Ensure that the prerequisites in each section are met before you begin a VMware software upgrade.

Domain Operations

Verify that no domain operations are running. See Managing Workflows and Tasks.

ESXi Prerequisites

  1. Verify that all ESXi hosts are within a domain cluster in vCenter.

  2. Verify that all ESXi hosts within the cluster are in a healthy state. If a host is not healthy, and therefore in maintenance mode, the upgrade will fail.

NSX Prerequisites

  1. Back up the NSX configuration.

    1. Using the root account, SSH in to the SDDC Manager Controller VM.

    2. Type the following command.

      /home/vrack/bin/lookup-password

    3. Note down the values for the following.

      • IP address for SDDC Manager Utility VM that resides in the management domain vCenter

      • username

      • password

    4. Follow the procedure Back Up NSX Manager Data in Upgrading NSX. For the NSX backup files to be accessible by Cloud Foundation, you must specify the settings specified in the table below.

      Setting

      Value

      IP/Hostname

      IP address that you noted in step 3.

      Transfer Protocol

      SFTP

      Port

      22

      Username

      Username that you noted in step 3.

      Password

      Password that you noted in step 3.

      Backup Directory

      /backup

      Filename Prefix

      nsx_type_domain-number

      For example, type nsx_mgmt_dmn01 when taking a backup of the NSX management domain. Type nsx_vdi_dmn01 when taking a VDI domain backup.

      Passphrase

      nsxmgr_backup

  2. If you are upgrading a workload domain that contains 3 hosts, disable the anti-affinity rule that separates NSX controllers across hosts.

    1. Login to the vCenter Server of the domain.

    2. In the left navigation pane, right-click the cluster and click Edit Setting.

    3. In the left navigation pane, click Rules.

    4. Un-select the NSX-Controller Anti-Affinity rule.

    5. Click OK.

    6. After the upgrade is complete, enable the rule again.