This section describes the tasks required to perform an upgrade to VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.x.

VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Preparation

Review the VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Prerequisites before starting an upgrade.

Management Domain Upgrade

Table 1. SDDC Manager Upgrade

Task

Applies When

Additional Information

Apply the VMware Cloud Foundation Upgrade Bundle

  • The initial VMware Cloud Foundation version is

    • 4.5.x or 5.x

If the current version of VMware Cloud Foundation is 4.5.x or 5.x Upgrade SDDC Manager to 5.2.x.

Apply the VMware Cloud Foundation Configuration Updates

  • Once the SDDC Manager has been upgraded to 5.2.x the Configuration updates can be applied collectively.

Update Compatibility Data with the Bundle Transfer Utility

[Conditional] Required when using offline bundle download

Table 2. Upgrade VMware Aria Suite

Task

Additional Information

Upgrade VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle for VMware Cloud Foundation

[Conditional] If VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle is present

Upgrade VMware Aria Suite products for VMware Cloud Foundation

[Conditional] If VMware Aria Suite products are present

Table 3. Upgrade NSX With Federation

Task

Applies When

Additional Information

Upgrade NSX Global Managers to 4.2

When NSX is deployed in the workload domain with NSX Federation configured.

  • [Conditional] If NSX Federation is present

  • Upgrade NSX Global Managers to 4.2 using the Global Manager UI

  • Upgrade standby global manager, followed by active global manager

  • [Conditonal] for VI Workload Domain upgrades, If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade all NSX global managers in your estate now.

Upgrade to NSX 4.2

  • Upgrade NSX to 4.2 using SDDC Manager

  • [Optional] If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade NSX across all VI workload domains now.

  • NSX upgrades across VI workload domains can be completed in sequence or up to five in parallel.

Table 4. Upgrade NSX Without Federation

Task

Applies When

Additional Information

Upgrade to NSX 4.2

When NSX is deployed in the workload domain and is not using NSX Federation.
  • Upgrade NSX to 4.2 using SDDC Manager.

  • [Conditonal] for VI Workload Domain upgrades, If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade NSX across all VI workload domains now.

Table 5. Upgrade vCenter Server

Task

Additional Information

Upgrade vCenter Server for VMware Cloud Foundation

  • [Conditional] When upgrading from VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.x.

    Requires a temporary IP address in the management subnet

  • [Conditional] When upgrading to VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.1 using vCenter Reduced Downtime Upgrade (RDU).

    Requires a temporary IP address in the management subnet

  • [Conditonal] for VI Workload Domain upgrades, If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade vCenter Servers that share a SSO Domain across all VI workload domains now in a serial order. Isolated Workload Domains can be upgraded in parallel

Table 6. Upgrade Management Domain vSphere clusters

Task

Additional Information

Upgrade vSAN Witness Host for VMware Cloud Foundation

[Conditional] If the vSphere cluster is a stretched vSAN cluster

Skip Hosts During vSphere clusters Update

[Conditional] If you need to skip hosts

Upgrade vSphere clusters with Custom ISOs

or

Upgrade vSphere clusters with VMware Cloud Foundation Stock ISO and Async Drivers

or

Upgrade vSphere clusters with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baselines for VMware Cloud Foundation

or

Upgrade vSphere clusters with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images for VMware Cloud Foundation

  • Choose an approach based on your requirements.

  • [Optional] If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade vSphere clusters across all VI workload domains now.

Table 7. Post Upgrade Tasks

Task

Additional Information

Update Licenses for a Workload Domain

[Conditional] If upgrading from a VMware Cloud Foundation version prior to 5.0

Update licenses for:

  • vSAN 8.x

  • vSphere 8.x

Apply Configuration Updates

[Conditional] If there are configuration updates required

Upgrade vSphere Distributed Switch versions

  • [Optional] The upgrade lets the distributed switch take advantage of features that are available only in the later versions.

Upgrade vSAN on-disk format versions

  • The upgrade lets the vSAN Cluster take advantage of features that are available only in the later versions.

  • The upgrade may cause temporary resynchronization traffic and use additional space by moving data or rebuilding object components to a new data structure.

  • These updates can be performed at a time that is most convenient for your organization..

VI Workload Domain Upgrade

Table 8. Upgrade Precheck

Task

Additional Information

Perform an upgrade precheck

Table 9. Upgrade NSX Without Federation

Task

Applies When

Additional Information

Upgrade to NSX 4.2

When NSX is deployed in the workload domain and is not using NSX Federation.
  • Upgrade NSX to 4.2 using SDDC Manager.

  • [Conditonal] for VI Workload Domain upgrades, If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade NSX across all VI workload domains now.

Table 10. Upgrade NSX With Federation

Task

Applies When

Additional Information

Upgrade NSX Global Managers to 4.2

When NSX is deployed in the workload domain with NSX Federation configured.

  • [Conditional] If NSX Federation is present

  • Upgrade NSX Global Managers to 4.2 using the Global Manager UI

  • Upgrade standby global manager, followed by active global manager

  • [Conditonal] for VI Workload Domain upgrades, If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade all NSX global managers in your estate now.

Upgrade to NSX 4.2

  • Upgrade NSX to 4.2 using SDDC Manager

  • [Optional] If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade NSX across all VI workload domains now.

  • NSX upgrades across VI workload domains can be completed in sequence or up to five in parallel.

Table 11. Upgrade vCenter Server

Task

Additional Information

Upgrade vCenter Server for VMware Cloud Foundation

  • [Conditional] When upgrading from VMware Cloud Foundation 4.5.x.

    Requires a temporary IP address in the management subnet

  • [Conditional] When upgrading to VMware Cloud Foundation 5.2.1 using vCenter Reduced Downtime Upgrade (RDU).

    Requires a temporary IP address in the management subnet

  • [Conditonal] for VI Workload Domain upgrades, If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade vCenter Servers that share a SSO Domain across all VI workload domains now in a serial order. Isolated Workload Domains can be upgraded in parallel

Table 12. Upgrade VI Workload Domain vSphere clusters

Task

Additional Information

Upgrade vSAN Witness Host for VMware Cloud Foundation

[Conditional] If the vSphere cluster is a stretched vSAN cluster

Skip Hosts During vSphere clusters Update

[Conditional] If you need to skip hosts

Upgrade vSphere clusters with Custom ISOs

or

Upgrade vSphere clusters with VMware Cloud Foundation Stock ISO and Async Drivers

or

Upgrade vSphere clusters with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Baselines for VMware Cloud Foundation

or

Upgrade ESXi with vSphere Lifecycle Manager Images for VMware Cloud Foundation

  • Choose an approach based on your requirements

  • [Optional] If you are upgrading by component rather than by workload domain, upgrade vSphere clusters across all VI workload domains now.

Post Upgrade Steps for NFS-Based VI Workload Domains

Table 13. Post Upgrade Tasks

Task

Additional Information

Update Licenses for a Workload Domain

[Conditional] If upgrading from a VMware Cloud Foundation version prior to 5.0

Update licenses for:

  • vSAN 8.x

  • vSphere 8.x

Apply Configuration Updates

[Conditional] If there are configuration updates required

Upgrade vSphere Distributed Switch versions

  • [Optional] The upgrade lets the distributed switch take advantage of features that are available only in the later versions.

Upgrade vSAN on-disk format versions

  • The upgrade lets the vSAN Cluster take advantage of features that are available only in the later versions.

  • The upgrade may cause temporary resynchronization traffic and use additional space by moving data or rebuilding object components to a new data structure.

  • These updates can be performed at a time that is most convenient for your organization..