VMware support for guest operating system upgrade

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on VMware support for guest operating system upgrade.

Resolution

VMware supports all patches released by operating system vendors, provided:

• The patch release is supported by the operating system vendor on VMware products.
• The patch is installed as per instructions from the operating system vendor.
• The base operating system release is published as certified in the VMware Compatibility Guide Guide for that VMware product.
• The patch release is not published by VMware as not recommended.

VMware supports the installation of minor update releases on an operating system as an upgrade in a virtual machine, such as Windows 7 to Windows 7 SP1 or RHEL 6.0 to RHEL 6.1, provided:

• The minor update release is supported by the operating system vendor on VMware products.
• The minor update release is installed as per instructions from the operating system vendor.
• The minor update release is published as certified in the VMware Compatibility Guide for that VMware product.
• VMware has not published that installing this update release as an upgrade is not recommended.

Caution: VMware does not support in-place upgrade of the OS where a VMware component/application (Example: vCenter Server Windows) installed (Except VMware Tools).

That means VMware supports OS in-place update/upgrade for VMs with OS(s) that have VMware Tools installed.

"If the OS vendor has narrowed down problem to be specific to VMware software, then VMware can provide assistance."

 

Additional Information

Please see VMware (recommendations, best practices and scope of support) for Guest Operating System in-place update/upgrade .