During the vCenter upgrade from version 7 to version 8, the deployment process halted midway and prompted for a valid FQDN/IP address, despite the correct information being provided. Subsequent investigation revealed that the ESXI cluster was configured with DRS set to fully automated, which is incompatible with the requirements of the upgrade workflow. For the duration of the vCenter deployment, the cluster must operate in DRS manual or partially automated mode. This configuration ensures that virtual machine placement and migration actions require explicit administration approval, preventing automated vMotion operation from interfering with the upgrade sequence. Because Fully Automated DRS continuously optimizes host utilization by automatically placing VMs at power-on and initiating live migrations, it can disrupt the deployment process. Adjusting DRS to manual or partially automated mode is therefore essential to maintaines environment stability during the upgrade. Once the vCenter upgrade is completed, DRS can be safely returned to fully automated mode to restore normal cluster optimization and workload balancing. My question is whether I should temporarily adjust the cluster's DRS setting to Partially Automated during the vCenter upgrade and then restore it to Fully Automated afterward, or whether alternative methods exist to ensure a successful upgrade. Please advise.
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Durga Subedi
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