Upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version (multiple versions)

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0 VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information about upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Resolution

The hardware version of virtual machines can be upgraded to the latest version of ESXi in use.

For more information, see ESXi hosts and compatible virtual machine hardware versions list

When upgrading virtual hardware, consider these points:

Modification of the virtual hardware version on the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) is not supported. Likewise, installing an additional version of VMware Tools inside the guest OS of the vCenter Server Appliance is not recommended.
Upgrading a Virtual Machine to the latest hardware version is the physical equivalent of swapping the drive out of one system and placing it into a new one. Its success will depend on the resiliency of the guest operating system in the face of hardware changes. VMware does not recommend upgrading virtual hardware version if the new features exposed by the new version are not needed.
Before upgrading the virtual hardware version of a virtual machine, create a snapshot or backup of the virtual machine in case there are issues post-upgrade.
To automate this process, consider using vCenter Update Manager for virtual machine upgrades.
vCenter Update Manager takes automatic snapshots before performing virtual machine upgrades. For more information, see Orchestrated Upgrades of Hosts and Virtual Machines
When upgrading virtual hardware on virtual machines, no downtime is required for vCenter Server or ESXi/ESX hosts. For virtual machines, the only significant downtime is the time to shut down and restart the guest operating systems.

Note: From ESXi 5.5 onward, hardware version upgrades can be scheduled for the next guest OS restart.

NIC configuration may be lost when upgrading from ESXi 3.5 to a newer hardware version. To workaround this issue, ensure that latest version of VMware Tools is running in the virtual machine before commencing hardware version upgrade.
Upgrade VMware Tools and reboot if required. For more information, see Installing and upgrading VMware Tools in vSphere

Note: Upgrading VMware Tools must be done before upgrading the virtual hardware except for the guests running Linux distributions or FreeBSD releases that have vendor supported open-vm-tools installed in the guest.

Pre-requisite before upgrading the virtual hardware:

Create a backup or snapshot of the virtual machine.
Upgrade VMware Tools. On Microsoft Windows virtual machines, upgrading the virtual hardware before upgrading VMware Tools may cause the virtual machine to lose its network settings.
Verify that the virtual machine is healthy and available, with no inaccessible virtual disks, CD-ROM or ISO images, etc.
Determine the version of the virtual hardware by selecting the virtual machine from the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client and clicking the Summary tab. The VM Version label in the Compatibility field displays the virtual hardware version.

Upgrading virtual hardware on a single virtual machine

To upgrade the virtual hardware of a single virtual machine:

Log in to the vCenter Server.
Power off the virtual machine.
Click the Updates tab.
In the VM Hardware Compatibility panel, click Upgrade to Match Host.
Power on the virtual machine.

Note: If the virtual machine has a Microsoft Windows guest operating system, the operating system detects a new device, configures the device, and may be prompted to reboot the guest operating system. If any unknown devices are recognized, the operating system may prompt to configure the device manually.
For Windows guest operating systems, reboot the guest operating system to make the changes take effect.

Upgrading virtual hardware on multiple virtual machines

Upgrade virtual hardware on multiple virtual machines in a single operation can be done using the following steps:

Login to vCenter Server
Navigate to Menu > Hosts and Clusters.
Select a host or a cluster from the inventory and click the Updates tab.
Select VM Hardware.
VM hardware version upgrade must be enabled on first use, Click Enable.
The virtual machines on the host or cluster are listed.
To update the VM Compatibility and current status, click Scan Now.
Select the virtual machines whose hardware versions needing upgrading and click Upgrade to Match Host.
The Upgrade VM Hardware to Match Host dialog box appears.
(Optional) Expand Scheduling Options to postpone the upgrade.
Select an option for virtual machines that are powered on, powered off or suspended.

Note: By default, the upgrade follows immediately.
(Optional) To configure the use of snapshots, expand Rollback Options and change the default settings.
To enable or disable taking of snapshots of virtual machines before upgrading them, select or deselect the Take snapshot of VMs check box.
The option to take snapshots is selected by default.
Select a period for keeping the snapshots:

Keep the snapshots indefinitely.
Keep the snapshots for a fixed period.
Enter a snapshot name and, optionally, a description for the snapshot.
Include the virtual machine memory in the snapshot by selecting the respective check box.
Click Upgrade to Match Host.
The selected virtual machines are upgraded and the status is displayed in the Recent Tasks pane.

Ensuring a virtual machine is upgraded and functional post virtual hardware version upgrade

To ensure that the virtual machine is upgraded to latest virtual hardware version:

In the vSphere Client, navigate to a virtual machine container object, such as a virtual machine folder, host, cluster, and so on.
Click the Updates tab.

Select the task.

Option	Action
Check the VMware Tools status of the virtual machines in the container object.	Select Hosts > VMware Tools > . Click Check Status. The information about the VMware Tools status appears in the Tools Status column in the table that lists all virtual machines in the selected container object. If the container object is a data center or a vCenter Server instance, a cluster must be specified for which to see the results for.
Check the VM Hardware compatibility status of the virtual machines in the container object.	Select Hosts > VM Hardware . Click Check Status. The information about the VM Hardware Compatibility status appears in the Status column in the table that lists all virtual machines in the selected container object. For each virtual machine in the object, the VM hardware compatibility and the host compatibility are shown. If the container object is a data center or a vCenter Server instance, a cluster must be specified for which to see the results for.

Option

Action

Check the VMware Tools status of the virtual machines in the container object.

Select Hosts > VMware Tools > .
Click Check Status.
The information about the VMware Tools status appears in the Tools Status column in the table that lists all virtual machines in the selected container object. If the container object is a data center or a vCenter Server instance, a cluster must be specified for which to see the results for.

Check the VM Hardware compatibility status of the virtual machines in the container object.

Select Hosts > VM Hardware .
Click Check Status.
The information about the VM Hardware Compatibility status appears in the Status column in the table that lists all virtual machines in the selected container object. For each virtual machine in the object, the VM hardware compatibility and the host compatibility are shown. If the container object is a data center or a vCenter Server instance, a cluster must be specified for which to see the results for.

To ensure that the virtual machine is functional post-upgrade:

Migrate the virtual machine from a host with an earlier ESXi/ESX version to a host with the latest ESXi/ESX version. For more information, see the Migrating Virtual Machines section in the vCenter Server and Host Management Guide
Power on the virtual machine.
Upgrade VMware Tools and reboot if required. For more information, see Installing and Configuring VMware Tools Guide
Note: Upgrading VMware Tools must be done before upgrading the virtual hardware. Upgrading VMware Tools is not required for Linux OS that have tools status as Guest Managed as they have vendor managed open-vm-tools installed in the OS.
Power on the virtual machine.

Note: In some instances, the operating system may require a reboot to the virtual machine after powering it on.
Ensure all the virtual machine network settings (such as IP, DHCP, and DNS) are correct.

Notes:
- If using dynamic DNS, some Windows versions require to run the ipconfig /registerdns command.
- If using DHCP, a new IP address may be assigned because the MAC address changes on the virtual NIC during the hardware upgrade. If using statically assigned DHCP addresses, ensure that the new MAC address used before the virtual hardware upgrade is reassigned.

Additional Information

To know more about the VM Hardware Compatibility and Tools upgrade process please go through: Upgrading Virtual Machines with vSphere Lifecycle Manager