Upgrade VI Workload Domains to VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.x

The management domain in your environment must be upgraded before you upgrade VI workload domains. In order to upgrade to VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.x, all VI workload domains in your environment must be at VMware Cloud Foundation 4.2.1 or higher. If your environment is at a version lower than 4.2.1, you must upgrade the workload domains to 4.2.1 and then upgrade to 4.5.x.

Within a VI workload domain, components must be upgraded in the following order.

NSX-T.
vCenter Server.
If you have stretched clusters in your environment, upgrade the vSAN witness host. See Upgrade vSAN Witness Host for VMware Cloud Foundation.
ESXi.
Workload Management on clusters that have vSphere with Tanzu. Workload Management can be upgraded through vCenter Server. See Updating the vSphere with Tanzu Environment.
If you suppressed the Enter Maintenance Mode prechecks for ESXi or NSX, delete the following lines from the /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-app/conf/application-prod.properties file and restart the LCM service:
lcm.nsxt.suppress.dry.run.emm.check=true
lcm.esx.suppress.dry.run.emm.check.failures=true
For NFS-based workload domains, add a static route for hosts to access NFS storage over the NFS gateway. See Post Upgrade Steps for NFS-Based VI Workload Domains.

After all upgrades have completed successfully:

Remove the VM snapshots you took before starting the update.
Take a backup of the newly installed components.

VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Prerequisites

Before you upgrade VMware Cloud Foundation, make sure that the following prerequisites are met.

Take a backup of the SDDC Manager appliance using an external SFTP server. See the "Backup and Restore of VMware Cloud Foundation" section in the VMware Cloud Foundation Administration Guide.
Before you upgrade a vCenter Server, take a file-based backup. See Manually Back Up vCenter Server.
No domain operations are in progress. Domain operations include creating VI workload domains, expanding a workload domain (adding a cluster or host), and shrinking a workload domain (removing a cluster or host).
Download the relevant bundles. See Downloading VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Bundles.
Note: If you downloaded the bundles manually, you must download all bundles for the target release and upload them to the SDDC Manager appliance before starting the upgrade.
If you applied an async patch to your current VMware Cloud Foundation instance you must use the Async Patch Tool to enable an upgrade to a later version of VMware Cloud Foundation. For example, if you applied an async vCenter Server patch to a VMware Cloud Foundation 4.3.1 instance, you must use the Async Patch Tool to enable upgrade to VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.x. See Async Patch Tool.
Make sure that there are no failed workflows in your system and none of the VMware Cloud Foundation resources are in activating or error state.
Caution: If any of these conditions are true, contact VMware Support before starting the upgrade.
Ensure that passwords for all VMware Cloud Foundation components are valid.
Review the Release Notes for known issues related to upgrades.

Perform Update Precheck

You must perform a precheck before applying an update or upgrade bundle to ensure that your environment is ready for the update.

For an ESXi bundle, the system performs a bundle level precheck in addition to the environment precheck. For VI workload domains using vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines, the ESXi bundle precheck validates the following.

Custom ISO is compatible with your environment.
Custom ISO size is smaller than the boot partition size.
Third party VIBs are compatible with the environment.

If you silence a vSAN Skyline Health alert in the vSphere Client, SDDC Manager skips the related precheck and indicates which precheck it skipped. Click Restore Precheck to include the silenced precheck. For example:
An example of an alert that was silenced in vSAN Skyline Health.

An example of an alert that was silenced in vSAN Skyline Health.

You can also silence failed vSAN prechecks in the SDDC Manager UI by clicking Silence Precheck. Silenced prechecks do not trigger warnings or block upgrades.

Important: You should only silence alerts if you know that they are incorrect. Do not silence alerts for real issues that require remediation.

Procedure

In the navigation pane, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
On the Workload Domains page, click the workload domain where you want to run the precheck.
On the domain summary page, click the Updates/Patches tab. The image below is a sample screenshot and may not reflect the correct product versions.
Click Precheck to validate that the environment is ready to be upgraded.

Once the precheck begins, a message appears indicating the time at which the precheck was started.
Click View Status to see detailed tasks and their status. The image below is a sample screenshot and may not reflect the correct versions.
To see details for a task, click the Expand arrow.
If a precheck task failed, fix the issue, and click Retry Precheck to run the task again. You can also click Precheck Failed Resources to retry all failed tasks.
If ESXi hosts display a driver incompatibility issue when updating a VI workload domain using vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines, perform the following steps:
1. Identify the controller with the HCL issue.
2. For the given controller, identify the supported driver and firmware versions on the source and target ESXi versions.
3. Upgrade the firmware, if required.
4. Upgrade the driver manually on the ESXi host and retry the task at which the upgrade failed.
If the workload domain contains a host that includes pinned VMs, the precheck fails at the Enter Maintenance Mode step. If the host can enter maintenance mode through vCenter Server UI, you can suppress this check for NSX-T Data Center and ESXi in VMware Cloud Foundation by following the steps below.
1. Log in to SDDC Manager by using a Secure Shell (SSH) client with the user name vcf and password you specified in the deployment parameter workbook.
2. Open the /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-app/conf/application-prod.properties file.
3. Add the following line to the end of the file:
  lcm.nsxt.suppress.dry.run.emm.check=true
  lcm.esx.suppress.dry.run.emm.check.failures=true
4. Restart Lifecycle Management by typing the following command in the console window.
  systemctl restart lcm
5. After Lifecycle Management is restarted, run the precheck again.

