To perform the VMware vSphere Replication 8.3 upgrade to 8.6, the procedure is not complicated and has a minimal impact on the service availability.
vSphere Replication 8.6 by VMware it's a replication solution designed to implement a DR environment for vSphere platform to protect mission-critical VMs in your infrastructure.
vSphere Replication upgrade path
vSphere Replication can be upgraded in different ways depending on the starting version to upgrade and the target version:
- ISO file - used to upgrade vSphere Replication to a major version (for example from 6.5.1 or 8.1 to 8.2)
- VAMI, Update Manager, ISO file - used to install an update release (for example from 8.3 to 8.5)
Before proceeding with the upgrade, we need to verify the correct upgrade path by checking the Compatibility Matrices for vSphere Replication 8.6. Since we are going to upgrade to a major version, VAMI or vSphere Update Manager cannot be used to upgrade vSphere Replication from 8.3 to 8.6 version.
A direct upgrade from 8.3 to 8.6 is not supported and an intermediate step is then required.
The upgrade sequence will be the following:
- step 1 - from 8.3 to 8.5
- step 2 - from 8.5 to 8.6
Step 1. Upgrade from 8.3 to 8.5
From VMware website, download vSphere Replication 8.6 in ISO format and save it to a datastore reachable from your hosts.
From vSphere Client, right click the vSphere Replication Appliance and select Edit Settings. In the CD/DVD drive 1 section select the Datastore ISO file option and set the link to version 8.5.
Using your favorite browser, type the address of the current vSphere Replication VAMI appliance https://<IP_Address_VAMI>:5480. Enter the root credentials and click Login.
Go to Update tab and click Settings. Since we are performing a major update, we need to select the option Use CDROM Updates then click Save Settings.
Now go to Status section and click Check Updates.
When the system detects the new Available Updates, click Install Updates to proceed with the upgrade.
Click Accept to accept the EULA.
Click OK to proceed.
The upgrade is being installed.
After a few minutes, the new login page is displayed. To login to the new VAMI you need the admin password but since this password was not available in the previous version, you need to generate it.
From vSphere Client, select the VMware vReplication appliance and click on Launch Web Console to access the console.
Select Login and press Enter.
Enter the root credentials with the Password used in previous version then type the passwd command to specify the new password.
# passwd admin
Try to login to VAMI using the new password. Click Log In.
The login succeeds and you can see the installed version is now reported as 8.5.0. Click Reconfigure at the top-right to link vSphere Replication to the vCenter.
Enter the required vCenter information then click Next.
Click Connect.
The specified vCenter is displayed. Click Next.
Again, click Connect.
Enter required settings for vSphere Replication configuration and click Next.
Click Finish to complete the procedure.
vSphere Replication is configured in the vCenter.
The vCenter is now reporting the new registered version 8.5.0.xx.
Step 2. Upgrade from 8.5 to 8.6
Because we want to install the latest available vSphere Replication version, we need to perform the step of upgrading from version 8.5 to 8.6.
Since we are upgrading to a major release, we need to attach the ISO file to the appliance to upgrade. Right click the appliance and select Edit Settings.
From CD/DVD drive 1 field, select Datastore ISO File option to mount the upgrade file.
Select the correct upgrade file and click OK.
Once the ISO file has been selected, make sure the CD/DVD drive 1 is set as Connected. Click OK.
From vSphere Replication VAMI, go to Update section and click Edit.
Select Use CD-ROM as Update source then click OK.
The new version is now detected by the system. Click Install to proceed with the upgrade to version 8.6.
Accept the EULA and click Install.
The upgrade is installed.
From the VAMI interface, enter the admin credentials and click Log In.
The reported version is now 8.6.0. The upgrade was successful. Now click Configure to link at the top-right and follow same steps as explained above.
When the link to the vCenter has been established successfully, the vCenter reports the upgraded version 8.6.
The upgrade procedure from version 8.3 to 8.6 has been completed successfully. Now you can take advantage of the new available features.
