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, and Management plane.

The upgrade coordinator guides you through the proper upgrade sequence. You can track the upgrade process and if necessary you can pause and resume the upgrade process from the user interface.

The upgrade coordinator allows you to upgrade groups in a serial or parallel order. It also provides the option of upgrading the upgrade units within that group in a serial or parallel order.

NSX Manager nodes are upgraded sequentially due to the rolling upgrade feature so that two nodes are up all the time. You can push new configurations while the NSX Manager upgrade is in progress.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that the upgrade bundle is available. See Download the NSX Upgrade Bundle
  • For upgrade from NSX 3.2, or 3.2.0.1, ensure that the NSX services are running and retrieve the IP address of the orchestrator node:

    get service install-upgrade

    See Enabled on. Use this IP address throughout the upgrade process.

    To change the orchestrator node, log in to the node that you want to set as an orchestrator node and run set repository-ip.

    Note:
    • When upgrading from NSX 3.2, or 3.2.0.1, ensure that you do not use any type of Virtual IP address or the FQDN to upgrade NSX and avoid any configuration changes from any of the nodes.
    • If in an NSX Federation environment, you are upgrading a Local Manager from the Global Manager and you have changed the orchestrator node of the Local Manager, this change takes some time to appear on the Global Manager UI.

Procedure

  1. From your browser, log in as a local admin user to the NSX Manager at https://nsx-manager-ip-address/login.jsp?local=true
    • For upgrade from NSX 3.2, or 3.2.0.1, use the IP address of the orchestrator node.
    • For upgrade from NSX 3.2.1.x and later, log in as a local admin user to any one of the NSX manager nodes.
  2. Select System > Upgrade from the navigation panel.
  3. Click Upgrade.
  4. Click Browse to navigate to the location you downloaded the upgrade bundle .mub file.
  5. Click Upload.
    Upgrading the upgrade coordinator might take 10–20 minutes, depending on your network speed. If the network times out, reload the upgrade bundle.
    When the upload process finishes, the Prepare for Upgrade button appears.
  6. Click Prepare for Upgrade to upgrade the upgrade coordinator.
    Note: Do not initiate multiple simultaneous upgrade processes for the upgrade coordinator.

    The EULA appears.

  7. Read and accept the EULA terms.
  8. Accept the notification to upgrade the upgrade coordinator.
  9. (Optional) If a patch release becomes available after the upgrade coordinator is updated, upload the latest upgrade bundle and upgrade the upgrade coordinator.
  10. Click Run Pre-Checks to verify that all the NSX components are ready for upgrade.
    Note: You must run the pre-checks when you change or reset your upgrade plan, or upload a new upgrade bundle.
    This action checks for component connectivity, version compatibility, and component status among other environment readiness checks, for your current upgrade plan.
  11. (Optional) View the list of pre-checks that are performed with the API call GET https://<nsx-manager>/api/v1/upgrade/upgrade-checks-info.
  12. Acknowledge the issues as required and refresh your browser if needed.
  13. Resolve issues detected from the pre-check.
    1. In the Edges section, click the Pre Check Status issues to see the issue details.
      Important: If the allocated CPU cores or memory of the edge node is less than the standard edge node form factor, an alarm is generated to warn you. In this scenario, you must acknowledge this type of alarm to proceed with the edge upgrade which will result in the upgrade coordinator changing the edge CPU cores and memory to match the standard edge node form factor. After the upgrade, these type of alarms are cleared on the next edge transport node refresh action. For more details, see NSX Edge Node Upgrade Process by the Upgrade Coordinator.
    2. In the Hosts section, click the Pre Check Status issues to see the issue details.
      You might have to place some of the hosts in maintenance mode.
    3. In the NSX Manager section, click the Pre Check Status issues to see the issue details.
    You can click Download Pre-Check Results to download a CSV file with details about pre-check errors for each component and their status.
  14. (Optional) Click View Upgrade History and view information about previous NSX Manager upgrades.
    Note: If new NSX Manager nodes are added after the upgrade coordinator is upgraded, upload the upgrade bundle to the newly added nodes and upgrade the upgrade coordinator again.