ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide
ESX 4.0 vCenter Server 4.0
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Contents
Updated Information 7 About This Book 9
1 Introduction to VMware vSphere System Requirements 13
ESX Hardware Requirements 13 vCenter Server and the vSphere Client Hardware Requirements vCenter Server Software Requirements 17 vSphere Client Software Requirements 18 Support for 64-Bit Guest Operating Systems 18 Requirements for Creating Virtual Machines 18 Required Ports 18 Supported Remote Management Firmware Versions 19
3 Introduction to Installing ESX 21
Prerequisites for Installing ESX 21 About the esxconsole.vmdk 22 Options for Accessing the Installation Media, Booting the Installer, and Running the Installer 22 About ESX Evaluation Mode 23 ESX Installation Options 23
4 Location of the ESX Installation Media 25
Download the ESX ISO Image and Burn the Installation DVD 25 Creating a Media Depot 25
5 Booting the ESX Installer 27
Bootstrap Commands 27 Boot the ESX Installer from the Installation DVD 28 PXE Booting the ESX Installer 29
6 Installing VMware ESX 39
Install ESX Using the Graphical Mode 39 Install ESX Using the Text Mode 42 Installing ESX Using Scripted Mode 45

7 ESX Partitioning 61

Required Partitions 61 Optional Partitions 62
8 Post-Installation Considerations for ESX 63
Download the vSphere Client 63 Licensing the Host 63 Set an ESX/ESXi Host to Evaluation Mode 64
9 Installing, Removing, and Updating Third-Party Extensions 65
About Patching Hosts with vSphere Host Update Utility 65 About the vihostupdate Command-Line Utility 66 Update an ESX/ESXi Host Using Offline Bundles with the vihostupdate Utility 66 Update an ESX/ESXi Host Using a Depot with the vihostupdate Utility 67 Remove Custom Packages on ESX Using the Service Console 68 Remove Selected Custom Packages on ESX/ESXi Using the vSphere Command Line 68
10 Preparing the vCenter Server Databases 71
vCenter Server Database Patch and Configuration Requirements 71 Create a 32-Bit DSN on a 64-Bit Operating System 72 Configure vCenter Server to Communicate with the Local Database After Shortening the Computer Name to 15 Characters or Fewer 73 About the Bundled Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express Database Package 74 Maintaining a vCenter Server Database 74 Configure Microsoft SQL Server Databases 74 Configure Oracle Databases 79
11 Introduction to Installing vCenter Server 85
vCenter Server Prerequisites 85 Using a User Account for Running vCenter Server with SQL Server 86 About Installing vCenter Server on IPv6 Machines 87 Configure the URLs on a Standalone vCenter Server System 87 Running the vCenter Server and vSphere Client Installers from a Network Drive vCenter Server Components 88 Required Data for Installing vCenter Server 88

For AMD Opteron-based systems, the processors must be Opteron Rev E and later. For Intel Xeon-based systems, the processors must include support for Intel Virtualization Technology (VT). Many servers that include CPUs with VT support might ship with VT disabled by default, so you must enable VT manually. If your CPUs support VT but you do not see this option in the BIOS, contact your vendor to request a BIOS version that lets you enable VT support.
To determine whether your server has 64-bit VMware support, you can download the CPU Identification Utility at the VMware downloads page: http://www.vmware.com/download/shared_utilities.html.
Requirements for Creating Virtual Machines
To create a virtual machine, the ESX/ESXi host must be able to support a virtual process, a virtual chip set, and a virtual BIOS. Each ESX/ESXi machine has the requirements shown in Table 2-6. Table 2-6. Requirements for Creating Virtual Machines
Component Virtual processor Requirements One, two, or four processors per virtual machine NOTE If you create a two-processor virtual machine, your ESXi machine must have at least two physical processors. For a four-processor virtual machine, your ESXi machine must have at least four physical processors. Intel 440BX-based motherboard with NS338 SIO chip PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6
Virtual chip set Virtual BIOS

Required Ports

vCenter Server requires certain ports to send and receive data. The vCenter Server system must be able to send data to every managed host and receive data from every vSphere Client. To enable migration and provisioning activities between managed hosts, the source and destination hosts must be able to receive data from each other.
VMware uses designated ports for communication. Additionally, the managed hosts are listening for data from the vCenter Server system on designated ports. If a firewall exists between any of these elements and Windows firewall service is in use, the installer opens the ports during the installation. For custom firewalls, you must manually open the required ports. If you have a firewall between two managed hosts and you want to perform source or target activities, such as migration or cloning, you must configure a means for the managed hosts to receive data. NOTE In Microsoft Windows 2008, a firewall is enabled by default. Table 2-7 lists the default ports that are required for communication between components. Table 2-7. Required Ports
Port Description vCenter Server requires port 80 for direct HTTP connections. Port 80 redirects requests to HTTPS port 443. This is useful if you accidentally use http://server instead of https://server. This port must be open on the local and all remote instances of vCenter Server. This is the LDAP port number for the Directory Services for the vCenter Server group. The vCenter Server system needs to bind to port 389, even if you are not joining this vCenter Server instance to a Linked Mode group. If another service is running on this port, it might be preferable to remove it or change its port to different port. If needed, you can run the LDAP service on any port from 1025 through 65535. If this instance is serving as the Microsoft Windows Active Directory, change the port number from 389 to an available port from 1025 through 65535. The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to listen for connections from the vSphere Client. To enable the vCenter Server system to receive data from the vSphere Client, open port 443 in the firewall. The vCenter Server system also uses port 443 to listen for data transfer from the vSphere Web Access Client and other SDK clients. If you use another port number for HTTPS, you must use <ip-address>:<port> when you log in to the vCenter Server system. For vCenter Linked Mode, this is the SSL port of the local instance. If another service is running on this port, it might be preferable to remove it or change its port to different port. If needed, you can run the SSL service on any port from 1025 through 65535. The default port that the vCenter Server system uses to send data to managed hosts. Managed hosts also send a regular heartbeat over UDP port 902 to the vCenter Server system. This port must not be blocked by firewalls between the server and the hosts, or between hosts. Ports 902 and 903 must not be blocked between the vSphere Client and the hosts. These ports are used by the vSphere Client to display virtual machine consoles. Web Services HTTP. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices. Web Services HTTPS. Used for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices.

If you do not have an ESX installation DVD, you can create one. Procedure 3 If you are not already logged into VMware Communities, log on using your VMware store account. Download the ISO image for ESX from the VMware download page at http://www.vmware.com/download/. Burn the ISO image onto DVD media.

