You can perform a sequential upgrade or a skip-level upgrade. Upgrade the management domain first and then upgrade VI workload domains.

Upgrades are applied on a workload domain basis. The management domain contains the core infrastructure, so you must upgrade the management domain before upgrading VI workload domains. You must upgrade all required components to keep your system in an optimum state.

Management domain components must be updated in the following order:
  1. SDDC Manager and VMware Cloud Foundation services.
  2. NSX Data Center for vSphere.
  3. vCenter Server and Platform Services Controllers.
  4. VxRail Manager.
  5. vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager. See the VMware vRealize Suite Lifecycle Manager 2.1 Patch 3 Release Notes for information on how to apply the patch.
Workload domain components must be upgrade in the following order:
  1. NSX Data Center for vSphere or NSX-T Data Center
  2. vCenter Server and Platform Services Controllers

Prerequisites

Download the bundles. For sequential upgrades, see Downloading Bundles for VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail. For skip-level upgrades, see VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail Skip-Level Upgrade.
Note: Skip-level upgrades update SDDC Manager and VMware Cloud Foundation services. You can use this procedure to upgrade the other management domain components and VI workload domain components.

Procedure

  1. On the SDDC Manager Dashboard, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
  2. Click a workload domain and then click the Updates/Patches tab.
  3. Click Precheck to validate that the appliance is ready to be updated.
    Click View Status to see the update status for each component and the tests performed. Expand a test by clicking the arrow next to it to see further details.

    If any of the tests fail, fix the issue and click Retry Precheck.

    The precheck results are displayed below the Precheck button. Ensure that the precheck results are green before proceeding. A failed precheck may cause the update to fail.

  4. Do either of the following:
    1. Click Update Now.
    2. Click Schedule Download. Select the date and time for the bundle download and click Schedule.

    To view the update status, click Update History > Actions >View Update Status. After the bundle is downloaded, the Schedule Update button is displayed. Click View Details to see the version changes for each component that the bundle will apply.

What to do next

After you successfully upgrade SDDC Manager and the VMware Cloud Foundation services, log out of the SDDC Manager Dashboard and log back in. Upgrade the other components in the management domain and then upgrade the components in your VI workload domains.