Interoperability upgrade path from vCenter 8.0 U3e to 8.0 U3j in VCF and VKS environments

Products

• VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service

Issue/Introduction

This article provides a sequential upgrade path for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.2 environments utilizing VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS). Specifically, this document is meant to ensure interoperability when patching vCenter Server to version 8.0 U3j, while also performing required adjacent patches.

 

Symptoms:

The following environment and starting versions are observed:

   - vCenter Server 8.0 U3e

   - Supervisor version v1.29.7+vmware.1-fips-vsc0.1.11

   - Guest Clusters should be on v1.29.x

   - VCF is 5.2

 

NOTE: This is a suggested upgrade plan. There is no "fix version" for this, but the end goal versions are:

   - vCenter Server 8.0 U3j

   - Supervisor version v1.32.9+vmware.2-fips-vsc0.1.14

   - Guest Clusters version v1.33

   - VCF 5.2.2

Environment

vCenter Server 8.0 U3e

Supervisor version v1.29.7+vmware.1-fips-vsc0.1.11

Guest Clusters should be on v1.29.x

VCF 5.2

Cause

In a VKS environment, maintaining interoperability across VCF, vCenter, Supervisor, and Guest Clusters is critical. If components are not upgraded in a specific sequence, the required Supervisor versions may not be exposed for installation, or functionality may be lost.

Resolution

To complete the patch to vCenter 8.0 U3j, you must perform the following upgrades in the exact order listed below.

Note: Before starting, ensure Guest Clusters are on at least version 1.29.x to prevent data or functionality loss.

1. Upgrade VCF to 5.2.2.
2. Upgrade the Supervisor to v1.30.10+vmware.1-fips-vsc0.1.12.
3. Upgrade the Guest Clusters to v1.30.
4. Use Flex BOM in VCF/SDDC to patch vCenter to 8.0 U3i (8.0.3.00800).
5. Upgrade the Supervisor to v1.31.11+vmware.1-fips-vsc0.1.14.
6. Upgrade the Guest Clusters to v1.31.
7. Use Flex BOM in VCF/SDDC to patch vCenter to 8.0 U3j (8.0.3.00900).
8. Upgrade the Supervisor to at least v1.32.9+vmware.2-fips-vsc0.1.14.
9. Upgrade Guest Clusters to v1.32, then to v1.33.

Additional Information

Verify the health of each component (Healthy/Running) before proceeding to the next step in the sequence.

See vCenter and Supervisor Compatibility in vSphere 8.0 Upgrades for details on vCenter-VKS compatibility.

• Refer to the Broadcom Product Interoperability Matrix for other specific build confirmations.

Direct link to VCF 5.2.2 download, here.