Results

The precheck result is displayed at the top of the Upgrade Precheck Details window. If you click Exit Details, the precheck result is displayed at the top of the Precheck section in the Updates/Patches tab.

Ensure that the precheck results are green before proceeding. A failed precheck may cause the update to fail.

Upgrade NSX-T Data Center for VMware Cloud Foundation

Upgrade NSX-T Data Center in the management domain before you upgrade VI workload domains.

Upgrading NSX-T Data Center involves the following components:

Upgrade Coordinator
NSX Edge clusters (if deployed)
NSX Edge
Host clusters
NSX Manager cluster

VI workload domains can share the same NSX Manager cluster and NSX Edge clusters. When you upgrade these components for one VI workload domain, they are upgraded for all VI workload domains that share the same NSX Manager or NSX Edge cluster. You cannot perform any operations on the VI workload domains while NSX-T is being upgraded.

The upgrade wizard provides some flexibility when upgrading NSX-T Data Center for workload domains. By default, the process upgrades all NSX Edge clusters in parallel, and then all host clusters in parallel. Parallel upgrades reduce the overall time required to upgrade your environment. You can also choose to upgrade NSX Edge clusters and host clusters sequentially. The ability to select clusters allows for multiple upgrade windows and does not require all clusters to be available at a given time.

Note: The NSX Manager cluster is upgraded only if the Upgrade all host clusters setting is enabled on the Host Clusters tab. NSX Manager is upgraded after all host clusters in the workload domain are upgraded. New features introduced in the upgrade are not configurable until the NSX Manager cluster is upgraded.

Prerequisites

All applicable NSX-T Data Center updates must have been applied to all workload domains for the NSX-T Data Center upgrade bundle to be available for download. Otherwise, the status of the NSX-T Data Center bundle is displayed as Pending instead of Available for all workload domains.

Validate that the NSX Manager password is valid.
Download the upgrade bundle for NSX-T Data Center. See Downloading VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Bundles.
Back up the NSX-T Data Center configuration and download the technical support logs.
Ensure that the appropriate communication ports are open between the NSX Edge nodes and NSX Manager. For more information on ports, see https://ports.esp.vmware.com/home/NSX.
Review Operational Impacts of NSX-T Data Center Upgrade in NSX Upgrade Guide to understand the impact that each component upgrade might have on your environment.
Ensure there are no active alarms on hosts or vSphere clusters using the vSphere Client.
Customers upgrading to NSX-T 3.2.1.2 are strongly encouraged to run the NSX Upgrade Evaluation Tool before starting the upgrade process. The tool is designed to ensure success by checking the health and readiness of your NSX Managers prior to upgrading.

Procedure

In the navigation pane, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
On the Workload Domains page, click the domain you are upgrading and then click the Updates/Patches tab.
When you upgrade NSX-T components for a selected VI workload domain, those components are upgraded for all VI workload domains that share the NSX Manager cluster.
Click Precheck to run the upgrade precheck.
Resolve any issues before proceeding with the upgrade.
Note: The NSX-T precheck runs on all VI workload domains in your environment that share the NSX Manager cluster.
In the Available Updates section, select the target release.
Click Update Now or Schedule Update next to the VMware Software NSX-T bundle.
On the NSX-T Edge Cluster page, select the NSX Edge clusters you want to upgrade and click Next.
By default, all NSX Edge clusters are upgraded. To select specific NSX Edge clusters, select the Upgrade NSX-T edge clusters only checkbox and select the Enable edge selection option. Then select the NSX Edges you want to upgrade.
Click Next.
By default, all vSphere clusters across all workload domains are upgraded. If you want to select specific vSphere clusters to be upgraded, turn off the Upgrade all host clusters setting. Host clusters are upgraded after all Edge clusters have been upgraded.
Note: The NSX-T Manager cluster is upgraded only if the Upgrade all host clusters setting is enabled.
- If you have a single cluster in your environment, enable the Upgrade all host clusters setting.
- If you have multiple host clusters and choose to upgrade only some of them, you must go through the NSX-T upgrade wizard again until all host clusters have been upgraded. When selecting the final set of clusters to be upgraded, you must enable the Upgrade all host clusters setting so that NSX-T Manager is upgraded.
- If you have upgraded all host clusters without enabling the Upgrade all host clusters setting, run through the NSX-T upgrade wizard again and schedule the upgrade to upgrade NSX-T Manager.
Click Next.
On the Upgrade Options dialog, select the upgrade optimizations and click Next.
By default, Edge clusters and host clusters are upgraded in parallel. You can enable sequential upgrade by selecting the relevant checkbox.
If you selected the Schedule Upgrade option, specify the date and time for the NSX-T Data Center bundle to be applied.
Click Next.
On the Review page, review your settings and click Finish.

