ESX Virtualization

VMware ESXi, vSphere, VMware Backup, Hyper-V... how-to, videos....

Nakivo Backup and Replication - #1 Backup solution for Virtual, physical, cloud, NAS and SaaS

Menu
  • Certification
      • VCP-DCV vSphere 8
          • vcp2024-125.
        • Close
    • Close
  • VMware
    • Configuration Maximums
    • vSphere
      • vSphere 8.0
      • vSphere 7.0
      • vSphere 6.7
      • vSphere 6.5
      • vSphere 6.0
      • Close
    • VMworld
      • VMware EXPLORE 2024
      • VMware EXPLORE 2023
      • VMware EXPLORE 2022
      • VMworld 2019
      • VMworld 2018
      • VMworld 2017
      • VMworld 2016
      • VMworld 2015
      • VMworld 2014
      • VMworld 2013
      • VMworld 2012
      • VMworld 2011
      • Close
    • Close
  • Microsoft
    • Windows Server 2012
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2019
    • Close
  • Categories
    • Tips – VMware, Microsoft and General IT tips and definitions, What is this?, How this works?
    • Server Virtualization – VMware ESXi, ESXi Free Hypervizor, VMware vSphere Server Virtualization, VMware Cloud and Datacenter Virtualization
    • Backup – Virtualization Backup Solutions, VMware vSphere Backup and ESXi backup solutions.
    • Desktop Virtualization – Desktop Virtualization, VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion, VMware Horizon View, tips and tutorials
    • How To – ESXi Tutorials, IT and virtualization tutorials, VMware ESXi 4.x, ESXi 5.x and VMware vSphere. VMware Workstation and other IT tutorials.
    • Free – Free virtualization utilities, ESXi Free, Monitoring and free backup utilities for ESXi and Hyper-V. Free IT tools.
    • Videos – VMware Virtualization Videos, VMware ESXi Videos, ESXi 4.x, ESXi 5.x tips and videos.
    • Home Lab
    • Reviews – Virtualization Software and reviews, Disaster and backup recovery software reviews. Virtual infrastructure monitoring software review.
    • Close
  • Partners
    • NAKIVO
    • StarWind
    • Zerto
    • Xorux
    • Close
  • This Web
    • News
    • ESXi Lab
    • About
    • Advertise
    • Archives
    • Disclaimer
    • PDFs and Books
    • Close
  • Free
  • Privacy policy

Upgrading VCSA 6.5 to 6.7

By Vladan SEGET | Last Updated: July 18, 2018

Shares

So far we have demoed a clean installation of VMware vCSA 6.7, also upgrade of ESXi 6.x to 6.7 via ISO or via VUM, but what we haven't covered just yet, it is the Upgrading VCSA 6.5 to 6.7. This process is supported by VMware and we'll show within this article, that the upgrading an embedded PSC deployment of 6.5 vCenter appliance to 6.7 is dead easy.

The upgrade process is basically migrating data from 6.5 to 6.7. For architectures with external PSC, you must first upgrade all PSCs first, then upgrade your vCenters.

While the post title says Upgrading VCSA 6.5 to 6.7 it is also valid for vCenter running on Windows so we can apply this procedure to vCenter 6.5 running on Windows Server which will be migrated to VCSA 6.7.

The upgrade process will deploy a clean new VCSA 6.7 appliance and then copy over all the necessary information from the VCSA 6.5. You might wonder why not upgrade the 6.5 directly? Well, VMware says that it is safer and that it's easy to rollback to 6.5 if necessary because if you have problems you can easily stop the new appliance and start the old one. (Note that they both have the same IP after upgrade).

In fact, it's two-phase process:

  • Stage 1: Deploy a new vCenter Server 6.7 appliance (side-by-side to the old one)
  • Stage 2: Transfer the services and configuration data from the old to the new appliance (the old appliance is shut down – not deleted)

Quote from VMware blog:

We deploy a new appliance in case of misconfiguration or error, we have an easy rollback method. During the upgrade process we do not make any changes to the original configuration. If something were to fail with your vSphere 6.7 upgrade, all you do is shutdown the new appliance and delete it, and then power back on your original appliance.

Before we go and jump into the upgrade process, I think it's important to read some VMware KB articles and release notes:

  • vSphere 6.7 Release Notes
  • VMware Compatibility Guide
  • Update sequence for vSphere 6.7 and its compatible VMware products (53710)
  • Important information before upgrading to vSphere 6.7 (53704)
  • Managing TLS protocol configuration for vSphere 6.5 (2147469)

Requirements and guidelines:

  • Note the possibility to upgrade the vCenter Server Appliance version 6.0 or 6.5 to 6.7. Only.
  • vSphere 5.5 > 6.0 first.
  • You'll need to have an enhough capacity to run 2 VCSA at the same time for about an hour.
  • vSphere 6.7 disables TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 protocols for improved security. Some applications might support only the older protocols.
  • 2003 Server and Windows XP are no longer supported.
  • You'll need existing SSO administrator and root password.
  • Create a backup of your VCSA 6.x before starting the process.
  • Disable DRS

Upgrading VCSA 6.5 to 6.7 – The Steps

We have our VCSA 6.5 up and running. We are in a case where we have PSC and vCenter on the same machine.

