VMware ESXi 6.5 -> 6.7 Migration
We are currently running ESXi 6.5 Standard with 4 hosts. I have purchased 4 new updated hosts and upgraded our licensing to 6.7 Enterprise. I am wanting to transition all of our VMs to the new hosts and vCenter, but not sure exactly the best path for deploying the new vCenter appliance?
Should I leave the existing vCenter 6.5 appliance and hosts alone. Deploy the new 6.7 appliance to one of the new 6.7 hosts. Setup storage multipathing, distributed switch, etc. and then migrate the VMs over to the new vCenter server?
Is there a basic checklist of steps to take for that approach since I am setting up a new environment but it still an upgrade of a production environment?
Also, is 6.7 the preferred version or should I have gone straight to 7.0?
Thanks!
Should I leave the existing vCenter 6.5 appliance and hosts alone. Deploy the new 6.7 appliance to one of the new 6.7 hosts. Setup storage multipathing, distributed switch, etc. and then migrate the VMs over to the new vCenter server?
Is there a basic checklist of steps to take for that approach since I am setting up a new environment but it still an upgrade of a production environment?
Also, is 6.7 the preferred version or should I have gone straight to 7.0?
Thanks!
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to migrate live between hosts of different CPU generations needs an EVC baseline because new CPU have different instruction sets
try a test vMotion
try a test vMotion
ASKER
I've completed the 6.7 upgrade and added the new hosts. From a networking standpoint the new hosts have 2 connections for management and vmotion 10G. I will have 2 more 10g uplinks for VM traffic. Should I build out a distributed vswitch for the new cluster? Currently the old hosts are configured with just standard switches. Are there any concerns when I migrate the vms to the new hosts and going from standard switch to distributed?
That's a new question, please post a new question, and myself or other Experts will be glad to assist.
ASKER
I think I am good up to step 5. Host CPUs on the old cluster will be different than those on the new cluster. I'll look into the EVC baseline. That part is new to me. I'll be back with an update if I hit a snag. Hoping to get through the core installs today and tomorrow. I have the 4 new hosts up and running with 6.7 and have the management and vMotion interfaces configured. I'll perform the VCSA upgrade this afternoon and create the new cluster so I can get my vm network up.