The NSX-T Data Center upgrade begins and the upgrade components are displayed. The upgrade view displayed here pertains to the workload domain where you applied the bundle. Click the link to the associated workload domains to see the components pertaining to those workload domains.
Monitor the upgrade progress. See Monitor VMware Cloud Foundation Updates.
If a component upgrade fails, the failure is displayed across all associated workload domains. Resolve the issue and retry the failed task.

Results

When all NSX-T Data Center workload components are upgraded successfully, a message with a green background and check mark is displayed.

Upgrade NSX-T Data Center for VMware Cloud Foundation in a Federated Environment

When NSX Federation is configured between two VMware Cloud Foundation instances, SDDC Manager does not manage the lifecycle of the NSX Global Managers. To upgrade the NSX Global Managers, you must first follow the standard lifecycle of each VMware Cloud Foundation instance using SDDC Manager, and then manually upgrade the NSX Global Managers for each instance.

Download NSX Global Manager Upgrade Bundle

SDDC Manager does not manage the lifecycle of the NSX Global Managers. You must download the NSX-T Data Center upgrade bundle manually to upgrade the NSX Global Managers.

Procedure

In a web browser, go to VMware Customer Connect and browse to the download page for the version of NSX-T Data Center listed in the VMware Cloud Foundation Release Notes BOM.
Locate the NSX version Upgrade Bundle and click Read More.
Verify that the upgrade bundle filename extension ends with .mub.
The upgrade bundle filename has the following format VMware-NSX-upgrade-bundle-versionnumber.buildnumber.mub.
Click Download Now to download the upgrade bundle to the system where you access the NSX Global Manager UI.

Upgrade the Upgrade Coordinator for NSX Federation

The upgrade coordinator runs in the NSX Manager. It is a self-contained web application that orchestrates the upgrade process of hosts, NSX Edge cluster, NSX Controller cluster, and the management plane.

The upgrade coordinator guides you through the upgrade sequence. You can track the upgrade process and, if necessary, you can pause and resume the upgrade process from the UI.

Procedure

In a web browser, log in to Global Manager for the domain at https://nsxt_gm_vip_fqdn/).
Select System > Upgrade from the navigation panel.
Click Proceed to Upgrade.
Navigate to the upgrade bundle .mub file you downloaded or paste the download URL link.
- Click Browse to navigate to the location you downloaded the upgrade bundle file.
- Paste the VMware download portal URL where the upgrade bundle .mub file is located.
Click Upload.
When the file is uploaded, the Begin Upgrade button appears.
Click Begin Upgrade to upgrade the upgrade coordinator.

Note:
Upgrade one upgrade coordinator at a time.
Read and accept the EULA terms and accept the notification to upgrade the upgrade coordinator..
Click Run Pre-Checks to verify that all NSX-T Data Center components are ready for upgrade.
The pre-check checks for component connectivity, version compatibility, and component status.
Resolve any warning notifications to avoid problems during the upgrade.

Upgrade NSX Global Managers for VMware Cloud Foundation

Manually upgrade the NSX Global Managers when NSX Federation is configured between two VMware Cloud Foundation instances.

Prerequisites

Before you can upgrade NSX Global Managers, you must upgrade all VMware Cloud Foundation instances in the NSX Federation, including NSX Local Managers, using SDDC Manager.

Procedure

In a web browser, log in to Global Manager for the domain at https://nsxt_gm_vip_fqdn/).
Select System > Upgrade from the navigation panel.
Click Start to upgrade the management plane and then click Accept.
On the Select Upgrade Plan page, select Plan Your Upgrade and click Next.
The NSX Manager UI, API, and CLI are not accessible until the upgrade finishes and the management plane is restarted.

Upgrade vCenter Server for VMware Cloud Foundation

The upgrade bundle for VMware vCenter Server is used to upgrade the vCenter Servers managed by SDDC Manager. Upgrade vCenter Server in the management domain before upgrading vCenter Server in VI workload domains.

Note: Parallel upgrades of vCenter Server are not supported. The vCenter Server instance for each workload domain must be upgraded separately.

Prerequisites

Download the VMware vCenter Server upgrade bundle. See Downloading VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Bundles.
Take a file-based backup of the vCenter Server appliance before starting the upgrade. See Manually Back Up vCenter Server.
Note: After taking a backup, do not make any changes to the vCenter Server inventory or settings until the upgrade completes successfully.
If your workload domain contains Workload Management (vSphere with Tanzu) enabled clusters, the supported target release depends on the version of Kubernetes (K8s) currently running in the cluster. Older versions of K8s may require a specific upgrade sequence. See KB 88962 for more information.

