Upgrading vCenter Server Appliance from 5.0.x to 5.1 (2033990)

Purpose

This article provides steps to upgrade vCenter Server Appliance from 5.0.x to 5.1.

Resolution

vCenter Server Appliance 5.0.1 and 5.1 use PostgreSQL for the embedded database instead of IBM DB2, which was used in vCenter Server Appliance 5.0. 

If you use the embedded database with the vCenter Server Appliance, when you upgrade from 5.0 to 5.1, the embedded IBM DB2 database is migrated to a PostgreSQL database. The configuration state of your existing database is preserved and the schema is upgraded to be compatible with vCenter Server Appliance 5.1.

 

To upgrade vCenter Server Appliance from 5.0.x to 5.1:

1. Deploy the new version of the vCenter Server Appliance. For more information, see Downloading and deploying the vCenter Server Appliance 5.x (2007619). The new appliance has a default network configuration, and the Virtual Center Server service is not configured and disabled.
   
2. Connect to both the old and new appliances in separate browser windows. For Example:https://ip_address_of_vCenter_VM:5480.
   
3. In the new appliance, start the vCenter Server Setup wizard, and accept the end user license agreement.
   
4. In the new appliance, in the Configure Options panel, select Upgrade from previous version.
   
5. (Optional) Configure the vCenter Server Appliance to use an external vCenter Single Sign On instance instead of the default embedded Single Sign On.
   
   
   1. Click Configure SSO.
   2. On the SSO Settings page, set SSO deployment type to external.
   3. Enter the information for the Single Sign On instance.
      
      Note: The external Single Sign On instance must be hosted on another vCenter Server Appliance. It cannot be hosted on a Windows machine.
      
6. In the new appliance, click Next.
7. In the old appliance, on the Appliance Upgrade tab, select source for the appliance role, and click Set role.
8. In the old appliance, click Establish Trust.
9. In the new appliance, copy the local appliance key.
10. In the old appliance, paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field, and click Import remote key.
11. In the old appliance, copy the local appliance key.
12. In the new appliance, paste the local appliance key into the Remote appliance key field and click Next.
13. In the new appliance, click Next. 
    
    The new appliance shuts down the old appliance and assumes the network identity of the old appliance. If the old appliance was configured to use dynamic addressing, the new appliance will also use dynamic addressing. When the import is complete, the new vCenter Server Appliance starts.
14. Review the list of hosts managed by the source appliance and make sure that the hosts you want the new appliance to manage are checked.
    
15. Review the pre-upgrade check of the source appliance hosts and correct any errors before proceeding.
    
16. Confirm that you have taken a backup or snapshot of the source appliance and the external database and click Next.
    
17. (Optional) To follow the upgrade process, open an SSH session to the vCenter Server Appliance and run this command:
    
    tail -f /var/log/vmware/vami/upgrade.log
    
    Note: This also helps in identifying where the process has stopped, if there are any issues with the upgrade.
18. When the upgrade is complete, click Close.
    
    The vCenter Server Appliance is upgraded and the new appliance reboots. 
    Source:-
    http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2033990