ESX 4 upgrade confussion

[gbhawksupport]

Hello All;

Well like the the title says, I'm truly confused. 

I have vCenter 5.1 running for 3 hosts.  1 of the hosts was set up with VMware ESX4.1, Build 1363503.  I'm finally upgrading the host but I'm researching & getting conflicting stories so maybe someone can help ?

On an different topic regarding DCUI, Another member noted that you cannot upgrade, It had to be an fresh install which is NOT an option since the guests are sharepoint, sql, web servers, etc.

weinstein5 Jan 14, 2014 5:37 PM
You can connect to the Service Console but keep in mind there is no way to do an in place upgrade from ESX to ESXi -either 4 or 5 - it has to be a fresh install -

But if I google the topic, I find multiple results with:

• vSphere 4.1 to 5.1 in place upgrade using VMware Update manager - YouTube In this video, You'll see that it starts at ESX 4.1 and ends with ESXi 5.1
• How to upgrade to ESXi 5.1 - YouTube  In this video, You'll see that it starts at ESX 4.1 and ends with ESXi 5.1
• How to Migrate ESX 4.x to ESXi 5.0 - VMadmin.co.uk This is an tutorial through local CD installation
• Adrian Costea's blog » Upgrading from ESX 4.x to ESXi 5.x using VMware Update Manager</title>&l…   This is an tutorial through vCenter Update Manager

Can anyone shed some light on this discussion ?  I cannot afford to lose any guests so an fresh install is not an option but I need to upgrade to 5.1. 

Thanks in advance!

[rmtilson]

If you have vCenter you could migrate the VMs off of the 4.1 host and do a fresh install. Which is what I recommend if coming from ESX. ESX and ESXi have different partition layouts which can be a deal breaker and from an architecture standpoint they are completely different. I am also making the assumption that you are using some type of shared storage. Also, if a datastore is detected a fresh install can be done while preserving the datastore.

[gbhawksupport]

Thanks for the fast reply rmtilson.

We are NOT using shared storage (YET).  I cannot get convenience management.

The physical server is an Dell R510 using:
Raid 1 (Drive 0 & Drive 1)

Raid 5 (Drive 2 - Drive 5) 

Looks like the previous administrator put the esxconsole on datastore 1

On that note;  Would the vCenter Update Manager break the datastores & i'd lose my guests ?  &  should I use an convertor to transfer the guests from 1 host to another, do the fresh install and then move them back when complete ?

[rmtilson]

In ESXi 5.1 does not use a console port for management but a vmkernel port. Like I said before ESX and ESXi are architecturally different on a software level.

Also ESXi 5.1 has a different partition layout compared to 4.1 which means an upgrade will not work. If you get the upgrade baselines configured in VUM and then scan the host to see if the upgrade is possible. If not review the VUM logs to see why not. I did a project a couple months ago going from ESX 4.1 to ESXi 5.1 and I had do fresh installs because they were failing the upgrade scan. What I did was do a fresh install while preserving the local datastore.

Try migrating the VM using the "Change both host and datastore" option in the Migrate Virtual Machine wizard. This might require the VM to be powered off to complete and I would try using the web client to take advantage of enhanced vMotion. Some of these features depend on the license level.

Also, check your host against the HCL and if possible a vendor customized iso of 5.1 and make sure you have current backups of the VMs.

[gbhawksupport]

thanks again. I'm going to run the ESX analyzer and i'll comment back with the results.  In the meantime, Why are their videos & forums regarding the upgrade without losing their guests (Stated above) ?  I'm not trying to be smart. I truly appreciate your insight but confused how others did it without losing their guests. 

[gbhawksupport]

I'm thinking the easiest way to perform this update is to migrate the virtual guests to another host (which I have plenty of room); fresh install ESXi 5.1 and re-migrate the virtual guest back to the original host.

Q.  ESXi5.0 to ESXi5.1 update through vCenter Update Manager is allowable & the most preferred method, correct ?  (Different hosts that what is referenced above)

[weinstein5]

You know I stand corrected - from http://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-55/topic/com.vmware.ICbase/PDF/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-55-upgrade-guide.pdf, Page 152

 

Supported Upgrades to ESXi 5.5

 

You can upgrade an ESXi 5.0.x or ESXi 5.1.x host directly to ESXi 5.5, and in most cases, you can migrate an

ESX 4.x or upgrade an ESXi 4.x host directly to ESXi 5.5.

The details and level of support for an upgrade or migration from version 4.x ESX and ESXi hosts, and

version 5.0.x and 5.1.x ESXi hosts, to ESXi 5.5 depend on the host to be upgraded and the upgrade method

that you use.

[gbhawksupport]

As i did the upgrade yesterday.  I did not use Update Manager as i was scared (LOL).    I used an bootable CD ISO and it walked me right through the upgrade and preserved the datastores & virtual guests.  On to the next 1.

THANKS