Creating a Media Depot

The media depot is a network-accessible location that contains the ESX installation media. You can use HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, or NFS to access the depot. The depot must be populated with the entire contents of the ESX installation DVD, preserving directory structure. If you are performing a scripted installation, you must point to the media depot in the script by including the install command with the nfs or url option. The following code snippet from an ESX installation script demonstrates how to format the pointer to the media depot if you are using NFS:
install nfs --server=example.com --dir=/nfs3/VMware/ESX/40
If you are performing an interactive installation instead of a scripted installation, include the askmedia boot option, which causes the installer to prompt you for the location of the media.
You can type the askmedia option at the end of the boot options list. For example:
Boot Options initrd=initrd.img vmkopts=debugLogToSerial:1 mem=512M askmedia
The boot options list appears when you boot the installer and press F2.
Booting the ESX Installer
You can boot the installer from the DVD using the local DVD-ROM drive, or you can PXE boot the installer. This chapter includes the following topics:
Bootstrap Commands, on page 27 Boot the ESX Installer from the Installation DVD, on page 28 PXE Booting the ESX Installer, on page 29

Bootstrap Commands

Before the ESX installer Welcome screen appears, the installer displays a boot prompt where you can enter bootstrap commands to pass arguments to the installer. When the mode selection screen appears, quickly type F2 to stop the timeout counter. If the mode selection screen times out, the default graphical mode is launched. The supported bootstrap commands and subcommands are listed in Table 5-1. Table 5-1. Bootstrap Commands for ESX Installation

For gPXE, put the menu.c32 file on a Web server. For example, you can use the httpd package in RHEL5, which contains Apache. The HTML documents are placed in /var/www/html, which is where you can copy menu.c32. For PXELINUX without gPXE, put the menu.c32 file on a TFTP server.
On the Linux machine, install PXELINUX. PXELINUX is included in the SYSLINUX package. Extract the files, locate the file pxelinux.0 or gpxelinux.
0, and copy it to the /tftpboot directory on your TFTP server.
Configure the DHCP server. The DHCP server must send the following information to your client hosts:
The name or IP address of your TFTP server. The name of your initial boot file. This is pxelinux.0 gpxelinux.0.
For more information and an example, see Sample DHCP Configuration, on page 33.
Create the kernel image and ramdisk directory by copying the vmlinuz and initrd.img files from the /isolinux directory on the ESX installation DVD to a supported location.
Web server, if you are using gPXE.
/tftpboot directory on the TFTP server, if you are using PXELINUX without gPXE.
For more information and an example, see Kernel Image and Ramdisk Directory, on page 37. Create the /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg directory on your TFTP server. Create a PXE configuration file. This file defines how the host boots when no operating system is present. The PXE configuration file references the location of the vmlinuz and initrd.img files in the kernel image and ramdisk directory. For more information and an example, see Creating a PXE Configuration File, on page 34. 8 Save the PXE configuration file in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg on the TFTP server.
You now have an environment that you can using for PXE booting the ESX installer.
Sample DHCP Configuration
To PXE boot the ESX installer, the DHCP server must send the address of the TFTP server and a pointer to the pxelinux.0 or gpxelinux.0 directory. The DHCP server is used by the target machine to obtain an IP address. The DHCP server needs to know if the target machine is allowed to boot and the location is of PXELINUX binary (which usually resides on a TFTP server). When the target machine first boots, it broadcasts a packet across the network requesting this information to boot itself, and the DHCP server responds. CAUTION Setting up a new DHCP server is not recommended if your network already has one. If multiple DHCP servers respond to DHCP requests, machines can obtain incorrect or conflicting IP addresses, or can fail to receive the proper boot information. Seek the guidance of a network administrator in your organization before setting up a DHCP server. Many DHCP servers are capable of PXE booting hosts. The following samples are for ISC DHCP version 3.0, which is included with many Linux distributions. If you are using a version of DHCP for Microsoft Windows, refer to the DHCP server documentation to determine how to pass the next-server and filename arguments to the target machine.

About Installation Scripts
The installation script is a text file, for example ks.cfg, that contains supported commands. The command section of the script contains the options specified for the ESX installation. This section is required and must appear first in the script.
About Default Installation Scripts
Default installation scripts simplify the task of using scripted mode to perform ESX installations. Instead of writing a script, you can use the following default scripts:
After your first interactive installation of ESX, the installer creates a /root/ks.cfg script in the ESX filesystem. This script reflects the choices you made in the interactive installation. If you perform a second interactive installation on the same host with choices that differ from the first, /root/ks.cfg is overwritten with a new version. The installation media contains the following default installation scripts: ks-first-safe.cfg ks-first.cfg Installs ESX on the first detected disk and preserves the VMFS datastores on the disk. Installs ESX on the first detected disk.
When you install ESX using ks-first-safe.cfg or ks-first.cfg, the default root password is

mypassword.

Default ks-first.cfg Script
The ESX installer comes with a default installation script that performs a standard installation to the first hard drive. The default ks-first.cfg script reformats the /dev/sda disk and sets up default partitioning. This default script runs if you select the ESX Scripted Install to first disk (overwrite VMFS) option in the boot options menu. You cannot modify the default script on the installation media. If you run the default script, the root password is mypassword. After the installation, you can log in to the ESX host and modify the default settings using the vSphere Client.
The default script contains the following commands:
#root Password rootpw --iscrypted $1$MpR$n9sgFQJweS1PeSBpqRRu. # Authconfig authconfig --enableshadow --enablemd5 # BootLoader (Use grub by default.) bootloader --location=mbr # Timezone timezone America/Los_Angeles --utc #Install install cdrom #Network install type network --device=MAC_address --bootproto=dhcp #Keyboard keyboard us #Reboot after install? reboot # Clear partitions clearpart --firstdisk # Partitioning part /boot --fstype=ext3 --size= --onfirstdisk part storage1 --fstype=vmfs3 --size=10000 --grow --onfirstdisk part None --fstype=vmkcore --size=100 --onfirstdisk # Create the vmdk on the cos vmfs partition. virtualdisk cos --size=5000 --onvmfs=storage1 # Partition the virtual disk. part / --fstype=ext3 --size=0 --grow --onvirtualdisk=cos part swap --fstype=swap --size=256 --onvirtualdisk=cos #VMware Specific Commands accepteula serialnum --esx=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX

Used to store core dumps for debugging and technical support. If multiple ESX hosts share a SAN, configure a vmkcore partition with 100MB for each host.

Optional Partitions

You can create optional partitions during or after the ESX installation procedure. Table 7-2 describes the optional partitions. Table 7-2. ESX Optional Partitions
Mount Point /home /tmp /usr /var/log Type ext3 ext3 ext3 ext3 2000MB Recommended Size 512MB 1024MB Location Virtual disk in a VMFS volume Virtual disk in a VMFS volume Virtual disk in a VMFS volume Virtual disk in a VMFS volume Partition Description Used for storage by individual users. Used to store temporary files. Used for user programs and data. Used to store log files. The graphical and text installers create this 2000MB partition by default.
Post-Installation Considerations for ESX
After you install ESX, you must consider host management through the vSphere Client, licensing, and adding and removing custom extensions. This chapter includes the following topics:
Download the vSphere Client, on page 63 Licensing the Host, on page 63 Set an ESX/ESXi Host to Evaluation Mode, on page 64
Download the vSphere Client
The vSphere Client is a Windows program that you can use to configure the host and to operate its virtual machines. You can download vSphere Client from any host. Prerequisites You must have the URL of the host. This is the IP address or host name. Procedure From a Windows machine, open a Web browser. Enter the URL for the host. For example, http://testserver.vmware.com or http://10.20.80.176. The welcome page appears. Click Download the vSphere Client under Getting Started. Click Yes in the security warning dialog box that appears.
What to do next Install the vSphere Client.

