vCenter Server 6.7 does not support host profiles with version earlier than 6.0. Use the present workflow to upgrade your vCenter Server and Host Profiles to version 6.0 or later.

Prerequisites

  • Your cluster contains ESXi 5.1 or ESXi 5.5 hosts.
  • Your vCenter Server is version 6.0 or 6.5.
  • A host profile with version 5.1 or 5.5 is attached to the cluster.
    Note: Use the PowerCLI commands to fetch the list of host profiles with version less than 6.0 in the vCenter Server inventory: Get-VMHostProfile | % { $_.ExtensionData.Config.ApplyProfile.ProfileVersion +"`t"+ $_.Name }

    Or

    Get-VMHostProfile | ? { $_.ExtensionData.Config.ApplyProfile.ProfileVersion -like "5*" }
    Note: List of unsupported host profiles with version less than 6.0 in the installer log can be found at: /var/log/vmware/upgrade/vcdb_req.err when upgrade fails at pre-check.

Procedure

  1. Leave one ESXi host with version 5.1 or 5.5 and upgrade the rest of the ESXi hosts in the cluster to the same version as your vCenter Server.
    When a reference host with version 5.1 or 5.5 is present, you can edit a host profile with the same version.
  2. If the ESXi hosts have been added to the Active Directory domain before the upgrade, edit the host profile with version 5.1 or 5.5 and disable the Active Directory profile.
  3. Apply the host profile to the cluster.
    The host profile gets applied to all the hosts in the cluster, including to the host with version 5.1 or 5.5.
  4. (Optional) Join one of the upgraded hosts to the Active Directory domain.
    If you encounter objectNotFound error:
    1. Right-click on the host and disconnect it.
    2. Reconnect the host to the vCenter Server and join the host to the Active Directory domain.
    The Active Directory settings configured in the ESXi host before the upgrade are not retained when the host is upgraded to vCenter Server 6.0. The host is no longer joined to the domain. After the upgrade, you have to rejoin the hosts to the Active Directory domain.
  5. Extract a new host profile from one of the upgraded hosts.
    Note: If any of the upgraded hosts is part of the Active Directory domain, extract a new host profile from it.
  6. Upgrade the ESXi host with version 5.1 or 5.5 to the same version as your vCenter Server.
  7. Attach the newly extracted host profile to the cluster.
    There might be a change in the host profiles behavior and policy options. For more information, see Host Profiles Upgrade Workflows.
    The host customization data auto-populates (except for security-related options).
  8. Remediate the cluster with the attached host profile.
  9. Remove all host profiles with version 5.1 or 6.0 from the vCenter Server inventory.
  10. (Optional) If hosts are part of Distributed Virtual Switch (DVS) with version 5.1 or 6.0, upgrade the DVS to the same version as your vCenter Server.

What to do next

Proceed with upgrading the vCenter Server to version 6.7. For more information, see Recommended Host Profiles Upgrade Workflows.