Order of Upgrading vSphere and vSphere Replication Components

There are alternative strategies for the upgrade of vSphere Replication sites.

You can upgrade all components of one of your sites before upgrading all components on the other site. It is best practice to upgrade the vSphere Replication components before the Platform Services Controller and the vCenter Server components.

An alternative strategy is to upgrade the vSphere Replication components on both sites before upgrading the Platform Services Controller appliances and vCenter Server components.

Note: To avoid replication failures, you must restart the HMS service after you upgrade the vCenter Server components.

You can upgrade the ESXi hosts at any time.

Upgrading vSphere Replication by Sites

By upgrading the protected site first, you can perform a disaster recovery on the recovery site if you encounter problems during the upgrade that render the protected site unusable.

Note: To upgrade VMware Tools, you must upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance.

1. Upgrade any additional vSphere Replication server deployments on the protected site.
2. Upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance on the protected site.
3. (Optional) Upgrade the Platform Services Controller and all components of vCenter Server on the protected site.
4. (Optional) Upgrade the ESXi host on the protected site
5. Upgrade any additional vSphere Replication server deployments on the recovery site.
6. Upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance on the recovery site.
7. (Optional) Upgrade the Platform Services Controller and all components of vCenter Server on the recovery site.
8. (Optional) Upgrade the ESXi host on the recovery site.
9. Verify the connection between the vSphere Replication sites.
10. (Optional) Upgrade the virtual hardware of the virtual machines on the ESXi hosts if there is a specific reason for the upgrade.

Upgrading vSphere Replication by Components

With this strategy, you can decide when to upgrade certain components. For example, you can delay the upgrade of the Platform Services Controller appliances and vCenter Server components or the ESXi hosts. Verify which new functionalities are available with earlier versions of vCenter Server.

Note: To upgrade VMware Tools, you must upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance.

1. Upgrade any additional vSphere Replication server deployments on the protected site.
2. Upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance on the protected site.
3. Upgrade any additional vSphere Replication server deployments on the recovery site.
4. Upgrade the vSphere Replication appliance on the recovery site.
5. (Optional) Upgrade the Platform Services Controller and all components of vCenter Server on the protected site.
6. (Optional) Upgrade the Platform Services Controller and all components of vCenter Server on the recovery site.
7. (Optional) Upgrade the ESXi host on the protected site.
8. (Optional) Upgrade the ESXi host on the recovery site.
9. Verify the connection between the vSphere Replication sites.
10. (Optional) Upgrade the virtual hardware of the virtual machines on the ESXi hosts if there is a specific reason for the upgrade.