Licensing the Host

After you purchase a host license, VMware provides a vSphere license key. See Chapter 16, Managing ESX/ESXi and vCenter Server Licenses, on page 109.
Set an ESX/ESXi Host to Evaluation Mode
If you entered a license for ESX, you can switch to evaluation mode to explore the full functionality of ESX. Procedure From the vSphere Client, select the host in the inventory. Click the Configuration tab. Under Software, click Licensed Features. Click Edit next to ESX License Type. Click Product Evaluation. Click OK to save your changes.
Installing, Removing, and Updating Third-Party Extensions

If you omit the --bulletin argument, this command installs all the bulletins in the bundle. 5 Verify that the bulletins are installed on your ESX/ESXi host.
vihostupdate.pl --server <server> --query
(Optional) Remove individual bulletins.
vihostupdate.pl --server <server> --remove --bulletin bulletin1
Use this option only for removing bulletins that are third-party or VMware extensions. Do not remove bulletins that are VMware patches or updates. vihostupdate can remove only one bulletin at a time.
Update an ESX/ESXi Host Using a Depot with the vihostupdate Utility
You can use the vihostupdate utility in conjunction with bundles or with a depot. This topic describe the procedure using depots. Prerequisites Before you can update or patch an ESX/ESXi host from the command line, you must have access to a machine on which you can run the VMware vSphere Command-Line Interface (vSphere CLI). You can install the vSphere CLI on your Microsoft Windows or Linux system or import the VMware vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) virtual appliance onto your ESX/ESXi host. For information about importing or installing the vSphere CLI, see the VMware vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Reference Guide. Procedure Power off any virtual machines that are running on the host and place the host into maintenance mode. Scan the depot for bulletins that are applicable to the host:
vihostupdate.pl --server <server> --scan --metadata http://<webserver>/depot/metadata.zip
The --server argument is the ESX/ESXi host name or IP address. Do not specify more than one ZIP file at the command line each time you run the command. If you specify --metadata more than once, the command processes only the last file that was specified. 3 (Optional) List all bulletins in the depot at the metadata.zip file location:
vihostupdate.pl --list --metadata http://<webserver>/depot/metadata.zip
This command lists all the bulletins in the depot, even those that do not apply to the host.
Install bulletins in the depot on the host:
vihostupdate.pl --install --metadata http://<webserver>/depot/metadata.zip --bulletin bulletin1,bulletin2
Remove Custom Packages on ESX Using the Service Console
After adding custom packages, you might decide to remove them. One way to remove custom packages is to use the service console and the esxupdate command. Do not remove bulletins that are VMware patches or updates. For detailed information about the esxupdate command, see the Patch Management Guide. Prerequisites Before you remove a custom package, shut down or migrate running virtual machines off of the ESX host. Procedure 3 Open the ESX service console. Run the esxupdate query command to display a list of the installed bulletins. Run esxupdate -b <bulletinID> remove command, where <bulletinID> is the bulletin for the extension to remove.

Configure a SQL Server ODBC Connection
When you install the vCenter Server system, you can establish a connection with a SQL Server database. If you use SQL Server for vCenter Server, do not use the master database. See your Microsoft SQL ODBC documentation for specific instructions regarding configuring the SQL Server ODBC connection. Prerequisites
Review the required database patches specified in vCenter Server Database Patch and Configuration Requirements, on page 71. If you do not prepare your database correctly, the vCenter Server installer displays error and warning messages. Create a database using SQL Server Management Studio on the SQL Server. Create a database user with database operator (DBO) rights. The default database for the DBO user is the one that you created using SQL Server Management Studio. Make sure that the database login has the db_owner fixed database role on the vCenter Server database and on the MSDB database. The db_owner role on the MSDB database is required for installation and upgrade only. You can revoke this role after installation.
If you are using a named instance of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition with vCenter Server, do not name the instance MSSQLSERVER. If you do, the JDBC connection does not work, and certain features, such as Performance Charts, are not available.
Procedure 1 On your vCenter Server system, open the Microsoft Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator.
On a 32-bit system, select Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC). On a 64-bit system, open C:\WINDOWS\SYSWOW64\odbc32.exe.
Select the System DSN tab and do one of the following.
To modify an existing SQL Server ODBC connection, select the connection from the System Data Source list and click Configure. To create a new SQL Server ODBC connection, click Add, select SQL Native Client, and click Finish.
Type an ODBC datastore name (DSN) in the Name text box. For example, VMware vCenter Server.
(Optional) Type an ODBC DSN description in the Description text box. Select the server name from the Server drop-down menu and click Next. Type the SQL Server host name in the text box if it is not in the drop-down menu.
Select one of the authentication methods. If you selected SQL authentication, type your SQL Server login name and password and click Next. Select the database created for the vCenter Server system from the Change the default database to menu and click Next. Click Finish.

Member of the Administrators group Act as part of the operating system Log on as a service
Assign a static IP address and host name to the Windows server that will host the vCenter Server system. This IP address must have a valid (internal) domain name system (DNS) registration that resolves properly from all managed ESX hosts. If you install vCenter Server on Windows Server 2003 SP1, the disk for the installation directory must have the NTFS format, not the FAT32 format. Consider whether the vCenter Server instance will be standalone or in a Linked Mode group. See Chapter 14, Creating vCenter Server Linked Mode Groups, on page 99. vCenter Server, like any other network server, should be installed on a machine with a fixed IP address and well-known DNS name, so that clients can reliably access the service. If you use DHCP instead of a static IP address for vCenter Server, make sure that the vCenter Server computer name is updated in the domain name service (DNS). One way to test this is by pinging the computer name. For example, if the computer name is host-1.company.com, run the following command in the Windows command prompt:
If you can ping the computer name, the name is updated in DNS.
Using a User Account for Running vCenter Server with SQL Server
You can use the Microsoft Windows built-in system account or a user account to run vCenter Server. With a user account, you can enable Windows authentication for SQL Server, and it also provides more security. The user account must be an administrator on the local machine. In the installation wizard, you specify the account name as DomainName\Username. You must configure the SQL Server database to allow the domain account access to SQL Server. The Microsoft Windows built-in system account has more permissions and rights on the server than the vCenter Server system needs, which can contribute to security problems. Even if you do not plan to use Microsoft Windows authentication for SQL Server or you are using an Oracle database, you might want to set up a local user account for the vCenter Server system. In this case, the only requirement is that the user account is an administrator on the local machine. For SQL Server DSNs configured with Windows authentication, use the same user account for the VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices service and the DSN user.

