Proactive Upgrade Case for vCenter Server

Products

• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

Note: The Proactive Upgrade process for vCenter Server is limited to Advanced Support customers with a Support Account Manager (SAM). 

 

Prerequisites for opening a Proactive vCenter Server Upgrade Case:

• Cases must be opened 10 business days in advance of the upgrade window
• Cases should be opened as Low-P4
• Have a development environment upgraded before production to test that any customization still functions as expected on the latest version
• Upgrade pre-checks must be run in advance and report any issues that cannot be resolved
• Confirm the vCenter Server upgrade path is supported
• If this is a VCF environment, open a proactive Case with VCF Support
• Be familiar with Best Practices for Patching VMware vSphere

VMware by Broadcom Support will:

• Ensure pre-check issues are resolved
• Validate the target version and advise if a newer one is available
• Review provided logs for known issues that may impact the upgrade
• If a proactive Case is not raised with sufficient notice of 10 days, it will not be possible to offer log review and pre-check resolution within the planned time-frame

Please complete the following template when opening the Case: 

• Upgrade Date & Time?
• Current vCenter Server version?
• Target vCenter version?
• Product Interoperability checked?
• Have the release notes been reviewed for the target version?
• Do you have a backup of the vCenter configuration?
• Number of vCenter's being upgraded (if applicable)?
• Are you running any vCenter's in Enhanced Link Mode (ELM)?
• Number of physical hosts?
• Estimated number of VMs?
• Resource utilization details?
• Is High Availability (HA) or Distribute Resource Scheduler (DRS) enabled?
• List of client plugins and extensions?

Additional data to be collected:

• vCenter Support Bundle
• VDT tool output
• VMDIR output
• LSDoctor tool

Environment

vCenter Server 7.x

vCenter Server 8.x

Resolution

Open a Low - P4, Upgrade Awareness Case via Broadcom Support portal. 

The purpose of a proactive upgrade case is to prepare in advance for the vCenter Server upgrade.

This is not an exhaustive health check of the environment. If this is required, please engage VMware by Broadcom Professional Services.

Additional Information

Upgrading vCenter Server 7.x