ESXi upgrade to vSphere 8.0 with NSX-T Data Center 4.1
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ESXi upgrade to vSphere 8.0 with NSX-T Data Center 4.1

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Article ID: 312013

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Updated On:

Products

VMware NSX VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on upgrading your vSphere 8.0 environment with NSX-T Data Center 4.1 for VMware Out-Of-Band product upgrades / Non VCF workflows.

For Steps to recover if ESXi 7.0 NSX kernel module are not installed after ESXi upgrade.

Note :
For VCF workflows, the NSX VIBs installation as part of ESXi upgrade has been automated and is enabled by default. Please make sure the NSX is upgraded and on-demand precheck to check for presence of NSX LCP file is successful.

Environment

VMware NSX-T Data Center 4.x
VMware NSX-T Data Center

Resolution

Upgrade using baseline group method:

  1. Upgrade vCenter Server (VC) to 8.0.
  2. Log in to the the upgraded VC.
  3. Navigate to Menu > Lifecycle Manager.
  4. In Lifecycle Manager, upload the ESXi 8.0 installation ISO.
  5. Download the NSX-T Data Center 4.1 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0, available at Broadcom Downloads.
    ( In the dropdown menu for "Select Version" choose appropriate NSX version, scroll down and download NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0 )

 

NOTE:

It is very important that the VIB bundle used matches the NSX version.  If it does not match the NSX Version the upgrade of NSX will fail at 48%.
The error message will state: 

"Node has invalid version 4.2.1.0.0-8.0.24302041 of software nsx-monitoring.Node has invalid version 4.2.1.0.0-8.0.24302041 of software nsx-vdpi.Node has invalid version 4.2.1.0.0-8.0.24302041 of software nsx-shared-libs.Node has invalid version 4.2.1.0.0-8.0.24302041 of software nsx-proxy..."

This is a partial list of VIBs that the error message will call out. In the example above version 4.2.1.0.0-8.0.24302041 was not a match for the VIBs that NSX 4.2.1.0.0.24405122 expected.  The expected version was 4.2.1.0.0.8.0.24302014.  Version  4.2.1.0.0-8.0.24302041 needed to be removed from the baseline and replaced by VIB bundle 4.2.1.0.0-8.0.24302041.
This issue could leave hosts in a state requiring manual removal of NSX and other stale data.

6. In Lifecycle Manager, select ACTIONS > Import Updates, upload the NSX-T Data Center 4.1 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0

 

7. Create an upgrade baseline using the imported ESXi 8.0 installation ISO. For more information, see vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baselines and Images section of the VMware vSphere Product Documentation.

8. Create an extension baseline using the uploaded kernel module.

9. Type nsx quickly in the name filter to quickly locate the kernel module.

 

10. Create a baseline group using two baselines as created above.

11. Attach the baseline group to a cluster.

12. Ensure the vmknics on the hosts are properly configured, if the vmknics are configured to use DHCP, ensure    the DHCP server is working.

13. Start the remediate process.

14. Wait until all the upgrade completes.

 

Upgrade using combined ESXi 8.0 + NSX-T Data Center 4.1 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0

1. Upgrade VC to 8.0.

2. Log in to the upgraded VC.

3. Navigate to Menu > Autodeploy. 

4. Click ENABLE IMAGE BUILDER.

5. On the Software Depots tab, upload the ESXi 8.0 software depot.

6. Download the NSX-T Data Center 4.1 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0, available at Broadcom Downloads. ( in the select versions dropdown, select the appropriate NSX version which is 4.1 here )


7. At Menu > Autodeploy > Software Depots tab, select esx80 and not esx70 (image below is just for example) and upload the NSX-T Data Center 4.1 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0.

8. At Menu > Autodeploy > Software Depots, create a customized software depot.

9. Choose the customized software depot.

10. Create a new image profile, choose all the packages from ESXi 8.0 software depot and NSX-T Data Center 4.1 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0.

11. After the new customized software depot image is ready, choose Export > ISO.

12. Upload the the exported ISO to Lifecycle Manager.

13. Create a baseline based on the uploaded ISO image in Lifecycle Manager, attach it to a cluster.

14. Start the remediate process.

15. Wait until all the upgrade completes.

16. If there are failures, retry the the remediate process again.

17. Host reboot is taken care of by Lifecycle Manager.

 
 

Upgrade using esxcli method

1. Place ESXi host in Maintenance Mode.

2. Download the ESXi upgrade bundle to the host.

3. Install using this command:
esxcli software profile update --depot <path-to-depot-file> -p ESXi-#.#.#######-standard --allow-downgrades --no-sig-check'

For example:
esxcli software profile update --depot /vmfs/volumes/########-#######-####-############/VMware-ESXi-8.0.0-########-depot.zip -p ESXi-8.0.0-#########-standard --allow-downgrades --no-sig-check
 
4. Download the NSX-T Data Center 4.1 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 8.0 to the ESXi host, available at Broadcom Downloads .
5. Install using the below command:
    esxcli software vib install -d /<path to nsx bundle>

    For example:
    esxcli software vib install -d /tmp/nsx-lcp-4.1.1.0.0.#######-esx80.zip

6. Reboot the ESXi host.

7. Exit Maintenance Mode.
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