While digging through VMware’s Knowledge Base for articles for a future blog post I ran across this and couldn’t wait to share.
This has the most brilliant diagram of the various memory management features and their instrumentation in the various interfaces available to vSphere admins.
VMware KB: VMware vSphere 5 Memory Management and Monitoring diagram.
This week, while participating in a VMware vSphere” What’s New [v4.x-v5.5] train the trainer class, I came across this site: vmwarewalkthroughs.com. The site has walk throughs for the vCloud Suite, VMware NSX, VSAN and vCAC/Big Data.
Select the product from the home page.
Then select the specific walk through from the navigation menu on the left.
Each walk through is guided by instructions and highlighted selections.
While the walk through is not really hands-on they do give you a good idea of the steps required to setup and perform administrative tasks with the various products.
For someone who is looking for a way to get a basic understanding and exposure to the products, this site is an excellent resource.
Read the following KB article:
Upgrading to vSphere Update Manager 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform (2058423)
Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media. The installation wizard appears.
In the left pane, under VMware vCenter Support Tools, click vSphere Update Manager and then click Install.
Note: If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.
Select the appropriate language from the dropdown and click OK.
If a previous version of vSphere Update Manager is already installed, the installer displays the message:
An earlier version of VMware vSphere Update Manager is already installed on this computer. Click OK to upgrade to 5.5.0
Click OK.
In the welcome screen, click Next.
Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and click Next.
Optionally, select the Download updates from default sources immediately after installation option and click Next.
Note: This option automatically checks for downloading updates. If you want to review the default download sources or configure vSphere Update Manager to use a shared repository, deselect this option.
Enter the vCenter Server URL and a username and password and then click Next.
Notes:
If the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or IP address of the vCenter Server and/or the username are not auto-populated, enter the FQDN and/or username manually.
Ensure that the username entered has a minimum of Register extension privilege to be able to register vSphere Update Manager with vCenter Server.
When prompted, enter the database user name and password for the existing database and click Next.
Select one of these options when prompted with a database upgrade warning:
Upgrade existing Update Manager database
Note: You must acknowledge that a backup has been taken of the Update Manager database.
Do not upgrade the existing Update Manager database
Click Next.
Optionally, from the dropdown, select either the IP address or the FQDN of vSphere Update Manager and then, check if the alternative TCP port numbers for the SOAP, Web, and SSL ports of vCenter Server appear and then click Next.
Note from the KB article: These fields are automatically populated with the appropriate URL and port numbers if the service is installed in the current system. The default ports are 8084, 9084, and 9087 respectively. Ensure that vCenter Server and the ESXi/ESX hosts can resolve the vSphere Update Manager.
Note: The next few steps from the Upgrade procedure were not required in my upgrade. The settings from my previous installation were reused including the patch repository location.
Optionally, select the Yes, I have Internet connection and I want to configure proxy settings now option and click Next.
Provide the proxy server address and the proxy server port and then click Next.
Optionally, select the Authenticate proxy using the credentials below option if your proxy server requires authentication and then click Next.
Optionally, provide an alternative installation location and then click Next.
Note: If the current system does not have 120 GB of disk space available, a warning is displayed when you click Next. Click OK to acknowledge the warning.
In the Ready to Install screen, click Install to start the installation.
Installing…
When the installation completes, click Finish.
Installed programs shows the upgraded vCenter Update Manager:
Connect the vSphere Client to a vCenter Server system with which Update Manager is registered.
Select Plug-ins > Manage Plug-ins.
In the Plug-in Manager window, click Download and install for the VMware vSphere Update Manager extension.
If you receive a security warning, click Run.
Choose the appropriate language.
On the Welcome screen, click Next.
Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and click Next.
On the Ready to install page, click Install.
If you are prompted by User Access Control, Click Yes.
Installing…
Complete the Update Manager Client installation, and click Finish.
The status for the Update Manager extension is displayed as Enabled.
