Verify that all components meet basic compatibility requirements before upgrading vCenter Server.

Upgrading the operating system of a vCenter Single Sign-On 5.1 machine from Windows 2003 to Windows 2008 to meet the operating system requirements may result in symptoms similar to knowledge base article 2036170.

Prerequisites

Verify that your system meets the hardware and software requirements. See vCenter Server for Windows Requirements and vCenter Server Appliance Requirements

If you have solutions or plug-ins, check the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix. See http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php

Procedure

  1. The installation path of the previous version of vCenter Server must be compatible with the installation requirements for Microsoft Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM/AD LDS).
    The installation path cannot contain any of the following characters: non-ASCII characters, commas (,), periods (.), exclamation marks (!), pound signs (#), at signs (@), or percentage signs (%).
    If your previous version of vCenter Server does not meet this requirement, you must perform a fresh installation of vCenter Server.
  2. Verify that the vCenter Server system is not an Active Directory primary or backup domain controller.
  3. Update any ESX/ESXi 4.1 hosts to version 5.x.
  4. If you have ESX 4.x hosts that you choose not to upgrade, you must remove them from the vCenter Server inventory.
  5. If the vCenter Server 4.x environment that you are upgrading includes Guided Consolidation 4.x, uninstall Guided Consolidation before upgrading to vCenter Server 6.0.