vCenter Server upgrade blocked by incompatible Supervisor Cluster Kubernetes version

Products

• VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

When attempting to upgrade a vCenter Server appliance, the upgrade process is blocked by a pre-check failure. The wizard displays the following error: Error: The vCenter Server upgrade is blocked because the Supervisor Cluster is running on an incompatible Kubernetes version. #### Before you upgrade the vCenter Server, upgrade the Kubernetes control plane on the Supervisor cluster to a supported version.

Environment

• VMware vSphere 8.0
• VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS)
• Supervisor Cluster

Cause

Version compatibility checks occur during the vCenter upgrade process to ensure functional continuity between vCenter and Supervisor components. The upgrade is blocked because the Supervisor Cluster is running a Kubernetes version that is not supported by the target vCenter version.

Resolution

Upgrade the Supervisor Cluster to a compatible version before proceeding with the vCenter Server upgrade.

Prerequisites:

• Verify the current version of the Supervisor Cluster and the target version of the vCenter Server.
• Consult the VMware Interoperability Matrix to confirm compatible versions for all environment components.
• Take a file-based backup and a virtual machine snapshot of the vCenter Server.

Upgrade the Supervisor Cluster:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client.
2. Navigate to Inventory > Workload Management > Clusters.
3. Select the affected Supervisor Cluster.
4. Under the Updates tab, select the next available major version update (e.g Supervisor version 1.28 will upgrade to 1.29)
5. Click Update and monitor the progress until the process completes.
6. Continue updating Supervisor versions sequentially until a version compatible with the desired vCenter server build is installed and running
   
   • Intermediate vCenter updates may be required if the minimum compatible version of Supervisor is not compatible with your current vCenter installation
7. See the following documentation for additional guidance:
   
   • Upgrade a Supervisor on vCenter 8.0
   • Upgrade a Supervisor in VCF 9.0

Resume vCenter Upgrade:

• Once the Supervisor Cluster reports a compatible version, restart the vCenter Server upgrade process.
• The pre-check should now pass, allowing the upgrade to proceed.

Additional Information

vCenter and Supervisor Compatibility in vSphere 8.0 Upgrades

Steps to upgrade vSphere with Tanzu Supervisor Cluster in vCenter Server