Follow the upgrade path and choose an upgrade method that is available for the currently installed VMware Cloud Director Availability version. After following the prerequisites, choose a source repository for the upgrade files and upgrade each appliance in the cloud site, according to a specific order.

Note: For vSphere DR and migration, you must upgrade both sites to version 4.5. For information about upgrading vCenter Replication Management Appliance and On-Premises to Cloud vCenter Replication Appliance, see Upgrading On-Premises and Provider Site in the Installation, Configuration, and Upgrade Guide in On-Premises and Provider Site.

Upgrade Paths

To upgrade to the latest version of VMware Cloud Director Availability in the cloud site, choose an upgrade method according to the currently installed version in the site.

Current Version Next Version Available Upgrade Method
4.3.x or 4.4.x 4.5
4.2.x or 4.3.x 4.4.x
4.0.x or 4.1.x 4.2.1*
3.0.x or 3.5.x 4.0
3.0 4.0 You must upgrade only by using the command-line interface, see the legacy Command-Line Upgrading procedures.

* To upgrade to the latest version, when performing a two-step upgrade from 4.1.x or from 4.0.x, use 4.2.1 as the intermediate upgrade. For more information, see the Upgrade Path of VMware Cloud Director Availability in the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix.

Important:
  • Before upgrading each VMware Cloud Director Availability appliance:
    • Ensure to take snapshots and follow the order of upgrading the cloud appliances, see Appliances Upgrade Sequence and Snapshots.
    • Ensure that you have not manually enabled the Photon repository on any of the appliances.

      To verify for enabled repositories, open an SSH connection to each appliance, log in by using the root user credentials and run the following command:

      yum -v repolist all | grep enabled
      When no repository is active, the command returns no result and you can proceed with the upgrade.
    • Ensure that you have not installed any packages or third-party software or made any manual modifications of yum configuration files.
  • To complete the upgrade sequence follow Post-Upgrade Configuration in the Cloud backed by VMware Cloud Director.
  • Attempting to upgrade from version 4.0.x directly to version 4.3 appears to proceed with the upgrade while performing no upgrade. The /var/log/upgrade.log file shows Direct upgrades from 4.0.x are not supported! Upgrade to latest from 4.2 code line first and then you'll be able to upgrade to later versions.

Upgrade Repository

To upgrade to the latest version of VMware Cloud Director Availability in the cloud site, you can configure each appliance to download the upgrade files from one of the following source repositories.

Source Repository Description
An ISO image Use an upgrade ISO file mounted in the virtual appliance CD-ROM drive for environments where the network restricts the appliances online Internet access.
A specified repository To upgrade multiple appliances or after deploying the appliances in different datastores, specify a repository as a content source:
  • You can specify a local repository where you can upload the upgrade files, for environments where the network restricts the online Internet access to the appliances.
  • Alternatively, with available Internet access, specify https://packages.vmware.com/vcav/4.5/ as an online upgrade repository.
Note: Cannot upgrade by selecting the option Official Online Repository in the management interface of versions 4.0.x since Apr 2021. To upgrade by using the management interface, either select an ISO image or specify a repository.