After you apply an async patch, and one or more of the VMware Cloud Foundation component versions deviates from the BOM, you may have to use the Async Patch Tool to enable an upgrade to a later version of VMware Cloud Foundation.

After you apply an async patch, and one or more of the VMware Cloud Foundation component versions deviates from the BOM, the process for upgrading to a later version of VMware Cloud Foundation depends on the target version of VMware Cloud Foundation.
Target Version Upgrade Process
VMware Cloud Foundation 4.y

You must use the Async Patch Tool to enable an upgrade to a later version of VMware Cloud Foundation.

For example, if you apply a 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 4.4.

The following procedure describes this process.
VMware Cloud Foundation 5.0

Upgrades to 5.0 are automatically enabled and you can upgrade using the SDDC Manager UI.

This process is described in the VMware Cloud Foundation Lifecycle Management Guide.

Note: You should still use the Async Patch Tool to deactivate all async patches and run an inventory sync before upgrading to VMware Cloud Foundation 5.0. See VCF Async Patch Tool Options for more information.
If your SDDC Manager appliance has a connection to the internet (either directly or through a proxy server), you can run the Async Patch Tool from the SDDC Manager appliance to download and enable upgrade bundles. Once the bundles are successfully enabled, you can use the SDDC Manager UI to upgrade VMware Cloud Foundation.

If you configured a connection to the VMware Depot in the SDDC Manager UI (Administration > Repository Settings), then the upgrade bundles get downloaded automatically. However, you cannot apply the bundles to a workload domain until use this procedure to enable the upgrade.

Prerequisites

  • Refer to KB 88287 to ensure that the target version of VMware Cloud Foundation is supported for upgrade. Contact Broadcom Support if you have questions about support for your upgrade path.
  • You must have the latest version of the Async Patch Tool.
    Note: If an existing or older version of the Async Patch Tool exists in the directory, you will need to remove these files from both the Linux or Windows computer and the SDDC manager before downloading the latest version of the Async Patch Tool.

    rm -r <AP Tool directory>

    rm -r <outputdirectory>

    The default directory is /home/vcf/apToolBundles if outputDirectory was not specified when the Async Patch Tool was previously run.

  • Configure TCP keepalive in your SSH client to prevent socket connection timeouts when using the Async Patch Tool for long-running operations.
  • The Async Patch Tool is supported with VMware Cloud Foundation 4.2.1 and later. This release also supports ESXi and VxRail Manager patching of VMware Cloud Foundation on VxRail.
  • You are upgrading from VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x to VMware Cloud Foundation 4.y.
    Note: This procedure is not required if you are upgrading from VMware Cloud Foundation 4.x to VMware Cloud Foundation 5.0.

Procedure

  1. SSH in to the SDDC Manager appliance using the vcf user account.
  2. Navigate to /home/vcf/asyncPatchTool/bin.
  3. Enable the upgrade.
    1. Run the following command:
      VMware Cloud Foundation: 
      ./vcf-async-patch-tool --enableVCFUpgrade targetVcfVersion --du broadcom_support_email --sddcSSOUser ssoUsername --sddcSSHUser vcf --it ONLINE
      VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail: 
      ./vcf-async-patch-tool --enableVCFUpgrade targetVcfVersion --du broadcom_support_email --pdu dell_emc_depot_email --sddcSSOUser ssoUsername --sddcSSHUser vcf --it ONLINE
      • Replace targetVcfVersion with the target version of VMware Cloud Foundation. For example: 4.4.0.0.
      • Replace broadcom_support_email with your Broadcom Support portal email address.
      • Replace dell_emc_depot_email with your Dell EMC depot email address. (VxRail only)
      • Replace ssoUsername with the management domain SSO user account, for example, [email protected].
      • --outputDirectory is optional and can be used to specify a location for the bundle download. If you do not specify a location, the Async Patch Tool download to the default location, /root/apToolBundles.
        Note: Ensure that the output directory has enough free space for the bundles.
        Note: If you connect to the internet through a proxy server, use the --proxyServer, --ps option to specify the FQDN and port of the proxy server. For example, --proxyServer FQDN:port.
    2. Enter Y to confirm that you are running the latest version of the Async Patch Tool.
    3. Enter Y or N to choose whether or not to participate in the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).
    4. Read the information and enter Y to acknowledge the pre-requisites.
    5. Enter the password for the super user (vcf) account.
    6. Enter the password for the root user account.
    7. Enter the password for the management domain SSO user account.
    8. Enter your Broadcom Support portal password.
    9. If the product type is VX_MANAGER, enter your Dell EMC Depot user name and password. (VxRail only)
    10. Enter Y or N to choose whether or not to download vRealize bundles.
    The Async Patch Tool determines which bundles are required, downloads the bundles, and uploads them to the internal LCM repository on the SDDC Manager appliance.
  4. Log in to the SDDC Manager UI and apply the bundles to all workload domains.