Other posts in this series:
- Part 1 – Planning & Backups and Prep
- Part 2 – Unlink vCenter & Upgrade/Install Single Sign-on & Upgrade vSphere Web client
- Part 3 – Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service & Upgrade vCenter Server & Upgrade vCenter Update Manager
- Part 4 – Upgrade SRM & Upgrade SRA, Re-link vCenter & Site Secondary Upgrade
- Part 5 – Post upgrade tasks
- Part 6 – Upgrade ESXi hosts & Upgrade VMware Tools
Step 10: Upgrade vCenter Inventory Service on Primary
10.1: Select vCenter Inventory Service and click Install
10.2: Leave the default language settings and click Ok
10.3: Click Next on the initial screen
10.4: Accept the EULA and click Next
10.5: Select to keep the existing data and click next
10.6: Leave the FQDN set as default and click Next
10.7: Leave the default ports and click next
10.8: Select the inventory size that suits your environment and click Next
10.9: Enter the details for SSO and click Next
10.10: Click Yes to accept the cert
10.11: Click Install to begin the installation
It takes a while for the Inventory Service installation to really begin so be patient.
10.12: Click Finish once it’s completed
Step 11: Upgrade vCenter Server on Primary
11.1: Now is the time to update the vCenter Server as all the prerequisites have been installed. Select vCenter server and click Install
11.2: Select Ok on the language prompt
11.3: Click next on the initial screen. From here I got the following alert:
11.4: I copied the certificates to the required folder from a backup I ran earlier, and put them into the folder on the D drive and restarted the VMware services. It took another 20 minutes for the issue to resolve itself. I then restarted the installation again.
If there are no issues you will see the below:
11.5: Accept the EULA and click Next
11.6: The DSN settings will be used for authentication. If you require local SQL credentials exit the setup and modify the ODBC connection settings before trying again. Otherwise, click Next
11.7: If you are using Update Manager (which you should be really) you will see the below notification alert so just click Ok. The upgrade of Update Manager is part of the upgrade process anyway.
11.8: Select Upgrade Existing vCenter Server database and confirm that you’ve taken backups of the certs and the databases, then click Next
11.9: It depends on your environment but in my case I have left the agent upgrade as automatic. This upgrade doesn’t reboot the ESX hosts, it just updates the agent on each host which will cause them to disconnect from vCenter for a few moments and then reconnect. Otherwise this step will need to be performed manually. Select Automatic and click Next
11.10: Enter login credentials and click Next. Make sure that the account being used has local administrator rights.
11.11: Leave all the ports as default and click Next
11.12: Select the inventory size to match your environment and click Next
11.13: Enter the SSO credentials and click Next
11.14: Accept the new thumbprint. Click Yes
11.15: Verify the inventory service URL and click Next
11.16: Select the folder of where to install the files and click Next
11.17: Select if you want to be part of the CEIP, otherwise click Install
11.18: The upgrade process will begin and update each of the components, including the database
11.19: Once the installation is completed click Finish
Once completed you can reboot the server before doing any other upgrades. In my case I had to change the service account being used for vCenter so there were a few extra steps required but they don’t need to be documented.
Step 12: Upgrade vCenter Update Manager on Primary
12.1: Run the vCenter installation software again. Select vSphere Update Manager and click Install
12.2: Leave the default for the language and click Ok
12.3: The MSI will begin to unpack. Click Ok on the detection of another version of Update Manager
12.4: You will now be brought to the initial Update Manager dialog. Click Next to continue
12.5: Accept the EULA and click Next
12.6: As part of the upgrade some of the baselines will be removed. Click Next
12.7: Enter the log in information and click Next
12.8: Verify the DSN and click Next
12.9: Select Yes to update the Update Manager Database and click Next.
12.10: Leave the settings for the ports and click Next
12.11: Enter the settings for connecting to your external internet firewall
12.12: Click Install to continue with the installation
12.13: If the service is running you’ll get a prompt to stop it.
12.14: Click Finish to complete the installation
12.15: Once Update Manager has been installed open plugins within vCenter and under Available Plug-ins click on Download and install plug-in.
12.16: Leave the language defaults and click Ok
12.17: Click Next
12.18: Accept the EULA and click next
12.19: It will warn about another installation of Update Manager being installed and click Install
12.20: Click Finish once complete. You will then see a certificate alert. Click Ignore
12.21: The Update Manager tab will now appear within vCenter
The next step in the process is to install SRM and the upgrade SRA in How to: VMware vCenter 5.0 to 5.5 Update 2 Upgrade – Part 4