You upgrade a vCenter Server instance with an embedded Platform Services Controller in one step. When you upgrade a vCenter Server with an external Platform Services Controller on Windows, you upgrade the instance in two steps.

  1. First you upgrade the Platform Services Controller instance to version 6.5.For upgrade steps, see Upgrade vCenter Platform Services Controller 6.0 on Windows.

  2. Next you upgrade the vCenter Server instance to version 6.5. For upgrade steps, see Upgrade vCenter Server 6.0 on Windows.

Figure 1. vCenter Server 6.0.x with Embedded Platform Services Controller Deployment Before and After Ugrade

vCenter Server 6.0 on Windows with embedded Platform Services Controller before and after upgrade to vCenter Server 6.5 with embedded Plaform Services Controller 6.5

Figure 2. vCenter Server 6.0.x with External Platform Services Controller Before and After Upgrade

vCenter Server 6.0 on Windows with external Platform Services Controller before and after upgrading to vCenter Server 6.5 with external Plaform Services Controller 6.5

Upgrade Order

When upgrading multiple instances of vCenter Server, upgrade order matters: you upgrade all Platform Services Controller instances before upgrading vCenter Server instances. See Upgrade or Migration Order and Mixed-Version Transitional Behavior for Multiple vCenter Server Instance Deployments.

Concurrent upgrades of Platform Services Controller instances are not supported. When upgrading multiple instances of vCenter Server that share the same vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller, you can upgrade the vCenter Server instances concurrently after first upgrading the vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller.

Mixed Platform Upgrades

When upgrading vCenter Server instances on Windows in a mixed platform environment with a Platform Services Controller 6.0 appliance, you upgrade the Platform Services Controller appliance to version 6.5 before upgrading the vCenter Server instances. For Platform Services Controller 6.0 appliance upgrade steps, see Upgrade a Platform Services Controller Appliance 6.0 by Using the GUI.

When upgrading vCenter Server Appliance instances in a mixed platform environment with a Platform Services Controller instance on Windows, you upgrade the Platform Services Controller instance before upgrading the vCenter Server Appliance instances to version 6.5. For vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 upgrade steps, see Upgrade a vCenter Server Appliance 5.5 or 6.0 with an External vCenter Single Sign-On or Platform Services Controller Instance by Using the GUI.