wikiVMware Upgrade Process - Migrating from vSphere 4 to vSphere 5
This article will describe the process and various options for upgrading an ESXi server from vSphere 4 to vSphere 5. In principle, all VMware customers, who have valid support and maintenance contracts, have the right to upgrade.
License Correlation
| vSphere 4 Edition | vSphere 5 Edition |
| Essentials | Essentials |
| Essentials Plus | Essentials Plus |
| Standard | Standard |
| Advanced | Enterprise |
| Enterprise | Enterprise |
| Enterprise Plus | Enterprise Plus |
Preparation
Because your existing license keys will not be valid for vSphere 5, you will have to apply for new keys from the VMware licensing portal.[1][2]
Please note that the terms for the use of CPU cores and RAM have changed for vSphere 5. Functional differences in VMware vSphere 5 Editions
Backup the host settings in every case before beginning the upgrade process.
Migration via ISO Image
For smaller environments, migration using ISO images is appropriate.[3] With a valid maintenance contract, you can download the ISO image from the VMware licensing portal.
VMware Update Manager
For larger environments, upgrading using the Upgrade Manager from VMware makes sense.[4]
Downgrading Licenses
With an existing support and maintenance contract, you have the right to downgrade.[5]
The correlation of the licenses follows the reverse order for the table above.
Custom VIBs Warning
If you upgrade a host that has user-defined vSphere Installation Bundles (VIBs), an error message will be displayed during the upgrade, if the VIBs are not identical to those in the ISO upgrade file.[6][7]
References
- ↑ VMware Account Management (vmware.com)
- ↑ VMware vSphere Upgrade Center Upgrading VMware vSphere License Keys (vmware.com)
- ↑ Upgrading from ESX 4.x to ESXi 5.0 using the interactive installer (You Tube Video about VMware KB Article 2004501)
- ↑ Upgrading to ESXi 5.0 using Update Manager 5.0 (You Tube Video about VMware KB Article 2004501)
- ↑ VMware vSphere Upgrade Center Version Downgrade (vmware.com)
- ↑ VMware vSphere 5 Upgrade Guide (pubs.vmware.com)
- ↑ VMware Community (communitites.vmware.com)
Additional Information
- VMware vSphere Upgrade Center (vmware.com)
- Methods of upgrading to ESXi 5.0 (VMware Knowledge Base)
