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upgrade ESX 4.0 to ESXi4.4 u 1

I have been researching to see if we could upgrade our ESX 4.0 hosts to the newest version 4.1 U1.

I checked to see if our hardware would be compatible with 4.4 U1.

They are. We have (2) PowerEdge 2950III and (2) PowerEdge R710.

I was told to update the Bios and firmware to the latest versions.
I was told to turn on VT with in the BIOS.

Here are my questions:

1. If we upgraded to 4.1 U1, would the ESXi servers only be able to host 64-bit VMs or would I be able to migrate back my 32-bit VMs.

2. Is it better to upgrade or to do a clean install?

3. I have already download Esxi 4.1 U1 and vsphere 4.U1 Installable, which it downloaded an iso image. Is this what I am to download to do the upgrade?

4. What is the best way to upgrade from ESX 4.0 32-bit to Esxi 4.1 U1 64-bit?

5. If I turned on the VT within BIOS, using Esx 4.0, would I be able to host existing 32-bit and create 64-bit virtual machines?

SOLUTION

Paul Solovyovsky

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ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

coolsport00

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MECIT

ASKER

If I am not able to power on a 64-bit vm , would it be because I do not have VT enabled in the BIOS.

if that is the case, I should turn it on then create a 64-bit vm and install vCenter 4.1 and then upgrade to Esxi 4.1.

coolsport00

Typically, yes. You can power it on, but you'll get an error about CPU not supporting 64-bit guest OS.

2nd question...yes, if you want to use vCenter within a VM. I think most do, but not all. (I do)

~coolsport00

MECIT

ASKER

What is the best way to update the BIOS and firware to the newest version?

Correct me if I'm Wrong:

1. Copy Configurations on Host
2. Update BIOS and Firmware
3. Enable VT within BIOS
4. Boot of .iso image to load 4.1.U1
5. Configure host
6. Create vm (64-Bit) for vCenter
7. Migrate some servers back over to host
8. Upgrade VMTools on all my VMs
9. Done

What about DRS and HA ? I probably will have to reconfigure these options as well.

MECIT

ASKER

If I have a MD300i attched to the ESX hosts, would I have to update the firmware on the SAN before I upgrade the hosts to 4.1 U1.

coolsport00

For your prev post...that looks ok, but again, I *highly* recommend going through the Upgrade Guide.

Yes, you will have to recreate/reconfigure your Cluster.

For your next post - No.

MECIT

ASKER

I will go and review the upgade guide before any changes are made.

For now, if I enabled VT in the bios it should not affect our current environment. I wanted to test out the Data Recovery within vmware but the vm is a 64-bit.

What would be the best way to reboot the esx host to get into the bios?

coolsport00

No, it won't affect it negatively.

Put host in Maint Mode, then rt-click on it and select reboot.

~coolsport00

MECIT

ASKER

I appreciate everyones help. Thank you