Upgrade
vCenter
Server from
4.1 to 5.5
Manh Luan Vo
Blog : www.lesysadmin.com
0
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Context ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Overview of the upgrade plan...................................................................................................................................... 2
Next Steps .................................................................................................................................................................... 2
SQL SERVER 2008 INSTALLATION ...................................................................................................................................... 3
STOP VCENTER SERVER SERVICES ................................................................................................................................... 17
PERFORM SQL DATABASE BACKUP ................................................................................................................................. 19
CREATE THE DB INTO THE NEW SQL SERVER FOR VCENTER ........................................................................................... 22
RESTORE THE OLD DATABASE INTO THE NEW DB SERVER ............................................................................................. 24
INSTALL THE SQL SERVER 2008 NATIVE CLIENT ON VCENTER ........................................................................................ 32
RECREATE THE VPXUSER OF THE RESTORED VCDB DATABASE ....................................................................................... 36
SET UP A NEW SYSTEM DSN ODBC CONNECTOR ............................................................................................................ 39
UNINSTALL THE OLD VCENTER SERVER FOR A CLEAN UPGRADE .................................................................................... 45
INSTALL THE VCENTER SERVER ....................................................................................................................................... 46
Execute the autorun.exe with the vcservice user ID .................................................................................................. 46
Install the vCenter Single Sign-On .............................................................................................................................. 48
Install VMware vSphere Web Client .......................................................................................................................... 54
Install VMware vCenter Inventory Service ................................................................................................................. 61
Install vCenter Server ................................................................................................................................................. 68
INSTALL THE VMWARE VSPHERE CLIENT ........................................................................................................................ 80
CREATE THE NEW VUMDB DATABASE ............................................................................................................................ 85
SET UP THE 32BITS DSN ODBC CONNECTOR FOR VUM .................................................................................................. 87
INSTALL VSPHERE UPDATE MANAGER ............................................................................................................................ 92
CONNECT TO THE VCENTER AND PERFORM VERIFICATIONS........................................................................................ 100
CONNECT TO THE VCENTER WEB CLIENT AND PERFORM VERIFICATIONS ................................................................... 102
Access to the Web Client ......................................................................................................................................... 102
Install Adobe Flash Player ........................................................................................................................................ 102
Install the Client Integration Plug-in via the Web Client .......................................................................................... 102
Log into the vSphere Web Client using the SSO administrator user ID .................................................................... 107
Verify/create new SSO permissions ......................................................................................................................... 109
Verify vCenter permissions ...................................................................................................................................... 111
INSTALL VCENTER UPDATE MANAGER CLIENT ............................................................................................................. 113
1
INTRODUCTION
Context
The lab is hosting an old VMware ESXi 4.1 infrastructure, containing:
1 vCenter Server 4.1
1 SQL Server 2005 containing the vCenter and VUM databases
1 or more ESXi 4.1 Host
Several VMs Running on the ESXi host
The old vCenter needs to be upgraded to the 5.5 version, as the 4.1 version is obsolete and presents
security vulnerability risks (not supported by VMware any longer, no patch release)
Overview of the upgrade plan
-
Install new VM with a new version of SQL Server (2008)
Backup old DB from the old SQL Server (2005)
Restore old DB to new SQL Server (2008)
Uninstall old vCenter 4.1
Install vCenter 5.5 components
Install vSphere Client 5.5
Install VUM 5.5
Configure vSphere Web Client
Configure permissions
Next Steps
-
Upgrade ESXi hosts
Upgrade VMware Tools on VMs
Upgrade VM Hardware version
2
SQL SERVER 2008 INSTALLATION
Create a new VM to install the new version of SQL Server 2008
Insert the CD or mount it, then execute the autorun.exe
Choose “New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation”
Follow the instructions on the screen
3
The scan is completed, if all green, click OK
Enter the product key for activation
4
Accept the license terms, click Next
5
Click Install to continue
6
Once the installation of the support files is completed, the installation wizard will do other checks
verifying requirements compliance, if all Green, click Next
Select all, and click Next
7
Leave the default settings, click Next
8
Review the disk space requirements and click Next
If you do not have SQL server service user ID, select the SYSTEM user for all the services, excepted for the
SQL Server Integration Services you can leave the default NETWORK SERVICE user ID. Click Next
9
Select Mixed Mode authentication and create the password for the “sa” user
Specify other SQL administrator by selecting some local system user ID/group, click Next
10
Do the same for the Analysis Services
11
Leave the default for the Reporting Services, click Next
Leave the default settings, and click Next
12
If the installation pre-check shows all Green, click Next
13
Review the features to install, and click Install
14
Once the installation is completed, it should show all Green, click Next
Review the supplemental information and click Close
15
16
STOP VCENTER SERVER SERVICES
Access to the services.msc tool and stop the “VMware VirtualCenter Server” services
Click Yes to confirm stopping the other related services
Also stop the VUM Services
17
18
PERFORM SQL DATABASE BACKUP
Access to the old SQL Server Management Studio, login with the “sa” credentials and find the VCDB
database.
