURCE.
- On this page, fill in all the blank fields then select NEXT.
- This is where you will select the VCSA deployment target. You can choose a vCenter different from the one you are upgrading, or you can choose an ESXi host that is managed by the VCSA you are upgrading. Once selected, click NEXT.
- Enter the new VM name and set the root password for the new VCSA, then select NEXT.
- Select the deployment size. I am in my home lab, so I chose tiny. Click NEXT.
- Here, you will choose the datastore you want for the new VCSA. Click NEXT.
- Set the temporary network settings for the new VCSA, then click NEXT.
- Verify all the settings, then select FINISH.
- The installer will begin deploying the new VCSA according to the settings you provided.
- CONGRATS! Stage 1 of the deployment process is complete. This took about 9 min in my lab. FYI: If for some reason the installer crashes or you exit the installer, you can go to the management interface of the new VCSA with the temporary IP you assigned it.
****The following steps will walk you through Stage 2 for upgrade completion.***
- Now that we have successfully deployed the new VCSA, lets get to the actual upgrade. During this stage we will begin to copy data from the original VCSA to the new VCSA you deployed in Stage 1.
- After the Pre-upgrade check is finished you will see warnings that you should look into before you proceed.
- Once you have fixed all the issues from the pre check or you accept the warnings shown you will need to select which data you want to migrate to the new VCSA. This is something that you have to make a decision on because it is based on what historical data you might want to keep. Since this is my lab I’m going to go with the minimum and copy over my configuration and inventory.
- You can now join VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program. This basically allows VMware to collect certain sanitized data from your environment, which could help with future releases.
- Verify the settings then check the box if you have backed up your VCSA, then click NEXT.
- Don’t be alarmed! This is just a warning letting you know once the upgrade is complete the original VCSA will be shut down and the newly deployed VCSA will take over the network configuration.
- Now, we sit back and wait for the magic to happen on the backend. This process took about 30 minutes for me.
- Congrats! You did it!!The upgrade is now complete.
- Login to the VCSA by the FQDN or IP address and proceed.
- Once you are logged in you will notice the license error, in which you will need to apply your vCenter 7 license. You are officially done!