Update Sequence for VCF 9.0 and Compatible VMware Products

Products

• VMware Cloud Foundation

Issue/Introduction

VCF product components should follow a set of rules for upgrade orders.  Management planes typically get upgraded first. Core SDDC components follow a distinct upgrade order (SDDC Mgr, NSX, VC, ESXi).  Some components can be more flexible and rely on Product Interoperability Matrix

In the past, for end-to-end upgrades,  KB 317899 and the latest vSphere 8.x upgrade order KB guided the upgrade sequence between overall management software and core SDDC elements.  Workload Domain-Based Upgrade Sequence for VMware Cloud Foundation documents a generic upgrade sequence for current VCF customers when multiple domains are deployed.

VCF 9.0 Unified Release stipulates a set of product components and two major LCM systems (vRSLCM and SDDC Mgr).  There are some components (e.g., HSM) that Broadcom does not perform lifecycle, but they are critical for ESXi upgrades.   

Given the increasing need to extend KB 317899 and vSphere 8.x upgrade order KB to cover the entire VCF 9.0 product component list and HSM,  the decision register tracks the upgrade order for VCF 9.0.

Notes:

• Patches can be applied in any order. The upgrade order only matters for major/minor releases.
• HSM lifecycle should be performed based on vendor's recommendation - can be before or after VC upgrades

Environment

VMware Cloud Foundation 9.x

Resolution

VCF 9.0 Upgrade Order

	VCFDT	VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle	VCF Operations + VCF Operations fleet management appliance	VCF Automation	VCF Operations - Networks	VCF Operations - Logs	VADP-based backup	VR	SRM	AVI	SDDC Manager	HCX	NSX	vCenter	VCF Identity Broker	Supervisor	VSAN witness Host	ESXi	NSX Finalize	VMware Tools	Virtual Hardware	VSAN On-Disk Format/VMFS	VSAN Fileservice
Sequence	0
		1 (Patch)
			2
				3	3
						4 (New Installation)
							5
								6
									7
										8
											9
												10
													11
														12
															13 (New Installation)	13
																	14
																		15	15+
																				16
																					17
																						18
																							19

 

Notes:

• VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle does not have an upgrade to 9.0. What's needed here is a VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle  8.18 Patch 2 to begin the upgrade.
• VCF Identity Broker or VIDB  is a new component in VCF 9.0. This can only be installed after VCF Operations, SDDC-Manager and Management Domain vCenter is on version 9.0.
• There is no upgrade path from VMware Aria Operations for Logs 8.x to 9.0. In VCF 9.0, log management is handled by this new capability inside VCF Operations. VCF Operations-Logs 9.0 has to be installed afresh, users can migrate 90 days of data from VMware Aria Operations for Logs 8.x to VCF Operations-Logs as a Day-N operation.
• Adding a few comments/caveats for the fleet management components for the Pre-9.0 → 9.0 upgrade path.
  • VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle, if present, needs to first patched to version VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.18 Patch 2. This patch facilitates
    • Upgrade of VMware Aria Operations 8.14+  to VCF Operations 9.0
    • Deploys VCF Operations fleet management appliance as part of VMware Aria Operations 8.14+ upgrade flow to VCF Operations 9.0
      • fleet management appliance is a new component which provides lifecycle management capabilities for management components in VCF 9.0
• VMware Identity Manager 3.3.x has no in-place upgrade to VCF 9.0. VMware Identity Manager or VIDM will continued to be managed by VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.x
  • All of it's Day-N operations must be performed by VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.x only