Right click on the database, choose Tasks, then Back Up…
19
In the General tab, select the options as below, make sure the backup type is Full and you can select a
specific destination folder.
In the Options tab, you can set a new backup media set, see below
Click OK to perform the backup
20
21
CREATE THE DB INTO THE NEW SQL SERVER FOR VCENTER
Go to the vCenter Server 5.5 installation media, then find under the folder vCenter-Server\dbschema the
DB and Schema creation scripts for MSSQL, read the text file
Go back to the SQL Server 2008, then login as “sa”
Click on New Query
Use the script below to create the DB, DO NOT FORGET TO DOUBLE CHECK THE VPXUSER (this will be the
VCDB admin user), you must specify a specific folder location for the DB files and a new password for that
user :
22
use [master]
go
CREATE DATABASE [VCDB] ON PRIMARY
(NAME = N'vcdb', FILENAME = N'C:\VCDB.mdf' , SIZE = 3000KB , FILEGROWTH = 10% )
LOG ON
(NAME = N'vcdb_log', FILENAME = N'C:\VCDB.ldf' , SIZE = 1000KB , FILEGROWTH = 10%)
COLLATE SQL_Latin1_General_CP1_CI_AS
go
use VCDB
go
sp_addlogin @loginame=[vpxuser], @passwd=N'vpxuser', @defdb='VCDB', @deflanguage='us_english'
go
ALTER LOGIN [vpxuser] WITH CHECK_POLICY = OFF
go
CREATE USER [vpxuser] for LOGIN [vpxuser]
go
CREATE SCHEMA [VMW]
go
ALTER USER [vpxuser] WITH DEFAULT_SCHEMA =[VMW]
go
sp_addrolemember @rolename = 'db_owner', @membername = 'vpxuser'
go
use MSDB
go
CREATE USER [vpxuser] for LOGIN [vpxuser]
go
sp_addrolemember @rolename = 'db_owner', @membername = 'vpxuser'
go
23
RESTORE THE OLD DATABASE INTO THE NEW DB SERVER
Copy the DB backup file to the new SQL server
Open the SQL Server 2008 Management Studio
Log in as “sa”
Right click on the Database you want to restore, here VCDB and choose “Task > Restore > Database…”
24
Select “From device” and click on “…”
Choose “File” backup media and click Add
25
Browse the directories and find the DB backup file, select the file and click OK
26
Click OK to confirm again
27
Tick the case “Restore” near the selected DB backup set
28
In the Options tab, select “Overwrite the existing database (WITH REPLACE)”
Click OK to perform the Backup restoration
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Once completed, you receive this message
31
INSTALL THE SQL SERVER 2008 NATIVE CLIENT ON VCENTER
You can download the client via this link
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=27596
Or you can find it in the Installation media under
“SQL Server Enterprise 2008 CD”\x64\Setup\x64
Open the sqlncli.msi
Follow the information on the screen, click Next
Accept the license terms, click Next
32
Input the required information, click Next
Leave the default settings, click Next
33
Click Install
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The installation is completed
35
RECREATE THE VPXUSER OF THE RESTORED VCDB DATABASE
After restoration of the DB, the old VPXUSER is different to the newly created one, so you need to delete
the vpxuser ID from the VCDB Database
Under the VCDB database, go to Security > Users > vpxuser
Right click on the user and choose Delete
Under Security directory > Logins
Right click on the vpxuser ID and choose Properties
36
In the User mapping tab, select the VCDB and msdb databases, both of them needs to have vpxuser under
“User” and dbo under “Default Schema”
Each of them also need to have the db_owner role membership
Click OK to confirm
37
The vpxuser is remapped to the VCDB database
38
SET UP A NEW SYSTEM DSN ODBC CONNECTOR
Under Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Administrative Tools
Open the Data Sources (ODBC)
You can see the old DSN Connector, leave it and create a new one
Click Add…
39
Select the new SQL Server Native Client 10.0, click Finish
Give it a new name, description and specify the new SQL Server FQDN or IP address
Click Next
40
Select “With SQL Server authentication using a login ID and password entered by the user”
