Update Windows vCenter 6.5 to VCSA 6.7 - Impact on Simplivity

[JB10]

Hello,

we have a 5 Node / 3 Clusters Simplivity 3.7.10 Environment. The Federation is managed with a Windows vCenter 6.5 U3. All components (Firmware, ESXi etc.) are supported on the interoperability matrix
We want to migrate the Windows vCenter 6.5 U3 to VCSA 6.7 U3. Such migration is supported on the VMware side.

Following the (successful) migration we want to change the IP address of the new VCSA (the vm will change it's physical location).

Are there any considerations / steps we need to take regarding Simplivity? Is this a supported scenario? I haven't found any documentation on this subject.

I've already opened a case with support, but haven't heard from them yet.

Best regards

[AbhilashPandiri]

No need to  update the Windows vCenter 6.5 to VCSA 6.7

1.create new VCSA with different ip at the new location.

2.Disconnect the Nodes frol old vcenter and connect to to New vcenter and update the new Vcenter IP on the OVCs

[JB10]

Hello,

thank you for your relpy. Unfortunately this solution is not practical, since I would need to manually recreate the vCenter configuration, which means a lot of work. It would also break our backup solution (Veeam) and every other system that depends on vCenter.

Best regards

[MikeSeden]

What I hear you saying is you are upgrading the VCSA, not migrating it. Same virtual box per se but in a different physical location. You will need a vSphere replication appliance (from what I read) 

VMware says

1. After you upgrade vCenter Server and the vSphere Replication appliance, if the vCenter Server certificate or the IP address changed during the upgrade, you must perform additional steps.

   To update the vCenter Server certificate, see vSphere Replication is Inaccessible After Changing vCenter Server Certificate.

   If vCenter Server uses a static IP address, it preserves the IP address by default after upgrade. If the vCenter Server uses a DHCP address that changed during the upgrade, and the vSphere Replication Management Server is configured to use the vCenter Server IP address and not FQDN, update the IP address in the vSphere Replication Management Server.

   Procedure
   1. Upgrade vCenter Server to the new appliance.
   2. Upgrade vSphere Replication.
   3. Power off the vSphere Replication appliance and power it on to retrieve the OVF environment.
   4. Use a supported browser to log in to the vSphere Replication VAMI.
      The URL for the VAMI is https:// vr-appliance-address:5480.
   5. On the Configuration tab, enter the new IP address of the vCenter Server.
   6. Click Save and Restart.

So when you get it replicatated and migrated and you change the IP you will still have to Update the certificates and point the nodes to the new IP to talk.

When you get to this point I suggest you call us and open a ticket. We have a tool called Zeus that can pretty much do that to the whole federation at once.

2 things will have to happen after you migrate no matter how you do it., Change the IP and repoint the nodes.

[JB10]

Hello Mike,

thank you for your reply. Yes, I am doing an update from Windows vCenter 6.5 to VCSA 6.7. I already went through VMware documentation and the procedure. We don't use VMware Replication and it is not a requirement for the update.

The question is - if I do the update, will Simplivity Federation continue to work? Do I need to plan any downtime?

Is it easier to keep the IP address of the vCenter server unchanged (I can do this temporarily)?

Best regards

[MikeSeden]

It  will require some downtime as you are changing the vCenter IP. The VMs on the nodes will keep working, but with not communicating with vCenter they wont write, and you will temporarily lose SimpliVity HA until the nodes see vCenter again. 

[DeclanOR]

Hi @JB10 

Just read throught his thread, and wanted to add some feedback. As mentioned earlier in the thread, the easiest thing to do, is to spin up a new VCSA and then engage support to assist in moving your SimpliVity infrastructure to the new VCSA. 

However, I believe you mention that this is not desirable. If you really do need to migrate the windows VC to a VCSA, then VMware best practices wil need to be followed to ensure this is successfully completed.

Once this is done, we will need to repoint our OVC's to the "new" VCenter. Downtime for this procedure is only required where single node clusters exist, as the OVC (Omnistack virtual controller) is rebooted during the repoint process. In multinode clusters, no downtime is required, as the ip failover mechanism will ensure that I/O continues to be served to VM's running on the node where the OVC is being rebooted, as we will acquire the storage ip address of another OVC in the cluster.

If the VCSA is a new machine, which I suspect it needs to be, then it doesn't matter whether you keep the same ip or not. If it's a new machine/vm, then we will need to do a full repoint and generate certificates etc.

On the new VC, you will need to recreate your datacenters and clusters exactly as they were on the old windows instance. The naming of your cliusters etc should also be the same. You will then be disconnecting the nodes from the old vcenter and removing them from the old vcenter, and adding them into their corresponding clusters in the new VC using the add new host wizard in VC. ( Additional caution will be needed if using distributed switches inj your old VC)

Once your nodes are all added, engage support here in SimpliVity and we will assist with the repoint of your OVC's to the new VC.

Hope this helps.

Thanks,

DeclanOR