Procedure

In the navigation pane, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
On the Workload Domains page, click the domain you are upgrading and then click the Updates/Patches tab.
Click Precheck to run the upgrade precheck.
Resolve any issues before proceeding with the upgrade.
In the Available Updates section, select the target release.
Click Update Now or Schedule Update next to the vCenter upgrade bundle.
If you selected Schedule Update, click the date and time for the bundle to be applied and click Schedule.
Monitor the upgrade progress. See Monitor VMware Cloud Foundation Updates.
If the upgrade fails, resolve the issue and retry the failed task. If you cannot resolve the issue, restore vCenter Server using the file-based backup. See Restore vCenter Server.

What to do next

Once the upgrade successfully completes, use the vSphere Client to change the vSphere DRS Automation Level setting back to the original value (before you took a file-based backup) for each vSphere cluster that is managed by the vCenter Server. See KB 87631 for information about using VMware PowerCLI to change the vSphere DRS Automation Level.

Upgrade vSAN Witness Host for VMware Cloud Foundation

If your VMware Cloud Foundation environment contains stretched clusters, update and remediate the vSAN witness host.

Prerequisites

Download the ESXi ISO that matches the version listed in the the Bill of Materials (BOM) section of the VMware Cloud Foundation Release Notes.

Procedure

In a web browser, log in to vCenter Server at https://vcenter_server_fqdn/ui.
Upload the ESXi ISO image file to vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
1. Click Menu > Lifecycle Manager.
2. Click the Imported ISOs tab.
3. Click Import ISO and then click Browse.
4. Navigate to the ESXi ISO file you downloaded and click Open.
5. After the file is imported, click Close.
Create a baseline for the ESXi image.
1. On the Imported ISOs tab, select the ISO file that you imported, and click New baseline.
2. Enter a name for the baseline and specify the Content Type as Upgrade.
3. Click Next.
4. Select the ISO file you had imported and click Next.
5. Review the details and click Finish.
Attach the baseline to the vSAN witness host.
1. Click Menu > Hosts and Clusters.
2. In the Inventory panel, click vCenter > Datacenter.
3. Select the vSAN witness host and click the Updates tab.
4. Under Attached Baselines, click Attach > Attach Baseline or Baseline Group.
5. Select the baseline that you had created in step 3 and click Attach.
6. Click Check Compliance.
  After the compliance check is completed, the Status column for the baseline is displayed as Non-Compliant.
Remediate the vSAN witness host and update the ESXi hosts that it contains.
1. Right-click the vSAN witness and click Maintenance Mode > Enter Maintenance Mode.
2. Click OK.
3. Click the Updates tab.
4. Select the baseline that you had created in step 3 and click Remediate.
5. In the End user license agreement dialog box, select the check box and click OK.
6. In the Remediate dialog box, select the vSAN witness host, and click Remediate.
  The remediation process might take several minutes. After the remediation is completed, the Status column for the baseline is displayed as Compliant.
7. Right-click the vSAN witness host and click Maintenance Mode > Exit Maintenance Mode.
8. Click OK.

Upgrade ESXi with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baselines for VMware Cloud Foundation

The management domain uses vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines for ESXi host upgrades. VI workload domains can use vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines or vSphere Lifecycle Manager images. The following procedure describes upgrading ESXi hosts in workload domains that use vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines.

For information about upgrading ESXi in VI workload domains that use vSphere Lifecycle Manager images, see Upgrade ESXi with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images for VMware Cloud Foundation.

By default, the upgrade process upgrades the ESXi hosts in all clusters in a workload domain in parallel. If you have multiple clusters in the management domain or in a VI workload domain, you can select the clusters to upgrade.

If you want to skip any hosts while applying an ESXi update to the management domain or a VI workload domain, you must add these hosts to the application-prod.properties file before you begin the update. See "Skip Hosts During ESXi Update".

To perform ESXi upgrades with custom ISO images or async drivers see "Upgrade ESXi with Custom ISOs" and "Upgrade ESXi with Stock ISO and Async Drivers".

If you are using external (non-vSAN) storage, the following procedure updates the ESXi hosts attached to the external storage. However, updating and patching the storage software and drivers is a manual task and falls outside of SDDC Manager lifecycle management. To ensure supportability after an ESXi upgrade, consult the vSphere HCL and your storage vendor.

Prerequisites

Validate that the ESXi passwords are valid.
Download the ESXi bundle. See Downloading VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Bundles.
Ensure that the domain for which you want to perform cluster-level upgrade does not have any hosts or clusters in an error state. Resolve the error state or remove the hosts and clusters with errors before proceeding.

