Upgrade vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 on Windows

You can upgrade an externally deployed vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 to an externally deployed Platform Services Controller 6.5 instance by using the vCenter Server for Windows installer.

Figure 1. vCenter Server 5.5 with External vCenter Single Sign-On Before and After Upgrade

If you are upgrading an externally deployed vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 to an externally deployed Platform Services Controller in a mixed version environment, any vCenter Server 5.5 instances continue to operate with the upgraded Platform Services Controller exactly as they did with the vCenter Single Sign-On without any problems or required actions. For information on vCenter Server behavior in mixed version environments, see Upgrade or Migration Order and Mixed-Version Transitional Behavior for Multiple vCenter Server Instance Deployments.

Prerequisites

• Your current vCenter Single Sign-On must have been installed on a separate virtual machine (VM) or physical server from your vCenter Server instance.
• Verify your configuration meets the upgrade requirements, see vCenter Server for Windows Requirements.
• Complete the preparation to upgrade tasks. See Before Upgrading vCenter Server
• Verify that you have made a backup of your vCenter Server configuration and database.
• To verify that the VMware Directory Service is in a stable state and can stop, manually restart it. The VMware Directory service must stopped for the vCenter Server upgrade software to uninstall vCenter Single Sign-On during the upgrade process.
• Download the vCenter Server Installer. See Download the vCenter Server Installer for Windows

Procedure

1. Download the vCenter Server for Windows ISO file. Extract the ISO file locally, or mount the ISO file as a drive.
2. In the software installer, double-click the autorun.exe file to start the upgrade.
3. Select vCenter Server for Windows and click Install.
   The software runs checks in the background to discover your existing vCenter Single Sign-On settings and notify you of any problems that can affect your upgrade process.
   The vCenter Server installer opens to the Welcome page.
4. Verify the detected information and upgrade path.
   If you see a dialog box identifying missing requirements instead of a Welcome screen, follow the instructions in the dialog box.
5. Review the Welcome page and accept the license agreement.
6. Enter the credentials for the [email protected].
   The installer runs pre-upgrade checks in the background to detect any issues that can cause the upgrade to fail. You might receive a warning if the old certificates do not meet current VMware security standards.
7. Configure the ports and click Next.
   Verify that ports 80 and 443 are free and dedicated, so that vCenter Single Sign-On can use these ports.
   The installer checks the availability of the selected ports and displays an error message if a selected port cannot be used.
8. Configure the install, data, and export directories and click Next.
   The installer runs disk space and permission checks for the selected directories and displays an error message if the selected directories do not meet the requirements.
9. Review the VMware Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page and choose if you want to join the program.
   For information about the CEIP, see the Configuring Customer Experience Improvement Program section in vCenter Server and Host Management.
10. Verify that the Summary page settings are correct. Verify that you have made a backup of your system and click Upgrade.
    A progress indicator displays as the installer starts the upgrade process.
11. Before clicking Finish, note the post upgrade steps.
12. Click Finish to complete the upgrade.

What to do next

Verify that your Platform Services Controller instance has upgraded successfully. For verification steps, see Verify Your vCenter Server Appliance Upgrade or Migration Is Successful.

For the upgraded Platform Services Controller instance to replicate infrastructure data with other Platform Services Controller instances, you must migrate or upgrade all joined Platform Services Controller instances within the vCenter Single Sign-On domain to the same version. For information on migrating vCenter Single Sign-On 5.5 instances on Windows to an appliance, see GUI Migration of vCenter Server with an External vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to an Appliance or CLI Migration of a vCenter Server Installation from Windows to an Appliance.

After you migrate or upgrade all joined Platform Services Controller instances, you can migrate or upgrade the vCenter Server instances within the vCenter Single Sign-On domain. For information on upgrading vCenter Server instances on Windows, see Upgrade vCenter Server 5.5 on Windows. For information on migrating vCenter Server instances to appliances, see GUI Migration of vCenter Server with an External vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller to an Appliance or CLI Migration of a vCenter Server Installation from Windows to an Appliance.