Click Close to close the Plug-in Manager window.
With vSphere Update Manager upgraded, I can now experiment with upgrading ESXi hosts from 5.1 to 5.5 automatically. There are still a few components left to upgrade, including the vSphere ESXI dump collector, the vSphere Syslog collector and vShere Auto Deploy. More posts to follow!
This week I am attending an online train the trainer class for VMware vSphere: What’s New [V4.x to V5.5] and spent some time after class updating my vSphere links page to include links to KB articles, product documentation and technical papers for vSphere 5.5.
This is the fourth post in a series of articles chronicling the process of upgrading my personal vSphere lab system from 5.1 to 5.5.
Before you get started with the upgrade, you should read the following KB article:
Upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform (2058275)
Information Required for vCenter Server Installation or Upgrade
Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media. The installation wizard appears.
In the left pane, under Custom Install, click vCenter Server and then click Install.
Note: If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.
Select the appropriate language from the dropdown and the click OK.
In the welcome screen, click Next.
If a previous version of vCenter Server is installed, the welcome screen displays the message:
An earlier version of vCenter Server is already installed on this computer and will be upgraded to vCenter Server 5.5.0
Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option, and click Next.
In the license key screen, enter your license key and then click Next. (If you have a valid vCenter 5.x license and are performing an upgrade, your existing key will work when the install is completed.)
Note from the KB article: You can view your license keys in My VMware. For more information, see Viewing license keys in My VMware (2006831). If you do not enter a license key, you can proceed with a 60 Day Evaluation license and you see a popup, which prompts you to acknowledge that you are proceeding without a license.
Click Yes to proceed.
Enter the database user name and password for the existing database and click Next.
If you receive a warning about registered extensions like VMware vCenter Update Manager, Click OK. You will need to install compatible versions after the vCenter server install is complete.
Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database when prompted with the database upgrade warning:
Note: You must acknowledge that a backup has been taken of the vCenter Server database and SSL certificates.
Click Next.
Select automatic or manually upgrade the vCenter Agents that are installed on ESXi hosts. Click Next.
Select the user type that the vCenter Server should run with and click Next.
You can use one of these options:
In this lab instance, I have used the Windows Local System Account.
Optionally, provide an alternative TCP port number for the VMware VirtualCenter Server service and click Next.
Note: Changing the default ports is recommended only if you have an unchangeable port conflict on the same system.
Select one of these inventory sizes, Click Next.
Small is sufficient for my lab environment.
Enter the SSO Lookup Service URL and SSO administrator username and password. You may be prompted to install the Lookup Service Certificate.
Note: You must use the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) and not the IP address. Using the IP may result in certificate related errors when starting vCenter Server. For more information, see vCenter Server 5.x fails to start after upgrading Single Sign-On configuration from vSphere 5.1 to vSphere 5.5 (2058080).
Click Next.
When prompted, verify the fingerprint of the certificate and click Yes.
In the vCenter Inventory Service Information dialog, check if the FQDN of the vCenter Inventory Service URL and port number are displayed. These fields are auto-populated.
Notes:
Click Next.
Optionally, provide an alternative installation location and then click Next. (The installer used the path from my existing vCenter server install.)
Notes from the KB article:
In the Ready to Install screen, click Install.
Installing…
When the installation completes, click Finish.
Installed programs showing upgraded vCenter Server and related components.
Next up is the upgrade of vCenter Update Manager.
Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service
This is the third post in a series of articles chronicling the process of upgrading my personal vSphere lab system from 5.1 to 5.5.
Before you get started with the upgrade, you should read the following KB article:
Upgrading to vCenter Inventory Service 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform (2058272)
Information Required for vCenter Inventory Service Installation or Upgrade
Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media.
In the left pane, under Custom Install, click vCenter Inventory Service and then click Install.
Note: If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.
Select the appropriate language from the dropdown and click OK.
In the welcome screen, click Next.