Procedure

Navigate to the Updates/Patches tab of the workload domain.
Click Precheck to run the upgrade precheck.
Resolve any issues before proceeding with the upgrade.
In the Available Updates section, select the target release.
Click Upgrade Now or Schedule Update.
If you selected Schedule Update, specify the date and time for the bundle to be applied.
Select the clusters to upgrade and click Next.
The default setting is to upgrade all clusters. To upgrade specific clusters, click Enable cluster-level selection and select the clusters to upgrade.
Click Next.
Select the appropriate upgrade options and click Finish.
By default, the selected clusters are upgraded in parallel. If you selected more than five clusters to be upgraded, the first five are upgraded in parallel and the remaining clusters are upgraded sequentially. To upgrade all selected clusters sequentially, select Enable sequential cluster upgrade.

Click Enable Quick Boot if desired. Quick Boot for ESXi hosts is an option that allows Update Manager to reduce the upgrade time by skipping the physical reboot of the host.
Monitor the upgrade progress. See Monitor VMware Cloud Foundation Updates.

What to do next

Upgrade the vSAN Disk Format for vSAN clusters. The disk format upgrade is optional. Your vSAN cluster continues to run smoothly if you use a previous disk format version. For best results, upgrade the objects to use the latest on-disk format. The latest on-disk format provides the complete feature set of vSAN. See Upgrading vSAN Disk Format Using vSphere Client.

Skip Hosts During ESXi Update

You can skip hosts while applying an ESXi update to the management domain or a VI workload domain. The skipped hosts are not updated.

Note: You cannot skip hosts that are part of a VI workload domain that is using vSphere Lifecycle Manager images, since these hosts are updated at the cluster-level and not the host-level.

Procedure

Using SSH, log in to the SDDC Manager appliance with the user name vcf and password you specified in the deployment parameter sheet.
Type su to switch to the root account.
Retrieve the host IDs for the hosts you want to skip.
```
curl 'https://SDDC_MANAGER_IP/v1/hosts' -i -u 'username:password' -X GET -H 'Accept: application/json' |json_pp
```
Replace the SDDC Manager IP address, user name, and password with the information for your environment.

Copy the ids for the hosts you want to skip from the output. For example:

...
         "fqdn" : "esxi-2.vrack.vsphere.local",
         "esxiVersion" : "6.7.0-16075168",
         "hardwareVendor" : "VMware, Inc.",
         "cpu" : {
            "cpuCores" : [
               {
                  "model" : "intel",
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375,
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                "
               },
               {
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375,
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                ",
                  "model" : "intel"
               },
               {
                  "model" : "intel",
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375,
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                "
               },
               {
                  "model" : "intel",
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                ",
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375
               },
               {
                  "model" : "intel",
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                ",
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375
               },
               {
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375,
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                ",
                  "model" : "intel"
               },
               {
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375,
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                ",
                  "model" : "intel"
               },
               {
                  "model" : "intel",
                  "manufacturer" : "Intel(R) Xeon(R) Platinum 8260 CPU @ 2.40GHz                                                ",
                  "frequencyMHz" : 2394.375
               }
            ],
            "frequencyMHz" : 19155,
            "usedFrequencyMHz" : 1892,
            "cores" : 8
         },
         "physicalNics" : [
            {
               "deviceName" : "vmnic0",
               "macAddress" : "00:50:56:a1:cf:47"
            },
            {
               "deviceName" : "vmnic1",
               "macAddress" : "00:50:56:a1:8b:71"
            }
         ],
         "bundleRepoDatastore" : "lcm-bundle-repo",
         "hybrid" : false,
         "memory" : {
            "totalCapacityMB" : 79995.421875,
            "usedCapacityMB" : 22571
         },
         "id" : "b318fe37-f9a8-48b6-8815-43aae5131b94",
...

In this case, the id for esxi-2.vrack.vsphere.local is b318fe37-f9a8-48b6-8815-43aae5131b94.

Open the /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-app/conf/application-prod.properties file.
At the end of the file, add the following line:
esx.upgrade.skip.host.ids=hostid1,hostid2

Replace the host ids with the information from step 4. If you are including multiple host ids, do not add any spaces between them. For example: esx.upgrade.skip.host.ids=60927f26-8910-4dd3-8435-8bb7aef5f659,6c516864-b6de-4537-90e4-c0d711e5befb65c206aa-2561-420e-8c5c-e51b9843f93d
Save and close the file.
Ensure that the ownership of the application-prod.properties file is vcf_lcm:vcf.
Restart the LCM server by typing the following command in the console window:
systemctl restart lcm

Results

The hosts added to the application-prod.properties are not updated when you update the workload domain.

Upgrade ESXi with Custom ISOs

For clusters in workload domains with vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines, you can upgrade ESXi with a custom ISO from your vendor. VMware Cloud Foundation 4.4.1.1 and later support multiple custom ISOs in a single ESXi upgrade in cases where specific clusters or workload domains require different custom ISOs.

Prerequisites

Download the appropriate vendor-specific ISOs on a computer with internet access. If no vendor-specific ISO is available for the required version of ESXi, then you can create one. See Create a Custom ISO Image for ESXi.