Install vCenter Server

vCenter Server allows you to centrally manage hosts from either a physical or virtual Windows machine, and enables the use of advanced features such as VMware Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), VMware High Availability (HA), and VMware VMotion. Prerequisites See vCenter Server Prerequisites, on page 85. Procedure 3 In the software installer directory, double-click the autorun.exe file at C:\<installer location>\. Click vCenter Server. Choose a language for the installer and click OK. This selection controls the language for only the installer. When you use the vSphere Client to connect to the vCenter Server system, the vSphere Client appears in the language associated with the locale setting on your machine. You can alter this behavior with a command-line instruction or by changing the locale in the registry of the machine. See Basic System Administration. 6 When the Welcome screen appears, click Next. Select I agree to the terms in the license agreement and click Next. Type your user name, organization, and vCenter Server license key, and click Next. If you omit the license key, vCenter Server will be in evaluation mode, which allows you to use the full feature set. After installation, you can convert vCenter Server to licensed mode by entering the license key using the vSphere Client. 7 Choose the type of database that you want to use.
If you want to use the bundled database, click Install SQL Server 2005 Express instance (for smallscale deployments). This database is suitable for deployments of up to 5 hosts and 50 virtual machines.
If you want to use an existing database, click Use an existing supported database and select your database from the list of available DSNs. Enter the user name and password for the DSN and click Next. If your database is a local SQL Server database using Windows NT authentication, leave the user name and password fields blank. If you specify a remote SQL Server database that uses Windows NT authentication, the database user and the logged-in user on the vCenter Server machine must be the same.
A dialog box might appear warning you that the DSN points to an older version of a repository that must be upgraded. If you click Yes, the installer upgrades the database schema, making the database irreversibly incompatible with previous VirtualCenter versions. See the Upgrade Guide.

Select Typical (Recommended) to install the most common components. Select Custom to choose the components to install.
Enter the connection information for the vCenter Server system to which vCenter Converter will be an extension. a b c Enter the IP address. By default, the IP address is that of the local host. Enter the port number that the vCenter Server system is configured to use for secure HTTP (HTTPS). By default, vCenter Server uses port 443. Enter an administrative user name and password for the vCenter Server system.
Enter the port numbers that you want to use or accept the default port numbers and click Next. Select the vCenter Server identity from the drop-down menu and click Next. Click Install to begin the installation. Click Finish to complete the installation.
vCenter Converter is installed. What to do next Install the Converter client plug-in. See the vCenter Converter Administration Guide.
Managing ESX/ESXi and vCenter Server Licenses
License reporting and management are centralized. If you upgrade all your hosts, you no longer need a license server or host-based license files. All product licenses are encapsulated in 25-character license keys that you can manage and monitor from vCenter Server. Each host requires a license, and each vCenter Server instance requires a license. You cannot assign multiple license keys to a host or to a vCenter Server system. You can license multiple hosts with one license key if the key has enough capacity for more than one host. Likewise, you can license multiple vCenter Server instances with one license key if the key has a capacity greater than one. When you apply a minor upgrade or patch the ESX/ESXi or vCenter Server software, you do not need to replace the existing license key with a new one. If you upgrade the edition of the license (for example, from standard to enterprise), you must replace the existing license key in the inventory with a new upgraded license key. This chapter includes the following topics:
n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n
About License Key Capacity, on page 110 About vSphere and vCenter Server License Keys, on page 110 About Using a License Server to Manage ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 Hosts, on page 110 About the License Portal, on page 111 About License Inventories, on page 112 Controlling License Permissions, on page 113 View License Information, on page 113 Add a License Key to the License Inventory and Assign It to an Asset, on page 114 Add Multiple License Keys to the License Inventory, on page 115 Assign a License Key to Multiple Assets, on page 115 Export Report Data, on page 116 License a Host Without vCenter Server, on page 117 License a Host When Adding It to the vCenter Server Inventory, on page 117 View Which Features Are Licensed on a Host, on page 117 Set an ESX/ESXi Host to Evaluation Mode, on page 118 Troubleshooting Licensing, on page 118

Example: Standalone Scenario
Each vCenter Server instance maintains its own license inventory. If you add an ESX/ESXi host to vCenter Server and add the same host to another vCenter Server instance, the host license key moves from the first inventory to the second inventory. You have two vCenter Server instances that are standalone. You assign a license to a host in one vCenter Server instance. You add the host to another vCenter Server instance and choose to retain the license when you perform the Add Host operation. The host license key belongs to two separate license inventories. If the total assignment of the key exceeds the key's capacity, this scenario is not supported and causes your license usage to be out of compliance.
Example: Linked Mode Scenario
You have two vCenter Server instances that belong to the same Linked Mode group. You assign a license to a host in one vCenter Server instance.
The two vCenter Server instances share a single license inventory. When you add a license key, the key becomes available to all the vCenter Server systems within the same Linked Mode group. The license keys are shared, and each system in the group has the same inventory view, although this might not always seem so because of replication delays.
Controlling License Permissions
You can control which users are able to view and manage license resources. The following permission types are supported. Global.licenses If you have global permission at the root folder, you can view and modify all licenses in the vCenter Server inventory. This includes other vCenter Server systems in a Linked Mode group. If you have read-only permission on a host, the vCenter Server displays the first and last five characters of the license key assigned to the host, the features present in the license, and the expiration date for the license.

Read-only

If you have neither of these permissions but you can add a host to vCenter Server, you can add a license to the inventory and assign a license to the host when you perform the add host operation.

Assign a License Key to Multiple Assets
You can assign licenses to single or multiple assets, individually or in batches. NOTE After you assign a license to a host, the software might update the license report before the license assignment operation is complete. If the host becomes disconnected immediately after you assign the license, the license report might not accurately reflect the host license state. The report might show the host as licensed, even though the license assignment operation is not yet complete. When the host is reconnected to a vCenter Server system, the license assignment operation continues, and the host becomes licensed as shown in the report. Prerequisites To assign a license to a host, the host must be connected to a vCenter Server system. Procedure From a vSphere Client host that is connected to a vCenter Server system, select Home > Licensing. Click Manage vSphere Licenses. Click Next to go to the Assign Licenses page. Click the ESX or vCenter Server tab to display the available assets. Click Show Unlicensed assets, Show licensed assets, or Show all. In the Asset window, select one or more assets to license. To select multiple assets, use Ctrl-click or Shift-click.
In the Product window, select an appropriate license key and click Next. The capacity of the license key must be greater than or equal to the sum of the asset CPUs.
If you are not ready to remove any license keys, click Next to skip the Remove License Keys page and click Finish to save your changes.
Example: Assign a License Key to Two ESX Hosts
In this example, Shift-click to select two 2-CPU ESX hosts and then assign a vSphere Enterprise license key to the hosts. Before the assignment, the license key has an available capacity of 98 CPUs. After the assignment, the license key has an available capacity of 94 CPUs. The pop-up tool tip lists the product features included in the vSphere Enterprise license edition.

Export Report Data

You can export license data to a file that you can open in a third-party application. Procedure From a vSphere Client host that is connected to a vCenter Server system, select Home > Licensing. Select the view that you want to export.
Product License key Asset
From the report screen, click Export. In the Save As dialog box, select a folder, a filename, and a format for the exported license data and click Save.
License a Host Without vCenter Server
If you are directly connected to the host through the vSphere Client, you can license the host. Procedure From the vSphere Client, click the Configuration tab. Under Software, click Licensed Features. Click Edit. Assign a license key.
Select Assign an existing license key to this hostand select a license key from the Product list. Select Assign a new license key to this host, click Enter Key, and enter a license key and an optional label for the license key.

