Overview of the vSphere Upgrade Process

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Introduction to vSphere Upgrade :

vSphere 6.7 provides many options for upgrading your vSphere deployment. For a successful vSphere upgrade, you must understand the upgrade options, the configuration details that impact the upgrade process, and the sequence of tasks.
The two core components of vSphere are VMware ESXi™ and VMware vCenter Server™. ESXi is the virtualization platform on which you can create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is a service that acts as a central administrator for ESXi hosts connected in a network. You use the vCenter Server system to pool and manage the resources of multiple hosts. vCenter Server Appliance is a preconfigured Linux OS--based virtual machine optimized for running the vCenter Server system and the vCenter Server components.
Starting with vSphere 6.0, important required services for running vCenter Server and the vCenter Server components are included in the Platform Services Controller.
Based on your existing vCenter Server configuration details, you can upgrade to one of the following deployment types:
vSphere is a sophisticated product with multiple components to upgrade. Understanding the required sequence of tasks is vital for a successful vSphere upgrade.
Overview of High-Level vSphere Upgrade Tasks

Upgrading vSphere includes the following tasks:
  1. Read the vSphere release notes.
  2. Verify that you have backed up your configuration.
  3. If your vSphere system includes VMware solutions or plug-ins, verify that they are compatible with the vCenter Server or vCenter Server Appliance version to which you are upgrading. See VMware Product Interoperability Matrix at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/sim/interop_matrix.php
  4. Upgrade vCenter Server.
    For detailed instructions, see vCenter Server Upgrade
  5. If you are using vSphere Update Manager, upgrade it. Refer to the VMware vSphere Update Manager documentation.
  6. Upgrade your ESXi hosts. See Overview of the ESXi Host Upgrade Process.
  7. To ensure sufficient disk storage for log files, consider setting up a syslog server for remote logging. Setting up logging on a remote host is especially important for hosts with limited local storage.
    See Required Free Space for System Logging and Configure Syslog on ESXi Hosts.
  8. Upgrade your VMs and virtual appliances, manually or by using vSphere Update Manager, to perform an orchestrated upgrade.
    See Upgrading Virtual Machines and VMware Tools

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