vCenter Server 6 Upgrade

Migration of Distributed vCenter Server for Windows Services During Upgrade to vCenter Server 6.0

Custom installations of vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 for Windows that have services located across multiple machines are upgraded and migrated (if required) to the vCenter Server system during the upgrade process.

If all vCenter Server 5.x services are deployed in the same system, they are upgraded in place without any need for configuration after upgrade. However, if you have one or more services deployed remotely, the software migrates your service or services to thevCenter Server virtual machine or physical server during upgrade. Some services require reconfiguration or other actions after upgrade. vCenter Server 5.x for Windows services that are migrated to become part of the vCenter Server group of services during the upgrade process include:

■	Inventory Services
■	vSphere Web Client
■	vSphere Auto Deploy
■	vSphere Syslog Collector
■	vSphere ESXi Dump Collector

vCenter Server and vCenter Single Sign-On are the only services that are not migrated. vCenter Single Sign-On instances are upgraded in place to become part of an external Platform Services Controller if they are deployed on a system other than the system where the vCenter Server resides.

Component Services Migrated to vCenter Server Group of Services

vCenter Server 5.x Distributed Service Migration During Upgrade

Service Name	Service Location Before Upgrade	Service Location After Upgrade	Post Upgrade Actions
vCenter Inventory Service	Not installed on the vCenter Server system	Installed on the vCenter Server system	vCenter Inventory Service 5.x data is copied to the Inventory Service 6.0 instance that is installed with vCenter Server6.0. You do not need to copy it manually. vCenter Inventory Service 5.x is still running but no longer used. It must be manually stopped and removed.
vSphere Web Client	Not installed on the vCenter Server system	Installed on the vCenter Server system	vCenter Server 5.x data is copied to the vSphere Web Client 6.0 instance that is installed with vCenter Server6.0. vSphere Web Client 5.x is still running but no longer used. It must be manually stopped and removed.
vSphere Auto Deploy	Not installed on the vCenter Server system	Migrated to vCenter Serversystem	vSphere Auto Deploy data is copied to the Auto Deploy 6.0 instance that is installed withvCenter Server 6.0. Repoint vCenter Server DHCP settings to the migrated vSphere Auto Deploy service. vCenter Server vSphere Auto Deploy 5.x is still running but no longer used. It must be manually stopped and removed.
vSphere Syslog Collector	Not installed on the vCenter Server system	Installed on the vCenter Server system Data is not migrated. Configurations for ports, protocols, and rotation log size are preserved.	■ ESXi system information might remain on an old system until you relocate it. ■ ESXi hosts might require reconfiguration to point to the new vSphere Syslog Collector server.
vSphere ESXi Dump Collector	Not installed on the vCenter Server system	Installed on the vCenter Server system Data is not migrated.	■ ESXi core dump data might remain on an older system until you migrate it. ■ ESXi hosts might require reconfiguration to point to the new vSphere ESXI Dump server.

For more information about upgrade scenarios, see vCenter Server Example Upgrade Paths. For information about service reconfigurations that are required after upgrade, see Reconfigure Migrated vCenter Server Services After Upgrade

Your initial vCenter Server 5.x configuration determines your upgrade and 6.0 configuration options.

Example upgrade paths demonstrate some of common starting configurations before vCenter Server upgrade and their expected configuration outcomes after vCenter Server upgrade.

If you are currently using vCenter Server 5.0, you do not have any common services configured. You have a choice of upgrading tovCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller or upgrading to vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller.

vCenter Server 5.0 Deployment Choices for Upgrade

If you have a simple installation with all vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 components on the same system, the vCenter Server 6.0 software upgrades your system to vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller instance. The software upgrades your vCenter Server common services such as vCenter Single Single-On in the Platform Services Controller instance. The rest of the vCenter Server components, such as vSphere Web Client Inventory Service, are upgraded to 6.0 as part of the vCenter Servergroup of services. The software upgrades vCenter Server and all its services in the correct order to the same version.

vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 with Embedded vCenter Single Sign-On Deployment Before and After Upgrade

If you have a custom vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 environment with an externally deployed vCenter Single Sign-On, the vCenter Server 6.0 software upgrades your deployment to vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller instance.

vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 with Externally Deployed vCenter Single Sign-On Before and After Upgrade

 If your configuration includes a vSphere Auto Deploy server, the upgrade process upgrades it when upgrading the associatedvCenter Server instance. You cannot use a vSphere Auto Deploy server that was included with an earlier version of the product in conjunction with vCenter Server 6.0. If your vSphere Auto Deploy server is running on a remote system, it is upgraded and migrated to the same system as vCenter Server during the upgrade process.

vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 with Remote vSphere Auto Deploy Server Before and After Upgrade

For example, if your vCenter Server is part of vCenter Server Appliance, and you installed the vSphere Auto Deploy server on a Windows machine, the upgrade process migrates the vSphere Auto Deploy server to the same location as your vCenter Server Appliance. Any settings are migrated to the new location. However, you must reconfigure your ESXi hosts to point to the new vSphere Auto Deploy location. See Reconfigure Migrated vCenter Server Services After Upgrade

If your configuration includes a remotely deployed vSphere Web Client, it is upgraded along with the vCenter Server instance to which it is registered and migrated to the same location as the vCenter Server instance.

vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 with Remote vSphere Web Client and vCenter Signle Sign-On Before and After Upgrade

Only the vCenter Single Sign-On instance remains remotely deployed as part of the the Platform Services Controller instance after upgrade to vCenter Server 6.0. If all vCenter Server components are deployed remotely, all are migrated to the vCenter Serverlocation during the upgrade except vCenter Single Sign-On. While Inventory Service data is migrated to the vCenter Serverlocation, the legacy version is no longer used and must be uninstalled manually. See Migration of Distributed vCenter Server for Windows Services During Upgrade to vCenter Server 6.0

vCenter Server 5.1 or 5.5 with All Remote Components Before and After Upgrade

If you have multiple systems configured for high availability, vCenter Server enables you to incorporate your common services into an external Platform Services Controller configuration as part of your upgrade process.

If you have a multisite setup configured with replication, you can use vCenter Server to incorporate your common services into an external Platform Services Controller configuration as part of your upgrade process.