Procedure

Download the VMware Software Update bundle for VMware ESXi. See Download Bundles Using SDDC Manager.
To use an async patch version of ESXi, enable the patch with the Async Patch Tool before proceeding to the next step. See the Async Patch Tool documentation.
Using SSH, log in to the SDDC Manager appliance.
Create a directory for the vendor ISO(s) under the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount directory. For example, /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries.
Copy the vendor-specific ISO(s) to the directory you created on the SDDC Manager appliance. For example, you can copy the ISO to the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries directory.
Change permissions on the directory where you copied the ISO(s). For example,
chmod -R 775 /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries/
Change owner to vcf.
chown -R vcf_lcm:vcf /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries/

Create an ESX custom image JSON using the following template.

{
"esxCustomImageSpecList": [{
"bundleId": "bundle ID of the ESXI bundle you downloaded",
"targetEsxVersion": "ESXi version for the target VMware Cloud Foundation version",
"useVcfBundle": false,
"domainId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
"clusterId": "xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx",
"customIsoAbsolutePath": "Path_to_custom_ISO"
}]
}

where


Parameter	Description and Example Value
bundleId	ID of the ESXi upgrade bundle you downloaded. You can retrieve the bundle ID by navigating to the Lifecycle Management > Bundle Management page and clicking View Details to view the bundle ID. For example, 8c0de63d-b522-4db8-be6c-f1e0ab7ef554. Note: If an incorrect bundle ID is provided, the upgrade will proceed with the VMware Cloud Foundation stock ISO and replace the custom VIBs in your environment with the stock VIBs.
targetEsxVersion	Version of the ESXi bundle you downloaded. You can retrieve the target ESXi version by navigating to the Lifecycle Management > Bundle Management page and clicking View Details to view the "Update to Version".
useVcfBundle	Specifies whether the VMware Cloud Foundation ESXi bundle is to be used for the upgrade. Note: If you want to upgrade with a custom ISO image, ensure that this is set to false.
domainId (optional, VCF 4.4.1.1 and later only)	ID of the specific workload domain for the custom ISO. Use the VMware Cloud Foundation API (GET /v1/domains) to get the IDs for your workload domains.
clusterId (optional, VCF 4.4.1.1 and later only)	ID of the specific cluster within a workload domain to apply the custom ISO. If you do not specify a clusterId, the custom ISO will be applied to all clusters in the workload domain. Use the VMware Cloud Foundation API (GET /v1/clusters) to get the IDs for your clusters.
customIsoAbsolutePath	Path to the custom ISO file on the SDDC Manager appliance. For example, /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0.update01-17325551.x86_64-DellEMC_Customized-A01.iso

Here is an example of a completed JSON template.

{
"esxCustomImageSpecList": [{
"bundleId": "8c0de63d-b522-4db8-be6c-f1e0ab7ef554",
"targetEsxVersion": "6.7.0-10302608",
"useVcfBundle": false,
"customIsoAbsolutePath":
"/nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0.update01-17325551.x86_64-DellEMC_Customized-A01.iso"
}]
}

Here is an example of a completed JSON template with multiple ISOs using a single workload domain and specified clusters (VCF 4.4.1.1 and later only).

{
    "esxCustomImageSpecList": [
        {
            "bundleId": "aa7b16b1-d719-44b7-9ced-51bb02ca84f4",
            "targetEsxVersion": "7.0.1-18150133",
            "useVcfBundle": false,
            "domainId": "1b7b16b1-d719-44b7-9ced-51bb02ca84b2",
            "clusterId": "c37b16b1-d719-44b7-9ced-51bb02ca84f4",
            "customIsoAbsolutePath": "/nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2-17867351-DELL.zip"
        },
        {
            "bundleId": "aa7b16b1-d719-44b7-9ced-51bb02ca84f4",
            "targetEsxVersion": "7.0.1-18150133",
            "useVcfBundle": false,
            "domainId": "1b7b16b1-d719-44b7-9ced-51bb02ca84b2",
            "customIsoAbsolutePath": "/nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-binaries/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2-17867351-HP.zip"
        }
    ]
}

Save the JSON file as esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json in the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount.

Note: If the JSON file is not saved in the correct directory, the stock VMware Cloud Foundation ISO is used for the upgrade and the custom VIBs are overwritten.
Set the correct permissions on the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json file:

chmod -R 775 /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json

chown -R vcf_lcm:vcf /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json
Open the /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-app/conf/application-prod.properties file.
In the lcm.esx.upgrade.custom.image.spec= parameter, add the path to the JSON file.
For example, lcm.esx.upgrade.custom.image.spec=/nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json
In the navigation pane, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
On the Workload Domains page, click the domain you are upgrading and then click the Updates/Patches tab.
Schedule the ESXi upgrade bundle.
Monitor the upgrade progress. See Monitor VMware Cloud Foundation Updates.
After the upgrade is complete, confirm the ESXi version by clicking Current Versions. The ESXi hosts table displays the current ESXi version.

Upgrade ESXi with VMware Cloud Foundation Stock ISO and Async Drivers

For clusters in workload domains with vLCM baselines, you can apply the stock ESXi upgrade bundle with specified async drivers.

