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 Bundle Transfer Utility and 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 does not have a connection to the internet, you can run the Async Patch Tool from a computer that does. Download the upgrade bundles to the computer, copy the bundles to the SDDC Manager appliance, and enable the upgrade using the Async Patch Tool. You can then use the SDDC Manager UI to upgrade VMware Cloud Foundation.

Prerequisites

  • A Windows or Linux computer with internet connectivity (either directly or through a proxy server) for downloading the bundles.
  • The computer must have Java 8 or Java 11.
  • A Windows or Linux computer with access to the SDDC Manager appliance for uploading the bundles.
  • 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. Download upgrade bundles.
    1. On the computer with internet access, navigate to vcf-async-patch-tool-<version>/bin.
    2. Run the following command:
      Linux VMware Cloud Foundation: 
      ./vcf-async-patch-tool --download --targetVcfVersion targetVcfVersion --sourceVcfVersion sourceVcfVersion --sku VCF --depotUser broadcom_support_email
      Linux VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail: 
      ./vcf-async-patch-tool --download --targetVcfVersion targetVcfVersion --sourceVcfVersion sourceVcfVersion --sku VCF_ON_VXRAIL --depotUser broadcom_support_email --pdu dell_emc_depot_email
      Windows VMware Cloud Foundation: 
      vcf-async-patch-tool.bat --download --targetVcfVersion targetVcfVersion --sourceVcfVersion sourceVcfVersion --sku VCF --depotUser broadcom_support_email
      Windows VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail: 
      vcf-async-patch-tool.bat --download --targetVcfVersion targetVcfVersion --sourceVcfVersion sourceVcfVersion --sku VCF_ON_VXRAIL --depotUser broadcom_support_email --pdu dell_emc_depot_email
      • Replace targetVcfVersion with the target version of VMware Cloud Foundation. For example: 4.4.0.0.
      • Replace sourceVcfVersion with the source version of VMware Cloud Foundation. For example: 4.3.1.0.
      • 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)
      • --outputDirectory is optional and can be used to specify a location for the download. Choose a directory that has enough free space for the bundles. If you do not specify a location, the Async Patch Tool displays the default location in its output. For example: /root/apToolBundles.
      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.
    3. Enter Y to confirm that you are running the latest version of the Async Patch Tool.
    4. Enter your Broadcom Support portal password.
    5. If the product type is VX_MANAGER, enter your Dell EMC Depot user name password. (VxRail only)
    6. Enter Y or N to choose whether or not to download vRealize bundles.
    The Async Patch Tool determines which bundles are required and downloads the bundles .
  2. Copy the upgrade bundles and set permissions.
    1. Copy the entire output directory (for example, apToolBundles) to the SDDC Manager appliance.
      You can choose any location that has enough free space available, for example, /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/apToolBundles.
    2. SSH in to the SDDC Manager appliance using the vcf user account.
    3. Navigate to /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/apToolBundles.
      If you copied the output directory to a different location, navigate to that directory instead.
    4. Run the following commands: 
      chmod -R 755 apToolBundles
      chown -R vcf:vcf apToolBundles
  3. Enable the upgrade.
    1. Navigate to /home/vcf/asyncPatchTool/bin.
    2. Run the following command: 
      ./vcf-async-patch-tool --enableVCFUpgrade targetVcfVersion --sddcSSOUser ssoUsername --sddcSSHUser vcf --outputDirectory bundleDirectory --it OFFLINE
      • Replace targetVcfVersion with the target version of VMware Cloud Foundation. For example: 4.4.0.0.
      • Replace ssoUsername with the management domain SSO user account, for example [email protected].
      • Replace bundleDirectory with the location of the bundle directory from step 2. For example, /nfs/vmware/vcf/nfs-mount/apToolBundles.
    3. Enter Y to confirm that you are running the latest version of the Async Patch Tool.
    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.
    The Async Patch Tool uploads the upgrade bundles 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.