VMware Cloud on AWS performs regular maintenance for your SDDC to keep it up-to-date with new features and capabilities.

The length of maintenance depends on many factors, including but not limited to:
  • The number of clusters in the SDDC. Up to 10 clusters can be upgraded concurrently.
  • The number of hosts in the SDDC
  • The amount of data in vCenter, ESXi hosts, and NSX databases
  • Time required to add and remove hosts. SDDCs used for VDI require additional time to update and remove hosts.
  • Time to execute multiple service actions such as backup, pre-update, and post-update actions.
  • Transient environmental or infrastructure conditions

The number of factors makes it difficult to provide a precise estimate of the maintenance time. However, the numbers given below are based on historical data and should give you a good idea of the duration of upcoming maintenance for your SDDC.

Phase 1: Control Plane Updates

This phase consists of management appliance backup, updates to the vCenter, and updates to NSX Edge.

You can expect this phase to take approximately 4 to 5 hours.

Phase 2: Host Updates

This phase consists of updates to the hosts and host networking software in the SDDC.

Use the table below to estimate the duration of Phase 2.

Process Time Comment
Backup 30 minutes Based on appliances' database size.
Add Host 30 minutes Hosts are added to clusters in parallel.
Update Host 45-60 minutes per host Clusters are updated in parallel. The duration for Phase 2 depends on the number of hosts in the largest cluster.
Remove Host 60 minutes Hosts are removed from clusters in parallel.

Clusters are upgraded in parallel up to ten clusters at a time. If you have ten or fewer clusters, the overall upgrade time is determined by the largest cluster in the SDDC. If you have more than ten clusters, each additional cluster begins upgrading as soon as one of the initial ten clusters completes. In this case, the overall upgrade time is determined by the time required for the largest cluster of the initial ten, plus any additional time required to complete subsequent clusters that started after one of the first ten completed.

Phase 3: NSX Appliance Updates

This phase consists of management appliance backups and updates to the NSX Appliance(s). You can expect this phase to take approximately 3 to 4 hours.