Enter the vpxuser and its password, click Next
41
Select “Change the default database to:”, VCDB
Click Next
Click Finish
42
Click Test Data Source…
Tests are successful, click OK
The new DSN ODBC Connector is now showing in the list, click OK
43
44
UNINSTALL THE OLD VCENTER SERVER FOR A CLEAN UPGRADE
As per VMware best practices documentation, it is better to reinstall the vCenter server, though they say
that it works to upgrade directly, they suggest a clean installation to avoid performance and stability
issues.
Go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Program and Features
Uninstall the VMware vCenter Server, the VMware vCenter Update Manager, and the VMware vCenter
Update Manager Client
Once uninstalled, restart the Operating System.
45
INSTALL THE VCENTER SERVER
Execute the autorun.exe with the vcservice user ID
Enter the vcservice credentials
46
Access to the Custom Install and read the content
47
Install the vCenter Single Sign-On
Under vCenter Single Sign-On tab, click Install
Follow the instructions on the screen, click Next
Accept the License terms, click Next
48
Review the prerequisites check, remediate them and click Next
Select “vCenter Single Sign-On for your first vCenter Server”, click Next
49
Note the Domain Name and User name, create and confirm the SSO Administrator password
Click Next
Give a name to the Site, click Next
50
Leave the default port, click Next
Click Next
51
Review the install options, click Install
52
vCenter SSO installation is completed
53
Install VMware vSphere Web Client
Under vSphere Web Client, click Install
Choose the language
54
Follow the instructions on the screen and click Next
Accept the license terms, click Next
55
Click Next
Leave the default ports, click Next
56
Input the SSO administrator credentials and click Next
Click Yes to accept the SSL fingerprint
57
Click Install Certificates
Click Install
58
Installation is completed
59
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Install VMware vCenter Inventory Service
Under vCenter Inventory Service, click Install
Choose the language
61
Follow the instructions and click Next
Accept the license terms, click Next
62
Click Next
Enter the FQDN or IP address and click Next
63
Leave the default ports, click Next
Choose the Inventory Size, click Next
64
Enter the SSO administrator credentials, click Next
Accept the SSL fingerprint, click Yes
65
Click Install
66
Installation is completed
67
Install vCenter Server
Under vCenter Server, click Install
Choose the language
Follow the instruction on the screen, click Next
68
Accept the license terms, click Next
Enter the license key, click Next
69
Choose the new DSN ODBC connector, click Next
Enter the vpxuser and password, click Next
70
Review the alert, note them down, click OK
Go under C:\ProgramData\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\
Make a copy of the SSL folder to any secured location
71
Select Upgrade existing vCenter Server database
Select that “I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates
Click Next
Select Automatic, click Next
72
Enter the vCenter service user credentials
Leave the default ports and click Next
73
Choose the Inventory Size and click Next
Enter the SSO administrator credentials and click Next
74
Click Yes to accept the SSL fingerprint of the SSO Lookup Service leaf certificate
Review and confirm the SSO administrator, click Next
75
Depending on what you have given during the Inventory service installation, input the FQDN or IP address
here with its port
Click Next
76
Click Install
77
Installation is completed
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INSTALL THE VMWARE VSPHERE CLIENT
Under VMware Sphere Client, click Install
Choose the language
80
Follow the instructions on the screen, click Next
Accept the license terms, click Next
81
Click Next
Click Install
82
Installation is completed.