Note: If a previous version of vCenter Inventory Service is installed, the welcome screen displays the message:
An earlier version of vCenter Inventory Service is already installed on this computer and will be upgraded to vCenter Inventory Service 5.5.
If the distinguished name for any existing SSL certificate is not unique, the old SSL certificate will be replaced with a new certificate.
Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and click Next.
Select one of these options when presented with a database re-initialization warning:
In the dialog that appears, check if the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) of the host where vCenter Inventory Service is displayed. This field is auto-populated.
Notes from the KB article:
Click Next.
Optionally, provide an alternative TCP port number for the vCenter Inventory Service and click Next.
Note: Changing the default ports is recommended only if you have an unchangeable port conflict in the same system.
Select the appropriate JVM memory size, depending on the environmental requirements. Click Next.
Enter the SSO lookup Service URL and the SSO administrator username and password. You may be prompted to install the Lookup Service Certificate. Click Next.
Notes from the KB article:
When prompted, verify the fingerprint of the certificate and click Yes to proceed.
In the Ready to Install screen, click Install.
Installing…
When the installation completes, click Finish.
Installed programs showing the upgraded vCenter Inventory Service.
Next up – the main event. Upgrading the vCenter Server to 5.5.
This is the second post in a series of articles chronicling the process of upgrading my personal vSphere lab system from 5.1 to 5.5.
Before you get started with the upgrade, you should read the following KB article:
Upgrading to vSphere Web Client 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform (2058265)
Information Required for the vSphere Web Client Installation
Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media. (As before, I prefer to use “Run as Administrator.”)
In the left pane, under Custom Install, click vSphere Web Client and then click Install.
Note: If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.
Select the appropriate language from the dropdown and click OK.
Note: The installer window may disappear for a lengthy period of time, but is still running in the background.
In the welcome screen, click Next.
If a previous version of the vSphere Web Client is installed, the welcome screen displays this message:
An earlier version of vSphere Web Client is already installed on this computer and will be upgraded to vSphere Web Client 5.5
Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and click Next.
Optionally, provide an alternative TCP port number for the vSphere Web Client Service and click Next.
Note: Changing the default ports is recommended only if you have an unchangeable port conflict in the same system.
Enter the SSO Lookup Service URL and SSO administrator username and password. You may be prompted to install the Lookup Service Certificate. Click Next.
Notes from the KB article:
When prompted, verify the fingerprint of the certificate and click Yes.
In the Ready to Install screen, click Install.
Installing…
When the installation completes, click Finish
Success!
The vSphere Web Client has been upgraded to 5.5.
Next up is the upgrade of the vCenter Inventory Service.
This past summer I had a student in one of my vSphere 5.1 Install, Configure and Manage courses who had attempted an upgrade from an earlier version of vSphere to 5.1 with disastrous results. This fellow was hopping mad and was not impressed by me asking him if he had read the upgrade guides or knowledgebase articles covering the proper sequence and compatibility issues he had encountered.
So with him in mind, I am documenting the process I followed to upgrade my lab vCenter Server and related components to vCenter Server 5.5.
My vCenter system is split between two windows 2008 R2 VMs. The vCenter server, SSO, Inventory service, ESXi Dump collector and vSphere Syslog Collector are on “vc5.mylab.local,” while the vSphere Web Client and vCenter Update Manager are installed on “app-01.mylab.local.” I have another Windows 2008 R2 VM running MS SQL Server 2008 R2 that handles the vCenter and Update Manager databases.
Here are the beginning software versions on my Windows 2008 R2 vCenter VM
In order to avoid the difficulties my former student encountered with a similar upgrade, check out the following before getting started with the upgrade:
VMware Product Interoperability Matrixes
Best Practices for vCenter Server Upgrades
Required Information for Installing or Upgrading vCenter Single Sign-On, Inventory Service, vCenter Server and the vSphere Web Client — Print this topic and use it as a worksheet for the upgrade and save it for later so you have the answers for the next upgrade!