7 Upgrading to vCenter Server on a Different Machine and Keeping the Existing

Database 51

Back Up and Restore a Microsoft SQL Database 51 Detach and Attach a Microsoft SQL Server Database 52 Back Up and Restore an Oracle Database 53 Create a 32-Bit DSN on a 64-Bit Operating System 54 Upgrade to vCenter Server on a Different Machine 54
8 Postupgrade Considerations for vCenter Server 57
Upgrade to the vSphere Client 58 Using a License Server to Manage ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 Hosts 58 License Server Scenarios 59 Join a Linked Mode Group After a vCenter Server 4.0 Upgrade 59 Set the Maximum Number of Database Connections After a vCenter Server Upgrade 60 Restore VirtualCenter 2.x 61
9 Upgrading Datastore and Network Permissions 63
Datastore Privileges 64 Network Privileges 64 Update Datastore Permissions 65 Update Network Permissions 66
10 Preparing for the Upgrade to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 69
About Host Upgrades 69 vSphere Host Update Utility 70 vCenter Update Manager 70 Recommendation for Static IP Addresses 71 List of Upgraded vSphere Components 71 List of Preserved Configuration Components Back Up the ESX Host Configuration 73 Back Up the ESXi Host Configuration 73 Release Upgrade Support for ESX/ESXi 74
11 Upgrade to ESX 4.0 or ESXi 4.0 77
Upgrade ESX Hosts 77 Upgrade ESXi Hosts 79
12 Postupgrade Considerations for Hosts 81
Restore vSphere Web Access on ESX Hosts 82 Evaluation Period Countdown 82 Clean Up the ESX Bootloader Menu After Upgrade 83 Uninstalling the VMware License Server 83 vSphere Host Update Utility Support for Rolling Back ESX/ESXi Upgrades 84 Roll Back an ESX Upgrade 84 Roll Back an ESXi Update, Patch, or Upgrade 85 Restore the ESX Host Configuration 85 Restore the ESXi Host Configuration 85
13 Upgrading Virtual Machines 87
About VMware Tools 88 About Virtual Machines and ESX/ESXi Upgrades 88 Orchestrated Upgrade of Virtual Machines Scenario 88 Planning Downtime for Virtual Machines 89 Downtime for Upgrading Virtual Machines 89 Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Microsoft Windows Guest 90 Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Linux Guest in an X Terminal 91 Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Linux Guest with the RPM Installer 92 Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Linux Guest with the Tar Installer 94 Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools on a Solaris Guest 95 Perform an Interactive Upgrade of VMware Tools in a Netware Virtual Machine 96 Perform an Automatic Upgrade of VMware Tools 97 Upgrade VMware Tools on Multiple Virtual Machines 98 Configure a Virtual Machine to Automatically Upgrade VMware Tools 99 Upgrade Virtual Hardware 99 Upgrade Virtual Hardware on Multiple Virtual Machines 100

14 About Host Updates and Patches 103
Best Practices for Updates 103 About Patching Hosts with vSphere Host Update Utility About the vihostupdate Command-Line Utility 106

Index 111

Updated Information
This vSphere Upgrade Guide is updated with each release of the product or when necessary. This table provides the update history of the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
Revision EN-000112-03 EN-000112-02 Description Added cautionary wording to Chapter 11, Upgrade to ESX 4.0 or ESXi 4.0, on page 77 indicating that upgrades from ESX 3.x to ESX 4.x fail to replicate customized partitions. Revised text in topics Upgrade ESX Hosts, on page 77 and Upgrade ESXi Hosts, on page 79to say that the Host Update Utility can be used to upgrade ESX and ESXi hosts from version 3.x to version 4.0, rather than to version 4.x, as previously stated.

EN-000112-01

Renamed and clarified descriptions for various vCenter Server components in the section vCenter Server Upgrade Summary, on page 39. Added a reference regarding rollup jobs in relationship to detaching and attaching the vCenter Server database to a different Microsoft SQL Server in the section Detach and Attach a Microsoft SQL Server Database, on page 52. Added a sentence to indicate that vSphere Host Update Utility does not support authenticated proxies.

EN-000112-00

Initial release.

About This Book

The vSphere Upgrade Guide describes how to upgrade from earlier versions of VMware ESX, ESXi, and VMware vCenter Server to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 and vCenter Server 4.0. This guide includes the following tasks:
Upgrade to vCenter Server 4.0. Install vCenter Server 4.0 on a different machine and keep the VirtualCenter 2.x database. You would do this if you are upgrading from a 32-bit server to a 64-bit server, for example. Upgrade to ESX 4.0 from ESX 3.x. Upgrade to ESXi 4.0 from ESXi 3.5. Upgrade to ESX 4.0 from ESX 2.5.x using upgrade VMotion. Upgrade to ESX 4.0 from ESX 2.5.x using cold migration. Change ESX to ESXi and the reverse. Upgrade VMware Tools and virtual hardware.

n n n n n n

To learn how to simplify and automate your datacenter upgrade, see the vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide. If you have legacy versions of ESX, ESXi, and VirtualCenter, and you want to migrate to VMware vsphere 4.0 by performing fresh installations that do not preserve existing data, see the following manuals:
ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide ESXi Installable and vCenter Server Setup Guide ESXi Embedded and vCenter Server Setup Guide

Intended Audience

This book is intended for anyone who needs to upgrade from earlier versions of ESX/ESXi and vCenter Server to ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 and vCenter Server 4.0. The information in this manual is written for experienced Microsoft Windows or Linux system administrators who are familiar with virtual machine technology and datacenter operations.

About the Upgrade Process
Upgrading is a multistage process in which procedures must be performed in a particular order. If you follow the suggested process, you can help ensure a smooth upgrade with a minimum of system downtime. CAUTION VMware recommends that you read about the upgrade process before attempting to upgrade. If you do not follow appropriate safeguards, you might lose data and lose access to your servers. Without careful planning, you might incur more downtime than is necessary. You must complete the upgrade process in a specific order. If you do not complete each upgrade stage before moving on, you can lose data and server access. Order is also important within each upgrade stage. Generally, you can perform the upgrade process for each component in only one direction. For example, after you upgrade to vCenter Server, you cannot revert to VirtualCenter 2.x. With appropriate backups and planning, you can restore your original software records. You can take any amount of time to complete each of the upgrade procedures. However, keep in mind the following considerations:
You must complete one procedure before you move to the next procedure. Some major procedures include minor substeps. Follow the directions within each procedure regarding the required sequence of minor substeps.
Because certain commands can simultaneously upgrade more than one stage, VMware recommends that you thoroughly understand the irreversible changes at each stage before you upgrade your production environments. To ensure that your datacenter upgrade goes smoothly, you can use vCenter Update Manager to manage the process for you.
Upgrading Environments with Host Clusters
This example scenario shows how you can use vCenter Update Manager to simplify the host and virtual machine upgrade process and minimize downtime in environments that include host clusters. These are the prerequisites for this scenario:
You must have VirtualCenter 2.x. You must have vCenter Update Manager. All your hosts must be ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5.