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CREATE THE NEW VUMDB DATABASE
In the SQL Server Management tool, connect as “sa”
Right click on Databases and choose “New Database…”
Give a name to the database, VUMDB, and select the owner “vpxuser”
In the Options tab, select Simple for the Recovery Model and click OK
85
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SET UP THE 32BITS DSN ODBC CONNECTOR FOR VUM
Under vSphere Update Manager, click on “%windir%\syswow64\odbcad32.exe” to create a 32bits DSN
ODBC connector
You can see the old DSN for VUM. Leave it and click Add…
87
Select the SQL Server Native Client 10.0
Enter the Name, description and SQL server FQDN or IP address
Click Next
88
Select “With SQL Server authentication using a login ID and password entered by the user”
Enter the vpxuser and password
Select “Change the default database to:” and choose the VUMDB database
89
Click Next
Click Finish
Click on Test Data Source…
90
Tests completed successfully.
91
INSTALL VSPHERE UPDATE MANAGER
Under vSphere Update Manager, click Install
Choose the language
92
Follow the instructions on the screen and click Next
Accept the License terms, click Next
93
Leave the default settings, click Next
Input the required information and the vCenter service user ID/Password, click Next
94
Choose the newly created DSN, click Next
Enter the DB owner user ID/Password, click next
95
Leave the default, click Next
Click Next
96
Click OK
Click Install
97
Installation is completed
98
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CONNECT TO THE VCENTER AND PERFORM VERIFICATIONS
Use the vSphere Client to connect to the vCenter and perform verifications
vCenter server is upgraded successfully, hosts are connected and inventory is loaded
100
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CONNECT TO THE VCENTER WEB CLIENT AND PERFORM VERIFICATIONS
Access to the Web Client
Click on Continue to this website (not recommended)
Install Adobe Flash Player
Install Adobe Flash Player via this link
https://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
Install the Client Integration Plug-in via the Web Client
Click on the link on the bottom of the page “Download the Client Integration Plug-in”
102
Click Run
Click Yes
103
Close the browsers and click Retry
Click Next
104
Accept the license terms and click Next
Click Next
Click Install
105
Click Finish
106
Log into the vSphere Web Client using the SSO administrator user ID
https://vcenter-IP-or-FQDN:9443/
Click Allow to allow the Integration plug-in to run
If you receive this message, click Allow to permit flash to store information on the server
107
Click Yes to reload
Enter the SSO administrator credentials
You have now access to the vCenter Web Client
108
Verify/create new SSO permissions
Under Administration
Verify the roles under Access Control
109
Verify the Password Policies and Identity Sources under Single Sign-On > Configuration
Under Identity Sources, you can set up the Active Directory integration
110
Verify vCenter permissions
Under vCenter on the left panel
111
Go to vCenter Servers
Click on the vCenter Server
Go to Manage tab > Permission
Manage the vCenter permissions from this menu
112
INSTALL VCENTER UPDATE MANAGER CLIENT
In the vSphere Client, connected to the vCenter
Under Plug-ins > Manage Plug-ins…
Click on download and install for “VMware vSphere Update Manager 5.5.0”
Click Run
Choose the language
113
Follow the instructions, click Next
114
Accept the license terms, click Next
Click Install
115
Click Yes to confirm
116
Installation completed
The plug-in is successfully installed and Enabled.
117
You can now access the VUM tab
118