You can upgrade vRealize Automation 8.x or VMware Aria Automation by using VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle.

Prerequisites

  • Ensure that you have upgraded the earlier versions of either vRealize Automation 8.x or VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle to the latest version of the product. For more information on upgrading your VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle, see Upgrade VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle for the target version.
  • Ensure that you have upgraded VMware Workspace ONE Access. For more information on VMware Workspace ONE Access upgrade and version support, see Upgrade Workspace ONE Access by using VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle.
  • Perform the binary mapping of the VMware Aria Automation upgrade ISO from Local, myvmware, or NFS share. For more information on binary mapping, see Configure product binaries.
  • Increase the CPU, memory, and storage as per the system requirements of the target version of VMware Aria Automation. For more information, see the Hardware Requirements section of the Reference Architecture publication for the target VMware Aria Automation version. For related information, see the System Requirements section of the Easy Installer publication for the target VMware Aria Automation version. Both publications are available on the VMware Aria Automation documentation page.

To enable multi-tenancy for VMware Aria Automation, see Tenant management in VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle.

Procedure

  1. On the Lifecycle Operations page, click Manage Environments.
  2. Navigate to the source product instance.
  3. Click View Details and click Upgrade.

    A pop-up menu appears, alerting you to perform an inventory sync.

  4. Click Trigger Inventory Sync of the product before you upgrade.
    Note: A change in the environment outside of VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle can occur. Be aware of the current state of your system and verify that the inventory to upgrade is up-to-date.
    1. If the product inventory is already synced and up-to-date, click Proceed Upgrade.
      Note: If the source version is vRealize Automation 8.0.x, use the steps given in the KB article 78325 before you upgrade to restore expired root accounts. Other KBs may exist for other source product versions.
  5. After the inventory is synced, select the VMware Aria Automation version that you are upgrading to.
  6. To specify the Repository Type, select VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle Repository if you have mapped the ISO binary map or select Repository URL to use a private upgrade repository URL.
  7. If you selected Repository URL, enter the unauthenticated URL and then click Next.
  8. Click Pre-Check.
    Pre-check validates the following criteria:
    • SSH enabled - Verifies that SSH for the root user is enabled.
    • Version check - Verifies if the target version selected for upgrade is compatible with the current VMware Aria Automation version.
    • Disk space on root, data, and services log partition - Verifies if the required amount of free disk space is available in the root, data, and services log partition.
    • CPU and Memory Check - Verifies if the required amount say 12 CPU and 48 GB memory resources available in each VMware Aria Automation nodes before upgrade.
    • vCenter property existence check - Verifies if the vCenter details are present as part of each node in the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle inventory. Because a snapshot is taken during the upgrade process, it is important to have the right vCenter details within the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle inventory.
    • VMware Aria Automation VMs managed object reference ID retrieval check - Verifies if the managed object reference ID of the VM can be retrieved from the details available in the VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle inventory. This is required as you perform snapshot-related operations on the VMs, finding the VM using the same.
  9. Click Next and Submit.
    After you click Submit, you can navigate to the Request Details page to view the upgrade status.
    You can also monitor the upgrade process by using the vracli upgrade status --follow command.
    At various stages of the upgrade process, logs capture stage activity. The following commands can also be helpful in monitoring the upgrade progress:
    • tail -f vami.log
    • tail -f postupdate.log
    • tail -f deploy.log
    • tail -f /var/log/vmware/prelude/upgrade-2022-11-06-15-22-15.log

What to do next

To learn more about the VMware Aria Automation upgrade stages, see VMware Aria Automation stages in VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle workflow.