vCenter Server for Windows Requirements

To upgrade vCenter Server on a Windows virtual machine or physical server, your system must meet specific hardware and software requirements.

• Synchronize the clocks on all machines running the vCenter Server services. See Synchronizing Clocks on the vSphere Network.
• Verify that the system network name of the machines running vCenter Server services are valid, and are reachable from other machines in the network.
• Verify that the host name of the virtual machine or physical server on which you are upgrading vCenter Server complies with RFC 1123 guidelines.
• If your vCenter Server service is running in a user account other than the Local System account, verify that the user account in which the vCenter Server service is running has the following permissions:
  • Member of the Administrators group
  • Log on as a service
  • Act as part of the operating system (if the user is a domain user)
  Note: Starting with vSphere 6.5, the vCenter Server services run as child processes of the VMware Service Lifecycle Manager service.
• Verify that the local policy of the virtual machine or physical server on which you are upgrading vCenter Server allows assigning Log on as a batch job rights to new local users.
  Note: Starting with vSphere 6.5, some vCenter Server processes use separate local users that are automatically created and added to the local security policy Log on as a batch job. Such new local users are cm, content-library, eam, imagebuilder, mbcs, netdumper, perfcharts, rbd, vapiEndpoint, vmware-vpostgres, vsan-health, vsm, vsphere-client, and vsphere-ui.
• Verify that the LOCAL SERVICE account has read permission on the folder in which vCenter Server is installed and on the HKLM registry.
• Verify that the connection between the virtual machine or physical server and the domain controller is working.