Update sequence for vSphere 5.5 and its compatible VMware products (2057795)
Upgrade the various products in numerical order.
From the KB article:
Before you update the vCenter Server, disable vCenter Server from vCloud Director. Also ensure that you stop or disable other VMware services so that they do not communicate with vCenter Server during the update process.
In this article I will be running through the upgrade to vCenter Server 5.5 and its related products. The VMware KB article Methods of upgrading to vCenter Server 5.5 (2053130) describes the requirements for upgrading to vCenter 5.5. I will be following the order specified in the section “Upgrading components separately for vCenter server 5.5”:
Read the KB article below:
Upgrading to vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 on a Microsoft Windows platform (2058249)
Information Required for vCenter Single Sign-On Installation
Follow the steps outlined in this KB article to back-up the existing 5.1 SSO database:
Backing up and restoring the vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO) 5.1 configuration (2034928) (You will need the “old” SSO admin password for this.) You won’t need the password for the upgrade.
You need to make sure that forward and reverse DNS lookups return the correct information about your SSO server and the vCenter server. See DNS Requirements for vSphere.
Additionally, you need to check the SSL certificate subject name and the registry of the VM running Single Sign-on. In my case SSO and vCenter server are installed on the same VM.
The registry key to check is referenced in this KB article:
Upgrade from vSphere 5.1 to vSphere 5.5 rolls back after importing Lookup Service data (2060511)
Check the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\VMware, Inc.\VMware Infrastructure\SSOServer\FQDNIp registry key value:
The installer will perform a prerequisite check, but it will not stop you from proceeding if the values do not match.
For example:
If there is a mismatch, you need to change the registry value to match the “Subject” name used for the SSL certificate.
Mount the vSphere 5.5 installation media.
Note: I prefer to browse the install media and launch the “autorun.exe” with the “Run as Administrator.”
If you are prompted by User Account Control, click Yes.
In the left pane, under Custom Install, click Single Sign-On Install and then click Install.
Note: If any of the prerequisites are not met, they are listed in the right pane under Prerequisites.
In the welcome screen, click Next.
If a previous version of vCenter Single Sign-On (SSO) is installed, you see this message in the welcome screen:
An earlier version of vCenter Single Sign-On is already installed on this computer and will be upgraded to vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5.0.
Review the End User License Agreement. If you agree, select the I accept the terms in the license agreement option and then click Next.
Review the Prerequisites check screen and then click Next.
The installer notifies that a previous version is detected and that Users, Groups, Solution Users, and Lookup Service artifacts will be migrated.
Click Next.
Select a deployment mode and click Next.
vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server – Select this option to deploy your first SSO server. This server becomes the first SSO server in a new vSphere authentication domain.
After you select this option:
Provide a password for the SSO administrator user and click Next.
Note from the KB article: This dialog shows information related to a domain by the name vsphere.local. This is not a domain that is auto-detected within the existing environment, but a net new domain used internally by vSphere. The administrator@vsphere.local account performs the same function as the admin@System-Domain account in previous versions of vSphere. For more information about the administrator@vsphere.local account, see the vSphere Software Components section of the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide.
Provide a site name and click Next.
Note: The site name is used in environments where there are SSO servers in multiple sites. Ensure to select this name carefully because it cannot be changed in the vSphere Web Client after the installation completes. “Default-First-Site” is the default site name.
Optionally, provide an alternative installation location and then click Next. (I had previously installed SSO to the “D:” drive on my VM.)
Notes:
The installation requires 2 GB of disk space to be available.
In the vCenter Single Sign-On Information screen, click Install.
Installing…
When the installation completes, click Finish.
vCenter SSO 5.5 upgraded!
The first component is now upgraded. Next up is upgrading the vSphere Web Client to 5.5.
Dennis Bray's Virtual Place 