Upgrade HCX

Products

• VMware HCX

Issue/Introduction

• Upgrade prechecks should be run at least 10 days in advance of a scheduled upgrade window to allow time to address any issues found.
• Ignoring this advice and performing prechecks at the start of an upgrade window may require an upgrade reschedule if blocking issues are found. 
• For precheck errors that cannot be resolved, please open a support case with Broadcom to get further assistance. Note, precheck failures do not qualify as Severity 1.
• Read the target version Release Notes.
• For HCX, Broadcom advises customers to upgrade to the latest available version at Broadcom downloads.
  Note: HCX 4.11.2 and earlier will reach End of Service on 24 December, 2025.
• Confirm the target HCX version is compatible with other products in the environment, see Interop Matrix.
• Backup HCX Manager by configuring backups using the appliance management interface at  <https://hcx-ip-or-fqdn:9443>. In the HCX Appliance Management UI, navigate to Administration -> Troubleshooting > Backup & Restore.
  The best practice is to schedule Daily backups. Restoring from backup files that are more than two days old is not supported due to potential inventory changes from the backup time to present.
  For more information, access Backing Up HCX Manager.
• Report any error on the HCX Diagnostics. Navigate to Interconnect -> Service Mesh -> More -> Run Diagnostics.
• Verify the HCX Manager system reports healthy connections to: vCenter Server, NSX Manager (if applicable), Cloud Director/RMQ (if applicable).
  Use the appliance management interface at <https://hcx-ip-or-fqdn:9443>. In the HCX Appliance Management UI, navigate to Dashboard and confirm the status is healthy (green).
• Verify that the HCX Manager reports that there are healthy connections to the HCX Interconnect service components. In the HCX UI, navigate to Interconnect > Service Mesh and confirm the status is healthy (green).
• Verify that Site Pair configurations are healthy. In the HCX UI, navigate to Site Pairing. For troubleshooting Site Pairing issues, refer to KB: HCX Site Pairing Connectivity Diagnostics.
• Ensure /common partition has enough space for the upgrade:
  • Access the HCX Manager (Connector/Cloud) via SSH as the admin user. 
  • Run the command: cd /common; df -h .
    Note: If the /common partition usage is above 45%, please open a case with Broadcom.
• Before upgrading, take snapshots of both the HCX Connector and HCX Cloud VM. Do not take snapshots of Fleet appliances (IX/NE).
• Service Mesh appliances (IX and NE) should be upgraded to the same version as HCX Managers once the HCX Manager upgrade is completed.
• Upgrading the IX requires no migrations ongoing/scheduled for switchover.
• Upgrading the NE requires a downtime, requiring 30 seconds or more to re-establish data traffic across extended networks.
• In case of HCX NE HA, failover can happen within a few seconds or less. The actual time to forwarding traffic depends on the overall environment.

HCX Update Procedures:

• Upgrade HCX Manager for Local Sites
  Note: The procedure to upgrade Connected sites is the same as the procedure to upgrade Local Mode sites in HCX 4.11 and later releases.
• Upgrade the HCX Service Mesh Appliances
• Roll Back an Upgrade Using Snapshots

 

 

Environment

VMware HCX 4.x

Resolution

After completing the steps in the article introduction, the environment is ready for upgrade.

Additional Information

Advanced Support customers with a SAM or DTSE should also reference Proactive Upgrade Case for HCX.