Upgrade to Latest ESXi and vCenter version 9

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Information on Upgrade Path and the procedures for upgrading ESXi Hosts and vCenter to latest version 9.x
• Starting with version 9, product components are licensed automatically after you license the host vCenter instance connected to the component. You no longer license VMware Host Client manually.
• Starting with version 9.0 of VMware Cloud Foundation(VCF) and VMware vSphere Foundation(VVF), to license your environment, you must have an installed VCF Operations instance, register it in the VCF Business Services console, and add licenses with available capacity. Subscription-based license files replace the use of the 25-character license keys. Please refer to documentation link for more information: VCF 9.0 Licensing Overview

Environment

• VMware ESXi 9.x
• VMware vCenter Server 9.x

Resolution

1. Links to the upgrade path for ESXi Hosts and vCenter servers:
   • VMware ESXi: Interoperability Result
   • VMware vCenter: Interoperability Result
2. Documentation links for the vCenter and ESXi upgrade process:
   • vSphere Upgrade Options
   • Upgrading the vCenter Appliance
   • Overview of the ESX Host Upgrade Process

Additional Information

Review Interop matrix to ensure ESXi version 9 is compatible with any other Broadcom or 3rd party solutions or components present in the environment: Product Interoperability Matrix

Refer to following KB for licensing related issues: Unable to license vCenter after upgrading to 9.0