How to Upgrade vCenter Server 7 to vCenter Server 8 Step by Step
How to Upgrade VCSA
VMware vSphere 8 is the latest offering in the vSphere portfolio. vSphere 8 was announced in Oct 2022, and newer versions of ESXi & vCenter are now available for enterprises to use. VMware vSphere 8 is the enterprise workload platform that brings the benefits of the cloud to on-premises workloads. This post will show how to upgrade vCenter Server 7 to vCenter Server 8 Step by Step.
VMware has announced the vCenter Server 8 along with the vSphere 8 & it is GA now so customers can start their upgrades if they want. vCenter Server 8 Upgrade process is similar to the previous versions of the vCenter Server. Where you first have to download the vCenter Server ISO from VMware Portal. We would suggest you check for release notes before starting the upgrade. Also, you must check the supported upgrade path with your existing vCenter Server so you don’t face issues during or after the upgrade.
Note: Before starting to upgrade we would suggest you to please check the compatibility of your VMware Products as well as third-party solutions which are integrated with the vCenter Server. So that you are rest assured otherwise if something is incompatible it will create issues in your production environment.
Make sure you take a complete backup of the vCenter Server before starting the upgrade so that if anything goes wrong you can have the backup to restore the data.
So let’s see How to Upgrade vCenter Server 7 to vCenter Server 8 Step by Step:
Step 1:
You must download the vCenter server ISO file from the VMware portal first.
Download & mount the ISO.
Open the ISO and go to vcsa-ui-installer > win32 for Windows Servers.
Run the Installer to start the vCenter wizard.
Step 2:
vCenter Server Installer wizard will start here.
You will see 4 options Install, Upgrade, Migrate & Restore.
In this case we are upgrading existing vCenter Server so choose Upgrade option.
Step 3:
You can see here upgrade process consist of 2 stages. Where in Stage 1 vCenter will get deployed & in Stage 2 data will be copied from source vCenter Server.
Click Next to continue.
Step 4:
Read & accept the license agreement. click Next to continue.
Step 6:
First we need to provide our source vCenter Server details which we want to upgrade.
So provide source vCenter server hostname & click Connect to source.
Step 7:
You will need to provide the source vCenter Server SSO & root credentials here.
You need to provide the ESXi host details on which source vCenter Server is running.
Click Next to continue.
Step 8:
Provide the ESXi host details on which you want to deploy the new vCenter Server. click Next to continue.
Step 9:
Here you can set the name for the new vCenter Server & set root password.
Click Next to continue.
Step 10:
You can choose the deployment size according to your environment.
You need to have adequate resources in your environment to deploy the new vCenter server.
Click Next to continue.
Step 11:
You can choose the datastore on which you want to deploy the vCenter Server.
If you want to go for thin disk than you can enable check mark “Enable Thin Disk Mode”.
Click Next to continue.
Step 12:
Configure networking settings for the new vCenter Server.
New vCenter will use your existing IP & hostname only but first to deploy it will require one temporary IP address.
So provide the networking details & click Next to continue.
Step 13:
Review the configuration you have made & click Finish to start deployment.
You can see that deployment of vCenter Server has started. It may take time depend on your environment.
Step 14:
Once completed you will see below screen. click Continue to go ahead.
Step 15:
Click Next to continue with the Stage 2.
Step 16:
Wizard will run pre-checks & it will give any warning or error if any can occur during process.
So make sure you don’t have any errors so that vCenter can be upgraded successfully.
Check all the warnings & Resolutions given so that you don’t face issues later.
Click Close to close the prompt.
Step 17:
Here you can select which data of your source vCenter Server you want to copy to the new vCenter Server.
Based on the data it will show you the estimated time.
Click Next to continue.
Step 18:
If you want to opt for VMware customer experience improvement program that you can do it here.
Click Next to continue.
Step 19:
Before starting make sure that you have taken necessary backups.
Review the configuration & click Finish to start the configuration.
You will get warning for existing vCenter Server shutdown. So don’t worry about that it is the process of upgrade.
Click OK to continue.
You can see that configuration process has started, it can take time based on the data size you have in your source vCenter Server.
Once completed you can close the wizard & access your newly upgraded vCenter Server.
That’s it, Using this way you can easily upgrade your existing vCenter Server 7 to vCenter Server 8 step by step with minimal downtime.
Note: vCenter Server upgrade is not in place upgrade where your existing vCenter will be upgraded but here new vCenter is deployed & your source vCenter configuration & data will be copied to new vCenter Server so that you don’t loose anything.
If you face any error or any issues while upgradation you can simple power on the existing vCenter Server any time.
If you are looking for ESXi Upgrade, Checkout our post:
How to upgrade ESXi 7 to ESXi 8 Step by Step ?
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