VMware provides supported paths for migrating Update Manager from a Windows operating system to a vCenter Server 6.7 instance.

For vSphere 6.0 and earlier releases, 64-bit Windows operating systems are the only supported host operating systems for Update Manager.

In vSphere 6.5, you can install Update Manager on a 64-bit Windows operating system, but Update Manager is also provided as an optional service in the vCenter Server appliance.

You can migrate Update Manager from the following vCenter Server deployments.

Table 1. Supported Migration Paths for Update Manager That Runs on Windows to the vCenter Server Appliance
Source Configuration Target Configuration
vCenter Server and Update Manager run on the same Windows machine vCenter Server 6.7 bundled with Update Manager
vCenter Server and Update Manager run on different Windows machines vCenter Server 6.7 bundled withUpdate Manager
Update Manager runs on a Windows machine and is connected to a vCenter Server appliance vCenter Server 6.7 bundled with Update Manager

You can use a GUI method or a CLI method to upgrade or migrate your vCenter Server deployment that uses an external Update Manager instance. If you use the GUI method, you must perform manual steps on the Update Manager Windows system. If you use the CLI method, you must add configuration parameters about Update Manager in your JSON template.

For detailed information about the GUI method or the CLI upgrade or migration configuration parameters, see the vCenter Server Upgrade documentation.

Important: Verify that the Update Manager source machine does not run additional extensions connected to vCenter Server systems that are not part of your migration.

Before the migration, Update Manager might use any of the supported Microsoft SQL Server databases, Oracle, or the Embedded database solution. After the migration to the vCenter Server appliance, Update Manager starts using the same PostgreSQL database that the appliance uses.

After the migration, you can shut down the Update Manager machine or keep it for rollback purposes.