Prerequisites

Download the appropriate async drivers for your hardware on a computer with internet access.

Procedure

Download the VMware Cloud Foundation ESXi upgrade bundle. See Download Bundles Using SDDC Manager.
Using SSH, log in to the SDDC Manager appliance.
Create a directory for the vendor provided async drivers under the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount directory. For example, /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-drivers/drivers.
Copy the async drivers to the directory you created on the SDDC Manager appliance. For example, you can copy the drivers to the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-drivers/drivers directory.
Change permissions on the directory where you copied the drivers. For example,
chmod -R 775 /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-drivers/drivers
Change owner to vcf.
chown -R vcf_lcm:vcf /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-drivers/drivers

Create an ESX custom image JSON using the following template.

{
"esxCustomImageSpecList": [{
"bundleId": "bundle ID of the ESXI bundle you downloaded",
"targetEsxVersion": "ESXi version for the target VMware Cloud Foundation version",
"useVcfBundle": true,
"esxPatchesAbsolutePaths": ["Path_to_Drivers"]
}]
}

where


Parameter	Description and Example Value
bundleId	ID of the ESXi upgrade bundle you downloaded. You can retrieve the bundle ID by navigating to the Lifecycle Management > Bundle Management page and clicking View Details to view the bundle ID. For example, 8c0de63d-b522-4db8-be6c-f1e0ab7ef554.
targetEsxVersion	Version of the ESXi upgrade bundle you downloaded. You can retrieve the ESXi target version by navigating to the Lifecycle Management > Bundle Management page and clicking View Details to view the "Update to Version".
useVcfBundle	Specifies whether the ESXi bundle is to be used for the upgrade. Set this to true.
esxPatchesAbsolutePaths	Path to the async drivers on the SDDC Manager appliance. For example, /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-drivers/drivers/VMW-ESX-6.7.0-smartpqi-1.0.2.1038-offline_bundle-8984687.zip

Here is an example of a completed JSON template.

{
"esxCustomImageSpecList": [{
"bundleId": "411bea6a-b26c-4a15-9443-03f453c68752-apTool",
"targetEsxVersion": "7.0.3-21053776",
"useVcfBundle": true,
"esxPatchesAbsolutePaths": ["/nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-upgrade-partner-drivers/drivers/HPE-703.0.0.10.9.5.14-Aug2022-Synergy-Addon-depot.zip"]
}]
}

Save the JSON file as esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json in the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount.

Note: If the JSON file is not saved in the correct directory, the stock VMware Cloud Foundation ISO is used for the upgrade and the custom VIBs are overwritten.
Set the correct permissions on the /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json file:

chmod -R 775 /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json

chown -R vcf_lcm:vcf /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json
Open the /opt/vmware/vcf/lcm/lcm-app/conf/application-prod.properties file.
In the lcm.esx.upgrade.custom.image.spec= parameter, add the path to the JSON file.
For example, lcm.esx.upgrade.custom.image.spec=/nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/esx-custom-image-upgrade-spec.json
In the navigation pane, click Inventory > Workload Domains.
On the Workload Domain page, click the management domain.
On the Domain Summary page, click the Updates/Patches tab.
In the Available Updates section, click Update Now or Schedule Update next to the VMware Software Update bundle for VMware ESXi.
Monitor the upgrade progress. See Monitor VMware Cloud Foundation Updates.
After the upgrade is complete, confirm the ESXi version by clicking Current Versions. The ESXi hosts table displays the current ESXi version.

Upgrade ESXi with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images for VMware Cloud Foundation

VI workload domains can use vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines or vSphere Lifecycle Manager images for ESXi host upgrade. The following procedure describes upgrading ESXi hosts in workload domains that use vSphere Lifecycle Manager images.

For information about upgrading ESXi in workload domains that use vSphere Lifecycle Manager baselines, see Upgrade ESXi with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baselines for VMware Cloud Foundation.

You create a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image for upgrading ESXi hosts using the vSphere Client. During the creation of the image, you define the ESXi version and can optionally add vendor add-ons, components, and firmware. After you extract the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image into SDDC Manager, the ESXi update will be available for the relevant VI workload domains.

Prerequisites

Validate that the ESXi passwords are valid.
Ensure that the domain for which you want to perform cluster-level upgrade does not have any hosts or clusters in an error state. Resolve the error state or remove the hosts and clusters with errors before proceeding.
You must upgrade NSX and vCenter Server before you can upgrade ESXi hosts with a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
If you want to add firmware to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image, you must install the Hardware Support Manager from your vendor. See Firmware Updates.

Procedure

Create a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.

Right-click the management domain data center and select New Cluster.
Enter a name for the cluster (for example, ESXi image upgrade) and click Next.
Keep the deault settings for everything except the cluster name
Click Finish.
Click the Updates tab for the new cluster.
Click Hosts > Image > Setup Image.