Use vCenter Update Manager to upgrade your virtual machines. vCenter Update Manager ensures that the VMware Tools upgrade and the virtual hardware upgrade happen in the correct order to prevent loss of your network connectivity. vCenter Update Manager also performs automatic backups of your virtual machines in case you need to roll back after the upgrade. You can upgrade clusters without powering off the virtual machines if Distributed Resource Scheduler is available for the cluster. Upgrade your product licenses: a b Either your new license keys are sent to you in email, or you get them using the license portal. Apply the new license keys to your assets using vCenter Server.
Upgrading Environments Without Host Clusters
If you have standalone ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts, you can use vSphere Host Update Utility to upgrade your hosts and the vSphere Client to upgrade your virtual machines. This scenario assumes that you do not have host clusters and you do not have vCenter Update Manager. In such a case, you probably do not have VirtualCenter either. If you do have VirtualCenter, the following process can apply to your environment as well. The following list of tasks provides a high-level overview of the upgrade process. 1 If you have VirtualCenter, upgrade VirtualCenter 2.x to vCenter Server 4.0. a Make sure your database is compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. This release discontinues support for some database versions and adds support for other database versions. See the Compatibility Matrixes on the VMware vSphere documentation Web site. Make sure that you have the required permissions to perform this procedure. See Database Prerequisites, on page 41. Take a full backup of the VirtualCenter 2.x database. See your database documentation. Back up the VirtualCenter 2.x SSL certificates. See Back Up VirtualCenter 2.x, on page 45.
The downtime required for this upgrade is based on the amount of data in the database. During this time, you cannot perform provisioning operations, such as cloning or creating virtual machines. The upgrade from VirtualCenter 2.5 is faster in comparison to the upgrade from VirtualCenter 2.0.x because of differences in changes to the database schema and the amount of data migration. After the upgrade, the ESX hosts are automatically reconnected to vCenter Server 4.0. For a detailed description of the upgrade procedure, see Chapter 5, Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server, on page 39 and Chapter 6, Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.0, on page 47. 2 Install the vSphere Client. You can install the vSphere Client on the same machine with your previous version of the VI Client. You must have the previous version of the VI Client to connect to previous versions of VirtualCenter and ESX/ESXi. During vSphere Client installation, install the vSphere Host Update Utility. By default, this utility is not installed. Install it if you plan to use this Windows machine to initiate host upgrades. For a detailed description of the procedure, see Upgrade to the vSphere Client, on page 58.

What to do next 1 Upgrade your virtual machines: a b If they are not already powered on, power on the virtual machines and upgrade to the latest version of VMware Tools. This upgrade allows you to use the new features of ESX 4.0./ESXi 4.0. Power off the virtual machines and upgrade to the latest version of virtual hardware to take advantage of the new virtual hardware. vSphere 4.0 supports some earlier virtual hardware versions. See Basic System Administration.
The virtual machine upgrade process is different for ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0. In earlier versions, you upgraded the virtual hardware upgrade before you upgraded VMware Tools. For ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0, you upgrade VMware Tools before you upgrade the virtual hardware. You can use either the vSphere Client or vCenter Update Manager to upgrade virtual machines. In a clustered environment, VMware recommends that you use vCenter Update Manager. See the vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide. If you are using the vSphere Client to upgrade virtual machines, see Chapter 13, Upgrading Virtual Machines, on page 87. 2 Upgrade your product licenses: a b Either your new license keys are sent to you in email, or you get them using the license portal. Apply the new license keys to your assets using the vSphere Client (or vCenter Server if you have it).
You must perform these tasks for each ESX 2.5.x host and the virtual machines on the hosts.
Upgrading by Moving Virtual Machines Using Upgrade VMotion
This scenario is known as a migration upgrade that includes datastore migration. The migration upgrade is a managed transition rather than a strict upgrade. By using VMotion to move virtual machines directly from one datastore to another datastore, you minimize downtime of the virtual machines. The following example provides a high-level overview of the upgrade process in an environment with ESX 2.5.x and VirtualCenter 1.4.x, using upgrade VMotion to migrate your running virtual machines to ESX 4.0. The hosts in your environment must be licensed for and able to use VMotion. You can perform a migration upgrade without VMotion. The only difference is the amount of downtime for the virtual machines. Upgrade VMotion (also known as VMotion with datastore relocation) is a special case in which you perform a one-way VMotion. In this scenario, you move virtual disks from a VMFS 2 volume to a VMFS 3 volume. Requirements include persistent-mode disks, a VMFS 2 volume that is visible to the ESX 4.0 host, and compatible host CPUs. NOTE Upgrade VMotion is required if you have ESX 2.5.x hosts. The disadvantage of a migration upgrade is that this plan requires additional resources. A migration upgrade calls for sufficient resources to run the production environment partly on older hosts and partly on upgraded hosts. Any required redundancies and safeguards must be available on both upgraded and non-upgraded infrastructure during the transition. Prerequisites The requirements for upgrade VMotion are as follows:

Procedure Add ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 host to vCenter Server 4.0. Add ESX 2.5.x or ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts to vCenter Server 4.0. Power off or suspend the virtual machines on the ESX 2.5.x or ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 hosts. Move the virtual machines to the ESX 4.0/ESXi 4.0 hosts.
Upgrading by Moving Powered Off or Suspended Virtual Machines (Without vCenter Server)
This scenario is known as a cold migration upgrade. When you use cold migration to move virtual machines from one host to another host, additional downtime is required for the virtual machines. This scenario assumes that the hosts do not have VMotion, VirtualCenter, or vCenter Server. Prerequisites The requirements for a cold migration upgrade are as follows:
Before you begin this procedure, install the vSphere Client. You can install the vSphere Client on the same machine with your previous version of the VI Client. You must have the previous version of the VI Client to connect to previous versions of VirtualCenter and ESX/ESXi. For a detailed description of the procedure, see Upgrade to the vSphere Client, on page 58. Procedure 1 Power off or suspend the virtual machines on the ESX 2.5.x or ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 host. IMPORTANT For suspended virtual machine migrations, both hosts must have identical processors. Evacuate the virtual machines from the host by moving the virtual machines to other hosts. Upgrade ESX 3.x/ESXi 3.5 to ESX 4.0, or perform a fresh installation of ESX 4.0. A fresh installation is required if your legacy hosts are ESX 2.5.x. (Optional) Create a VMFS3 datastore. Move the virtual machines to ESX 4.0 host.
Upgrading to vCenter Server on a New Machine
Instead of performing an in-place upgrade to vCenter Server, you might want to use a different machine for your upgrade. One common reason for doing this is to upgrade to a 64-bit platform. When you upgrade to vCenter Server on a new machine, you can keep your existing database where it is or move it. You might want to move your database to keep the database local to the vCenter Server machine. Following is an overview of the process:
Create a backup of the database. Optionally, move the database by performing one of the following procedures:
Restore the database on the destination machine. Detach the database from the source machine and attach it to the destination machine.

