VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5

5.2 5.1 5.0 4.5
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Upgrade ESXi with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images for VMware Cloud Foundation

VI workload domains can use vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines or vSphere Lifecycle Manager images for ESXi host upgrade. The following procedure describes upgrading ESXi hosts in workload domains that use vSphere Lifecycle Manager images.
  • Validate that the ESXi passwords are valid.
  • Ensure that the domain for which you want to perform cluster-level upgrade does not have any hosts or clusters in an error state. Resolve the error state or remove the hosts and clusters with errors before proceeding.
  • You must upgrade
    NSX
     and
    vCenter Server
     before you can upgrade ESXi hosts with a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
  • If you want to add firmware to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image, you must install the Hardware Support Manager from your vendor. See Firmware Updates.
For information about upgrading ESXi in workload domains that use vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines, see Upgrade ESXi with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baselines for VMware Cloud Foundation.
You create a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image for upgrading ESXi hosts using the
vSphere Client
. During the creation of the image, you define the ESXi version and can optionally add vendor add-ons, components, and firmware. After you extract the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image into
SDDC Manager
, the ESXi update will be available for the relevant VI workload domains.
  1. Log in to the management domain
    vCenter Server
     using the
    vSphere Client
    .
  2. Create a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
    1. Right-click the management domain data center and select
      New Cluster
      .
    2. Enter a name for the cluster (for example,
      ESXi image upgrade
      ) and click
      Next
      .
      Keep the deault settings for everything except the cluster name
      New cluster settings with cluster name and default settings
    3. Click
      Finish
      .
    4. Click the
      Updates
       tab for the new cluster.
    5. Click
      Hosts
      Image
      Setup Image
      .
      Setup Image screen
    6. Define the vSphere Lifecycle manager image.
      Image Element
      Description
      ESXi Version
      From the
      ESXi Version
       drop-down menu, select the ESXi version specified in the
      VMware Cloud Foundation
       BOM.
      If the ESXi version does not appear in the drop-down menu, see Synchronize the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot and Import Updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot.
      Vendor Add-On (optional)
      To add a vendor add-on to the image, click
      Select
       and select a vendor add-on.
      Firmware and Drivers Add-On (optional)
      To add a firmware add-on to the image, click
      Select
      . In the
      Select Firmware and Drivers Addon
       dialog box, specify a hardware support manager and select a firmware add-on to add to the image.
      Selecting a firmware add-on for a family of vendor servers is possible only if the respective vendor-provided hardware support manager is registered as an extension to the vCenter Server where vSphere Lifecycle Manager runs.
      Components
      To add components to the image:
      • Click
        Show details
        .
      • Click
        Add Components
        .
      • Select the components and their corresponding versions to add to the image.
    7. Click
      Save
      .
    8. Click
      Finish Image Setup
      .
    9. Click
      Yes, Finish Image Setup
      .
  3. Extract the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image into
    SDDC Manager
    .
    1. In the
      SDDC Manager UI
      , click
      Lifecycle Management
      Image Management
       .
    2. Click
      Import Image
      .
    3. In the Option 1 section, select the management domain from the drop-down menu.
    4. In the Cluster drop-down, select the cluster from which you want to extract the vSphere Lifecycle manager image. For example,
      ESXi image upgrade
      .
      Option 1 section for importing a cluster image with workload domain and cluster selected
    5. Enter a name for the cluster image and click
      Extract Cluster Image
      .
    You can view status in the
    Tasks
     panel.
  4. Upgrade ESXi hosts with the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
    1. Navigate to the
      Updates/Patches
       tab of the VI workload domain.
    2. In the Available Updates section, click
      Configure Update
      .
    3. Click
      Next
      .
    4. Select the clusters to upgrade and click
      Next
      .
      The default setting is to upgrade all clusters. To upgrade specific clusters, click
      Enable cluster-level selection
       and select the clusters to upgrade.
    5. Select the cluster. the cluster image, and optionally the firmware and driver addons.
    6. Click
      Apply Image
      .
    7. Click
      Next
      .
    8. Select the upgrade options and click
      Next
      .
      By default, the selected clusters are upgraded in parallel. If you selected more than five clusters to be upgraded, the first five are upgraded in parallel and the remaining clusters are upgraded sequentially. To upgrade all selected clusters sequentially, select
      Enable sequential cluster upgrade
      .
      Click
      Enable Quick Boot
       if desired. Quick Boot for ESXi hosts is an option that allows Update Manager to reduce the upgrade time by skipping the physical reboot of the host.
    9. Click
      Finish
      .
      VMware Cloud Foundation
       runs a cluster image hardware compatibility and compliance check. Resolve any reported issues before proceeding.
    10. Click
      Schedule Update
       and click
      Next
      .
    11. Select
      Upgrade Now
       or
      Schedule Update
       and click
      Finish
      .
Upgrade the vSAN Disk Format for vSAN clusters. The disk format upgrade is optional. Your vSAN cluster continues to run smoothly if you use a previous disk format version. For best results, upgrade the objects to use the latest on-disk format. The latest on-disk format provides the complete feature set of vSAN. See Upgrading vSAN Disk Format Using vSphere Client.

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