Define the vSphere Lifecycle manager image.

Image Element	Description
ESXi Version	From the ESXi Version drop-down menu, select the ESXi version specified in the VMware Cloud Foundation BOM. If the ESXi version does not appear in the drop-down menu, see Synchronize the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot and Import Updates to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager Depot.
Vendor Add-On (optional)	To add a vendor add-on to the image, click Select and select a vendor add-on.
Firmware and Drivers Add-On (optional)	To add a firmware add-on to the image, click Select. In the Select Firmware and Drivers Addon dialog box, specify a hardware support manager and select a firmware add-on to add to the image. Selecting a firmware add-on for a family of vendor servers is possible only if the respective vendor-provided hardware support manager is registered as an extension to the vCenter Server where vSphere Lifecycle Manager runs.
Components	To add components to the image: Click Show details. Click Add Components. Select the components and their corresponding versions to add to the image.

Click Save.
Click Finish Image Setup.
Click Yes, Finish Image Setup.

Extract the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image into SDDC Manager.
1. In the SDDC Manager UI, click Lifecycle Management > Image Management .
2. Click Import Image.
3. In the Option 1 section, select the management domain from the drop-down menu.
4. In the Cluster drop-down, select the cluster from which you want to extract the vSphere Lifecycle manager image. For example, ESXi image upgrade.
5. Enter a name for the cluster image and click Extract Cluster Image.
You can view status in the Tasks panel.
Upgrade ESXi hosts with the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.
1. Navigate to the Updates/Patches tab of the VI workload domain.
2. In the Available Updates section, click Configure Update.
3. Click Next.
4. Select the clusters to upgrade and click Next.
  The default setting is to upgrade all clusters. To upgrade specific clusters, click Enable cluster-level selection and select the clusters to upgrade.
5. Select the cluster. the cluster image, and optionally the firmware and driver addons.
6. Click Apply Image.
7. Click Next.
8. Select the upgrade options and click Next.
  By default, the selected clusters are upgraded in parallel. If you selected more than five clusters to be upgraded, the first five are upgraded in parallel and the remaining clusters are upgraded sequentially. To upgrade all selected clusters sequentially, select Enable sequential cluster upgrade.
  
  Click Enable Quick Boot if desired. Quick Boot for ESXi hosts is an option that allows Update Manager to reduce the upgrade time by skipping the physical reboot of the host.
9. Click Finish.
  VMware Cloud Foundation runs a cluster image hardware compatibility and compliance check. Resolve any reported issues before proceeding.
10. Click Schedule Update and click Next.
11. Select Upgrade Now or Schedule Update and click Finish.

What to do next

Firmware Updates

You can use vSphere Lifecycle Manager images to perform firmware updates on the ESXi hosts in a cluster. Using a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image simplifies the host update operation. With a single operation, you update both the software and the firmware on the host.

To apply firmware updates to hosts in a cluster, you must deploy and configure a vendor provided software module called hardware support manager. The deployment method and the management of a hardware support manager is determined by the respective OEM. For example, the hardware support manager that Dell EMC provides is part of their host management solution, OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter (OMIVV), which you deploy as an appliance. See Deploying Hardware Support Managers.

You must deploy the hardware support manager appliance on a host with sufficient disk space. After you deploy the appliance, you must power on the appliance virtual machine, log in to the appliance as an administrator, and register the appliance as a vCenter Server extension. Each hardware support manager has its own mechanism of managing firmware packages and making firmware add-ons available for you to choose.

For detailed information about deploying, configuring, and managing hardware support managers, refer to the vendor-provided documentation.

Post Upgrade Steps for NFS-Based VI Workload Domains

After upgrading VI workload domains that use NFS storage, you must add a static route for hosts to access NFS storage over the NFS gateway. This process must be completed before expanding the workload domain.

Procedure

Identify the IP address of the NFS server for the VI workload domain.
Identify the network pool associated with the hosts in the cluster and the NFS gateway for the network pool.
1. Log in to SDDC Manager.
2. Click Inventory > Workload Domains and then click the VI workload domain.
3. Click the Clusters tab and then click an NFS-based cluster.
4. Click the Hosts tab and note down the network pool for the hosts.
5. Click the Info icon next to the network pool name and note down the NFS gateway.
Ensure that the NFS server is reachable from the NFS gateway. If a gateway does not exist, create it.
Identify the vmknic on each host in the cluster that is configured for NFS traffic.
Configure a static route on each host to reach the NFS server from the NFS gateway.
```
esxcli network ip route ipv4 add -g NFS-gateway-IP -n NFS-gateway
```
Verify that the new route is added to the host using the NFS vmknic.
```
esxcli network ip route ipv4 list
```
Ensure that the hosts in the NFS cluster can reach the NFS gateway through the NFS vmkernel.
For example:
```
vmkping -4 -I vmk2 -s 1470 -d -W 5 10.0.22.250
```
Repeat steps 2 through 7 for each cluster using NFS storage.