ESXi upgrade to vSphere 7.0 with NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on upgrading your vSphere 7.0 environment with NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 through VMware Lifecycle Manager.

For Steps to recover if ESXi 7.0 NSX kernel module are not installed after ESXi upgrade, see KB 78679

Environment

VMware NSX-T Data Center
VMware NSX-T Data Center 3.x

Resolution

Upgrade using baseline group method

1. Upgrade vCenter Server (VC) to 7.0. 
2. Log in to the the upgraded VC.
3. Navigate to Menu > Lifecycle Manager.
4. In Lifecycle Manager, upload the ESXi 7.0 installation ISO. 
5. Download the NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 7.0, available at VMware Downloads.


6. In Lifecycle Manager, select ACTIONS > Import Updates, upload the NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 7.0.

 

7. Create an upgrade baseline using the imported ESXi 7.0 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 created above.
11, Attach the baseline group to a cluster.
12. Ensure the vmknics on the hosts are properly configured, if the vmknic 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 7.0 + NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 7.0

1. Upgrade VC to 7.0.
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 7.0 software depot.
6. Download the NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 7.0, available at VMware Downloads.



7. At Menu > Autodeploy > Software Depots tab, upload the NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 7.0.




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 7.0 software depot and NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 7.0.
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.Put the 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-X.X.XXXXXXX-standard --allow-downgrades --no-sig-check'

   For example:

esxcli software profile update --depot /vmfs/volumes/5e8fd197-68bce4dc-f8f1-005056af93cf/VMware-ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-depot.zip -p ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard --allow-downgrades --no-sig-check

4. Download the NSX-T Data Center 3.0.0 NSX Kernel Module for VMware ESXi 7.0 to the ESXi host, available at VMware Downloads.


5. Install using this command:

  esxcli software vib install -d /<path to nsx bundle>

    For example:

  esxcli software vib install -d /tmp/nsx-lcp-3.0.0.0.0.15936085-esx70.zip

6. Reboot the ESXi host
7. Exit Maintenance Mode.