You must also have 400MB free on the drive that has your %temp% directory. If all of the prerequisites are already installed, 300MB of free space is required on the drive that has your %temp% directory, and 450MB is required for the vSphere Client 4.0.
Networking Gigabit connection recommended.
32-Bit or 64-Bit Operating System for vCenter Server
When you have up to 200 hosts, you can use a 32-bit Windows operating system, but a 64-bit Windows operating system is preferred. When you have 200300 hosts, a 64-bit Windows operating system is required.
Recommendations for Optimal Performance
Depending on the number of ESX hosts and virtual machines in your environment, the following system requirements should be used as guidelines for optimal performance. IMPORTANT The recommended disk sizes assume default log levels. If you configure more granular log levels, more disk space is required. Table 4-3 summarizes the requirements for a medium deployment. Table 4-3. Up to 50 Hosts and 250 Powered-On Virtual Machines
Product vCenter Server vSphere Client CPU Memory 4GB 200MB Disk 3GB 1GB
Table 4-4 summarizes the requirements for a large deployment. Table 4-4. Up to 200 Hosts and 2000 Powered-On Virtual Machines
Product vCenter Server vSphere Client CPU Memory 4GB 500MB Disk 3GB 1GB
Table 4-5 summarizes the requirements for an extra-large deployment. vCenter Server must be hosted on a 64-bit Windows operating system for this configuration. Table 4-5. Up to 300 Hosts and 3000 Powered-On Virtual Machines
Product vCenter Server vSphere Client CPU Memory 8GB 500MB Disk 3GB 1GB
Requirements for Installing vCenter Server on a Custom Drive
If you install vCenter Server on the E:\ drive or on any custom drive, note the following space requirements.
601MB on the custom drive for vCenter Server 1.13GB on the C:\ drive for Microsoft.NET 3.0 SP1, Microsoft ADAM, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express (optional), and Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable 375MB for the custom drive %temp% directory
vCenter Server Software Requirements
Make sure that your operating system supports vCenter Server. For a list of supported operating systems, see the vSphere Compatibility Matrixes at http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_compatibility_matrix.pdf on the VMware vSphere documentation Web site.

Before you begin the upgrade to vCenter Server, make sure you have the vCenter Server system and the database are properly prepared.
vCenter Server Prerequisites
The following items are prerequisites for completing the upgrade to vCenter Server:
VirtualCenter Server 2.x installed on a machine that supports vCenter Server 4.0. VMware vCenter Server 4.0 installation media. License keys for all purchased functionality. If you do not currently have the license key, you can install in evaluation mode and use the vSphere Client to enter the license key later.
Chapter 5 Preparing for the Upgrade to vCenter Server
The installation path of the previous version of VirtualCenter must be compatible with the installation requirements for Microsoft Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM/AD LDS). For example the installation path cannot have commas (,) or periods (.). If your previous version of VirtualCenter does not meet this requirement, you must perform a clean installation of vCenter Server 4.0. Make sure the system on which you are installing vCenter Server is not an Active Directory domain controller, primary or backup. Make sure that the computer name has no more than 15 characters. vCenter Server 4.0 uses TCP/IP Ports 80 and 443 for the VMware vSphere Web client. You cannot run vCenter Server on the same machine as a Web server using TCP/IP port 80 (HTTP) or port 443 (HTTPS) because doing so causes port conflicts. If you use vCenter Guided Consolidation Service in the VirtualCenter 2.x environment, complete the consolidation plan before you upgrade to vCenter Server 4.0. The upgrade to vCenter Server 4.0 does not preserve or migrate any data gathered by the vCenter Guided Consolidation Service. After the upgrade, all of the data is cleared, and you cannot restore it. Back up the SSL certificates that are on the VirtualCenter 2.x system before you upgrade to vCenter Server 4.0. If you upgrade to vCenter Server on Windows Server 2003 SP1, the disk for the installation directory must have the NTFS format, not the FAT32 format. If you use DHCP instead of a static IP address for vCenter Server, make sure that the vCenter Server computer name is updated in the domain name service (DNS). One way to test this is by pinging the computer name. For example, if the computer name is host-1.company.com, run the following command in the Windows command prompt:

Select Yes, I want to upgrade my vCenter Server database to continue with the upgrade to vCenter Server. Select No, I do not want to upgrade my vCenter Server database if you do not have a backup copy of your database. If you choose this option, you cannot continue the upgrade. Cancel the upgrade, back up your VirtualCenter environment (as described in Back Up VirtualCenter 2.x, on page 45), and restart the upgrade process.
If the database schema is current, this dialog does not appear. Click I have taken a backup of the existing vCenter Server database and SSL certificates and click Next. Specify the account for the vCenter Service to run in.
Click Next to use the SYSTEM account. You cannot use the SYSTEM account if you are using Windows authentication for SQL Server. Deselect Use SYSTEM Account, accept the default Administrator account name and password, and click Next. Deselect Use SYSTEM Account and enter a different Administrator account name and password.
Enter the port numbers to use or accept the default port numbers shown on the page and click Next. Click Install.
If you are upgrading from VirtualCenter 2.0.x, the Database Upgrade wizard appears. The upgrade is not complete until the wizard upgrades the database schema. If you are upgrading from VirtualCenter 2.5, the database schema is upgraded in the background.
Chapter 6 Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.0
What to do next See Chapter 8, Postupgrade Considerations for vCenter Server, on page 57.
Upgrade the vCenter Server Database Schema
When you upgrade to vCenter Server and use an existing supported database, the Database Upgrade wizard runs after you click Install in the vCenter Server installer. The Database Upgrade wizard upgrades the existing database schema to make it compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. For upgrades from VirtualCenter 2.5, the Database Upgrade wizard runs in the background. This procedure is for upgrades from VirtualCenter 2.0.x. Procedure In the Database Upgrade wizard Welcome page, click Next. On the Upgrade Information screen, select an option for performance data.
Select Keep all performance data and click Next to preserve performance data from your existing database. Select Discard all performance data and click Next to discard performance data from your existing database. Select Keep performance data recorded during past 12 months and click Next to preserve only the most recent performance data from your existing database.
The table for performance data can be large. If you do not keep the table, you cannot view historical performance statistics for the time when the database was maintained in VirtualCenter 2.x. 3 Review your selections, click Next, and click Start. Your database is now compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. It is no longer compatible with VirtualCenter 2.x. The vCenter Server installer begins installing vCenter Server 4.0. 4 Click Finish to complete the upgrade to vCenter Server.

If the Read-only privilege is nonpropagating (not inherited by child objects), VMware assumes access privileges should not be assigned to datastores and networks. In such cases, you must update your roles to include the new datastore and network privileges desired. This is required for users to view and perform operations on these objects. If the Read-only privilege is propagating (inherited by child objects), VMware assumes access privileges should be assigned to datastores and networks so users can view them and perform basic operations that require access. In such cases, the default minimum privileges are automatically assigned during the upgrade process. After the upgrade process, if your roles require users to have additional privileges, for example, the ability to delete a datastore or network, you need to update your permission roles.
Table 9-1 lists the privileges assigned to datastores and networks before the upgrade to vCenter 4.0 and after the upgrade to vCenter 4.0, and the action required by administrators to enable access. Table 9-1. Datastore and Network Permission Requirements
Object Datastore Before Upgrade Privilege Nonpropagating Read-only Propagating Read-only Network Nonpropagating Read-only Propagating Read-only After Upgrade Privilege No Access Allocate Space No Access Assign Network Action Required to Enable Access Assign access privileges for datastores or datastore folders. None. Assign access privileges for networks or network folders. None.
NOTE The Read-only propagating permission on a datacenter, as well as all other permissions you have set, will continue to work as expected after the upgrade. This chapter includes the following topics:
Datastore Privileges, on page 64 Network Privileges, on page 64
Update Datastore Permissions, on page 65 Update Network Permissions, on page 66

