vCenter 7 upgrade to 8 and 2 stage upgrade

[scale21]

I have a situation where im doing a vcenter 7 upgrade to 8. 

Stage one completed fine. I moved on to stage 2 in the wizard and some warnings came up that needed to clean up. I worked with support and we got those items cleaned up in the source vcenter using some CLI tools. 

Now id like to start stage 2 but im unsure what to do. I logged into the new temp ip:5480 and there is a banner across the top that says vcenter 8.0 has successfully been instale d. However, additional steps must be completed before it is available for use. Click one fo the links below. 

It shows Setup, Upgrade, Migrate(from windows), and Restore

I assume i need to click on Upgrade to start stage 2. Is this correct? I have never upgraded where i was interrupted between stage 1 and stage 2 berfore but this time, i was.  If i choose upgrade will it detect stage 1 and my source and continue on with the upgrade?

With the wizard going from stage 1 to stage 2 is just a continue button. I dont think you need to choose your next step. I just want to make sure im picking the correct item to finish stage 2 properly. Clearly its not Setup (configure a new vcenter) and Migrate mentions migrating from Windows vCenter. Restore would be restoring from a prior backup so the only option left is Upgrade. 

-------------------------------------------

[Deepak Vadakkedath]

Stage 1: Deploys the new vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) 8.0 and sets up the basic system.
   You've already completed this part successfully.

Stage 2: Migrates your configuration, inventory, and historical data from the source (vCenter 7) to the newly deployed vCenter 8 appliance.

Next Step

Yes - click "Upgrade" to continue Stage 2 of the upgrade process.

That will:

1. Prompt you to connect to the source vCenter (your 7.x system).
2. Re-run the prechecks (they should now pass since you cleaned things up).

Proceed with the data migration and cutover

A few quick reminders

·        Ensure both source and target vCenters are reachable (network, DNS, etc.).

·        Do not power off or delete the old vCenter until Stage 2 finishes and you verify everything in vCenter 8.

·        If you're resuming after a delay, you may be prompted to re-enter credentials for SSO and the source vCenter.

-------------------------------------------

[Jean-Paul Attia]

Hello,

Could you write about some of the CLI tools you have used?

-------------------------------------------

[Manish Kumar]

Hello,

If you are facing such List of issues / errors while upgrading VMware vCenter version 6.7 to 7.0 or 7.0 to 8.0

• Pre-upgrade check failed due the following problem: Error in method invocation [Error 1] Unknown host
• Error in method invocation [Error 1] Unknown host
• Error during vCenter upgrade stage 2 pre-check failed
• Error in method invocation to source vCenter stage 2
• New vCenter can not communicate to Source vCenter via ESXi
• Error vCenter upgrade failed VCSA 6.7 to 7.0 (unknown host)
• Error vCenter upgrade failed VCSA 7.0 to 8.0 (unknown host)

If you are facing any issue from above list of issues, then you are at right place to get resolution.

If face following such errors and that cab be resolved through single article with all possible solutions:  VMware vCenter Upgrade Failed 6.7 to 7.0 to 8.0 to 9.0
 

Thank you,

-------------------------------------------

[scale21]

the confusion was around the source and destination vcenters and starting stage 2 of the upgrade. 

I did get it completed.  If you logged into the source vcenter on 5480 it would jump directly into stage 2 with no prompts. It would sit for a very long time at a low % completed and time out.  If you look closely you could see the background image of the source on 5480 seemed to think it was upgrading to 7.0 which made no sense at all. 

Stage 1 must put the source in some sort of install mode until stage 2 is completed. 

Anyway....i figured out that you needed to login to the destination vcenter on 5480 and it also started the stage 2 wizard. Doing so from the destination vcenter is the correct spot.

Just very confusing.  

-------------------------------------------