Check the image below. You can see that external PSCs will follow a different path…

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

What we do next is that we'll mount the VCSA 6.7 ISO and launch the VCSA 6.7 installer which will bring the upgrade option.

Mount the VCSA 6.7 Iso and navigate to the <CD-ROM-drive letter>:\vcsa-ui-installer\win32\ folder and open the installer.exe, then run the Upgrade option.

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Next, we'll start the Phase 1 and we'll connect to the source appliance.

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Provide SSO account and password as well as ESXi or vCenter account and password…

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Then provide a target where the new appliance will live…

This can be either vCenter or a single ESXi host.

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Provide some name for the new VM…

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Size…

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Then you can enable Thin disk mode.

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Configure networking details …

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Ready to Rock and Roll -:)

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

And then sit back and relax.

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Stage 2 Starts right after. You'll get prompt, what to copy…

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Then again, sit back or come back later. It will take some time.

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

 

and then at the end you should see this recap screen. Note the link inviting you to connect to the newly migrated vCenter Server. Same as the old connection…

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

Then we're done. After connection, we can verify that we're running the latest release.

Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7

I have created video from the whole process. Note that you can migrate either vCenter running on Windows or on Linux (VCSA). This is pretty awesome.

Here is the video. Watch in HD and in full screen.

This was a lab post where I was running VCSA 6.5 with embedded PSC. This post was about Upgrading a vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) to version 6.7.

More from ESX Virtualization

  • vSphere 6.7
  • VMware vCenter Server Standard vs Foundation – Differences
  • VMware vSphere 6.7 Announced – vCSA 6.7
  • What is Veeam Availability Orchestrator?
  • What Is Erasure Coding?
  • VMware PowerCLI 10 Released
  • VMware Desktop Watermark Free Utility is Similar to BgInfo

Stay tuned through RSS, and social media channels (Twitter, FB, YouTube)

Shares
Vote !

| Filed Under: Server Virtualization

About Vladan SEGET

This website is maintained by Vladan SEGET. Vladan is as an Independent consultant, professional blogger, vExpert x16, Veeam Vanguard x9, VCAP-DCA/DCD, ESX Virtualization site has started as a simple bookmarking site, but quickly found a large following of readers and subscribers.

Connect on: Facebook. Feel free to network via Twitter @vladan.

Comments

  1. David Nemeth says

    July 18, 2018 at 9:22 pm

    Would you expand on the requirements and steps involved for any VDS versions as well? Does vCenter 6.5 still support VDS’ 5.5 versions?

    Does the 6.5 to 6.7 upgrade process preserve/migrate the vCenter’s original IP/hostname? I’m thinking about Certs that have been issued to it (by FQDN) – Think Hybrid certificate setup where only the machine cert of the vcsa appliance is updated.

Private Sponsors

Featured

  • Thinking about HCI? G2, an independent tech solutions peer review platform, has published its Winter 2023 Reports on Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) Solutions.
  • Zerto: One Platform for Disaster Recovery, Backup & Cloud Mobility: Try FREE Hands-On Labs Today!
Click to Become a Sponsor

Most Recent

  • FREE version of StarWind VSAN vs Trial of Full version
  • Commvault’s Innovations at RSA Conference 2025 San Francisco
  • VMware ESXi FREE is FREE again!
  • Installation of StarWind VSAN Plugin for vSphere
  • Protect Mixed environments with Nakivo Physical Machine recovery (bare metal)
  • No more FREE licenses of VMware vSphere for vExperts – What’s your options?
  • Tails – Your Private OS on USB Stick
  • StarWind V2V Converter Now has CLI
  • Veeam VHR ISO v2 – 2025 Download and Install
  • Deployment OVA and Installation of Nakivo Backup and Replication for VMware

Get new posts by email:

 

 

 

 

Support us on Ko-Fi

 

 

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Sponsors

Free Trials

  • DC Scope for VMware vSphere – optimization, capacity planning, and cost management. Download FREE Trial Here.
  • Augmented Inline Deduplication, Altaro VM Backup v9 For #VMware and #Hyper-V – Grab your copy now download TRIAL.

VMware Engineer Jobs

VMware Engineer Jobs

YouTube

…

Find us on Facebook

ESX Virtualization

…

Copyright © 2025 ·Dynamik-Gen · Genesis Framework · Log in