Datastore Privileges

In VMware vSphere 4.0, datastores have their own set of access control privileges. As a result, you might need to reconfigure your permissions to grant the new datastore privileges. This is required if you have nonpropagating Read-only permission set on the datacenter for users. Table 9-2 lists the default datastore privileges that, when selected for a role, can be paired with a user and assigned to a datastore. Table 9-2. Datastore Privileges
Privilege Name Allocate Space Browse Datastore Actions Granted to Users Allocate space on a datastore for a virtual machine, snapshot, or clone. Browse files on a datastore, including CDROM or Floppy media and serial or parallel port files. In addition, the browse datastore privilege allows users to add existing disks to a datastore. Remove a datastore. Delete a file in the datastore. Carry out file operations in the datastore browser. Move a datastore between folders in the inventory. NOTE Privileges are required on both the source and destination objects. Rename a datastore. Affects hosts, vCenter Servers hosts, vCenter Servers Pair with Object datastores datastores Effective on Object datastores, virtual disks datastores, datastore folders, hosts, virtual machines datastores, datastore folders datastores datastores datastores, datastore folders

Orchestrated Upgrade of Virtual Machines Scenario
An orchestrated upgrade allows you to upgrade VMware Tools and the virtual hardware of the virtual machines in your vSphere inventory at the same time. You can perform an orchestrated upgrade of virtual machines at the folder or datacenter level. Update Manager makes the process of upgrading the virtual machines convenient by providing baseline groups. When you remediate a virtual machine against a baseline group containing the VMware Tools Upgrade to Match Host baseline and the VM Hardware Upgrade to Match Host baseline, Update Manager sequences the upgrade operations in the correct order. As a result, the guest operating system is in a consistent state at the end of the upgrade.
Chapter 13 Upgrading Virtual Machines
Planning Downtime for Virtual Machines
Plan downtime for each virtual machine during the upgrade process. Typically, this downtime occurs during the virtual machine upgrade and the VMware Tools upgrade. Depending on your upgrade plan, some virtual machine downtime might be required during the ESX upgrade. If an ESX/ESXi host is not managed by vCenter Server, you cannot use VMotion to move virtual machines. The virtual machines must have some downtime when the ESX/ESXi host reboots after upgrade. You might not have to shut down more than a single virtual machine at any given time. You can stagger virtual machine downtimes to accommodate a schedule convenient to you and your customers. For example:
If your virtual machine users are located in diverse time zones, you can prepare by migrating virtual machines to specific hosts to serve a given time zone. This way you can arrange host upgrades so that virtual machine downtime occurs transparently outside business hours for that time zone. If your virtual machine users operate around the clock, you can delay downtime for their virtual machines to normally scheduled maintenance periods. You do not need to upgrade any stage within a certain time period. You can take as long as needed at any stage.
Downtime for Upgrading Virtual Machines
When you upgrade virtual machines, the required downtime varies depending on the guest operating system. The following procedures are involved in upgrading virtual machines:
Upgrade VMware Tools Upgrade virtual hardware
During the VMware Tools upgrade, the virtual machine remains powered on. For Microsoft Windows operating systems, you must reboot the guest operating system at the end of the VMware Tools upgrade procedure. For Linux, Netware, and Solaris guest operating systems, no reboot is required at the end of the procedure. When you upgrade VMware Tools, expect downtime as follows:

(Optional) For Microsoft Windows guest operating systems only, specify a location for the log file by entering values in the Advanced Options field. For example, /s /v "/qn" /l "<Microsoft Windows_location\filename.log>" performs a silent upgrade of VMware Tools and creates a log file in the specified location on the guest operating system.
(Optional) For Linux guest operating systems only, you can enter values in the Advanced Options field.
Option --default -prefix=<binary_location>,<lib_l ocation>,<doc_location> Description Same as the default behavior. Performs a silent upgrade of VMware Tools. Installs tools bin, lib and doc files in the default /usr directory. Performs a silent upgrade of VMware Tools and installs the binary, library, and document files in the specified locations.
Click OK. For Linux guest operating systems, run the following commands to restore the network.
Upgrade VMware Tools on Multiple Virtual Machines
You can upgrade VMware Tools on multiple virtual machines by using the Virtual Machines tab. Prerequisites Create backups or snapshots of the virtual machines. See Basic System Administration. Procedure 7 Start the vSphere Client and log in to the vCenter Server. Select Inventory > Hosts and Clusters. Select the host or cluster that contains the virtual machines to upgrade. Click the Virtual Machines tab. Select the virtual machines to upgrade and power them on. Right-click your selections, select Install/Upgrade Tools and click OK. For Linux guest operating systems, execute the following commands to restore the network:
The VMware Tools label on the Summary tab changes to OK.
What to do next (Recommended) Upgrade the virtual machine hardware to version 7. See Upgrade Virtual Hardware on Multiple Virtual Machines, on page 100.
Configure a Virtual Machine to Automatically Upgrade VMware Tools
You can configure a virtual machine to check for and apply VMware Tools upgrades each time you power on the virtual machine. Automatic VMware Tools upgrade is not supported for virtual machines with Solaris or Netware guest operating systems. Prerequisites
Back up your virtual machines to prevent data loss. See Basic System Administration. Virtual machines must have a version of VMware Tools shipped with ESX 3.0.1 or later installed. Virtual machines must be hosted on an ESX 3.0.1 or later, and VirtualCenter must be version 2.0.1 or later. Virtual machines residing on a VMware Server host cannot be automatically upgraded. Virtual machines must be running a Linux or Microsoft Windows guest operating system that is supported by ESX 3.0.1 or later and VirtualCenter 2.0.1 or later.

Add a Host to the List

vSphere Host Update Utility compiles a list of ESX/ESXi hosts that you connect to directly by using the vSphere Client. If the list is not complete, you can add hosts to be managed by vSphere Host Update Utility. Prerequisites The host must be reachable. Procedure 3 Select Start > Programs > VMware > vSphere Host Update Utility 4.0. Select Host > Add Host. Enter the host name or IP address and click Add.
vSphere Host Update Utility verifies that the selected host is reachable and adds the host to the list. What to do next Scan hosts and apply available updates or upgrade a host.
Download Patches and Updates
For ESXi, you can download available host patches and maintenance updates. Procedure Select Start > Programs > VMware > vSphere Host Update Utility 4.0. Select File > Download Patches from VMware.
vSphere Host Update Utility downloads patches and updates from the official servers. What to do next Scan the hosts and apply the updates and patches.
Scan Hosts and Apply Available Updates and Patches
You can check whether updates are available for the reachable hosts in your datacenter. When you select a patch to install, consider the following points:
The patch might be part of a bulletin that includes multiple patches. The contents of bulletins might overlap with each other.
Chapter 14 About Host Updates and Patches
The patch might depend on other patches as prerequisites. One patch might be a subset of another patch.
These behaviors are expected and are managed by vSphere Host Update Utility as needed. If you install a patch, do not be concerned if vSphere Host Update Utility installs multiple patches. Procedure 5 Select Start > Programs > VMware > vSphere Host Update Utility 4.0. Select a host. In the Host Details pane, click Scan for Patches. Enter the host username and password and click Login. (Optional) If updates are available, click Patch Host. For each host that you scan, vSphere Host Update Utility downloads available updates to the host. After the host is updated, an OK button appears. 6 Click OK.