The Update Manager installation requires a connection with a single vCenter Server instance. You can install Update Manager on the same computer on which vCenter Server is installed or on a different computer.

Starting with vSphere 6.7 Update 3m, after you install the Update Manager server component on a Windows machine, the Update Manager client interface becomes automatically enabled in the vSphere Client. In earlier releases, if you use Update Manager server that runs on Windows, you can see the Update Manager client component only in the vSphere Web Client. However, after the deprecation of the Adobe Flash Player, using the Flash-based vSphere Web Client is not recommended. For detailed information about the Adobe Flash Player End of Life (EOL) and its impact on different VMware products, see the VMware knowledge base article at https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/78589.

Prerequisites

  • See installation prerequisites in Prerequisites for Installing the Update Manager Server on Windows.
  • Check the compatibility and interoperability of the vCenter Server server with VMware Site Recovery Manager®. Use caution when connecting the Update Manager server to a vCenter Server instance to which the Site Recovery Manager server is also connected. Connecting the Update Manager server to the same vCenter Server instance as Site Recovery Manager might cause problems when you upgrade the Site Recovery Manager or the vCenter Server, or when you perform daily operations.
  • Update Manager installation requires installation of the Microsoft .NET framework 4.7. Consider the following before proceeding with the installation.
    • Installing Microsoft .NET framework 4.7 is not supported on Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 64-bit.
    • Installing Microsoft .NET framework 4.7 might require you to install some additional Windows updates. Relevant links to the Windows updates are provided during the Microsoft .NET framework 4.7.
    • Installing Microsoft .NET framework 4.7 might require you to reboot your host operating system.
    • If you plan to install Update Manager server on the same Windows machine where vCenter Server runs (typical installation), the vCenter Server service might temporarily disconnect if the a reboot is invoked on the system by the .NET Microsoft .NET framework 4.7 installation.
    • After installing or upgrading the Microsoft .NET framework 4.7, follow the prompts of the Update Manager server or the UMDS installation wizards.

Procedure

  1. Mount the ISO image of the vCenter Server installer to the Windows virtual machine or physical server on which you want to install the Update Manager server.
  2. In the mounted directory, double-click the autorun.exe file of the VMware vCenter Installer, and select vSphere Update Manager > Server.
  3. (Optional) Select the option to Use Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express as the embedded database, and click Install.
    Note: Skip this step only if you plan to use another supported Oracle or SQL Server database.
    If the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express is not present on your system from previous Update Manager installations, the installation wizard for the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express opens.
  4. Select the option to install the Microsoft .NET framework 4.7.
    Note: If you do not select to install Microsoft .NET framework 4.7, the Update Manager server installation will fail with an error message.
  5. On the VMware vCenter Installer, click Install.
    The VMware vCenter Installer wizard remains open, and a language selection dialog box opens.
  6. Select the language for the vSphere Update Manager installer, and click OK.
  7. Depending on the database selection you made in the VMware vCenter Installer, perform one of the following steps:
    • If you selected to use embedded Microsoft SQL Server 2012, wait for the installation process of the Microsoft .NET framework 4.7 and the Microsoft SQL Server 2012 to complete, and from the VMware vCenter Installer, click Install again.

      The VMware vSphere Update Manager installer opens.

    • If you are using another supported database and did not select to use the embedded Microsoft SQL Server 2012, the VMware vSphere Update Manager installer opens, and you can proceed with next steps.
  8. Review the Welcome page and click Next.
  9. Read and accept the license agreement, and click Next.
  10. Review the support information, select whether to download updates from the default download sources immediately after installation, and click Next.
    If you deselect Download updates from default sources immediately after installation, Update Manager downloads updates once daily according to the default download schedule or immediately after you click the Download Now button on the Download Settings page. You can modify the default download schedule after the installation is complete.
  11. Type the vCenter Server IP address or name, HTTP port, and the administrative account that the Update Manager server will use to connect to the vCenter Server system, and click Next.

    You can not provide an IP address to a vCenter Server Appliance. Update Manager server is fully integrated with the vCenter Server Appliance, and the vCenter Server Appliance runs Update Manager as a service.

    The default administrative user account is [email protected].

  12. (Optional) Select the database, and click Next.
    If you selected to use the embedded Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Express database, the installation wizard skips this page.
    1. Use an existing supported database, by selecting your database from the list of DSNs. If the DSN does not use Windows NT authentication, enter the user name and password for the DSN and click Next.
    Important: The DSN must be a 64-bit DSN.
  13. (Optional) Select the database options.
    • If the system DSN you specify points to an existing Update Manager database with the current schema, you can either retain your existing database or replace it with an empty one.
    • If the system DSN you specify points to an existing Update Manager database with a different schema, on the Database Upgrade page, select Yes, I want to upgrade my Update Manager database and I have taken a backup of the existing Update Manager database, and click Next.
  14. From the drop-down menu, select the IP address or the host name of your Update Manager instance.
    If the computer on which you install Update Manager has one NIC, the Update Manager installer automatically detects the IP address. If the computer has multiple NICs, you must select the correct IP address or use a DNS name. The DNS name must be resolved from all hosts that this Update Manager instance will manage.
  15. Specify the Update Manager port settings, select whether you want to configure the proxy settings, and click Next.
    Note: Use caution when you specify the Update Manager port settings, as you cannot modify them after installation.

    For the SOAP port, you have no limitations to the range of ports used, unless there are conflicts.

    For the Server port, you can use the following range: 80, 9000-9100. Update Manager automatically opens ESXi firewall ports in this range to allow outbound HTTP traffic to the patch store.

  16. (Optional) Provide information about the proxy server, the port, and whether the proxy should be authenticated, and click Next.
  17. Select the Update Manager installation and patch download directories, and click Next.
    If you do not want to use the default locations, you can click Change to browse to a different directory.
  18. (Optional) In the warning message about the disk free space, click OK.
    This message appears when you try to install Update Manager on a computer that has less than 120 GB free space.
  19. Click Install to begin the Update Manager server installation.
  20. Click Finish to close the Update Manager installation wizard.

Results

The Update Manager server component is installed. The Update Manager client interface is automatically enabled in the vSphere Web Client.

Note: When you use an Update Manager server instance that runs on Windows, you can use Update Manager only with the vSphere Web Client. If you use the vSphere Client to connect to the vCenter Server instance to which the Update Manager server that runs on Windows is registered, you do not see any Update Manager interface.