New vCenter4 server

[pearlyshells]

We currently have VirtualCenter2.5 on a physical server. We are going to begin our upgrade to vSphere4. The first step is to upgrade or install vCenter4. However, our servers are all on lease and the VirtualCenter server is out of lease. We will receive a new server and I've pretty much decided to just install a fresh copy of vCenter on it instead recreating the VirtualCenter2.5 server and upgrading it.

We'll backup our VirtualCenter database as well as the license server file.

Since we will have both the VirtualCenter2.5 server and our replacement server for a few days, my thought is to install vCenter on the new server, attach the database and license server file to it. Then, I believe I'll need to recreate my environment again on the vCenter server to include presenting the FC LUNs again. is that correct? Or, is there a better way to do this?

[Troy_Clavell]

sounds like a plan, with one exception. The LUNS are presented to the ESX Hosts, so there is nothing that needs to be done.

A clean install of vCenter4 will work just fine. You can use the existing DB instance. Are you going to use the same name and IP address for your new vCenter instance?

Also, you could always run your vCenter Server as a VM and not have to ever worry about the hardware swap.

[pearlyshells]

Good question about the name. I'd like to keep the same name. i suspect it will make things less problematic.

Had discussed going with a VM prior.....but, a previous Dell Consultant advised us to go Physical with the VC box. is that not an accurate statement he made? Is a VM just as good? If so, I'll pose the question to the managers

[Troy_Clavell]

running vCenter as a VM is fully supported. Plus, one of the best advantages you get are DRS/HA. DRS will load balance the guest, and in the event of a hardware failure of one of your ESX Hosts, the vCenter VM will be restarted on another host in the cluster.

DRS is fully dependent on vCenter, so if your vCenter Sever is down, DRS won't work, but HA will.

We have vCenter instances running as both physical and virtual, the both perform just fine. The most important, in my opinion is to have a solid backend DB instance. After all the DB is still the meat and potatoes of your vCenter Server.

I'll link the KB article as well, just in case.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/5850444

[pearlyshells]

Thanks Troy

I like the idea of DRS for vCenter. If I go with a physical server, if it goes down....it's down. With a VM, like you said, I will have it on another host. We backup the database regularly so I feel comfortable as it is now....but, I certainly like the uncomplicated/facilitating feature of DRS for vCenter.

Thanks much

[Troy_Clavell]

you're welcome!

Also, check the ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide page 89, which gives you information on running vCenter as a VM

[pearlyshells]

Troy,

One more question. We have our ESX hosts behind a physical firewall separating the VI Management features from the actual Physical Servers. If I create a vCenter VM, it would have sit alongside the other ESX hosts behind the firewall. I am being told that if create a VM, we would have to access vCenter thru the vConsole network thus creating a security hole in our protection. surely, others have done this and have a good solution. Do you know?

[Troy_Clavell]

is the VLAN in which your vCenter Server sits on now, trunked into the ESX environment? I'm not a networking guy, but if rules have been setup for the physical vCenter Server, they should still work whether or not the vCenter Server is physical or virtual.

[pearlyshells]

Troy

Well, it seems we are not "certain" yet as to what we will do. We are back on the Fresh Install instead of upgrading since we are going to get the new server well before our planned upgrade to vSphere4. But, we have two camps discussing this. The first camp says do a fresh install, attach the current 3.5 database SQL instance and also the existing 3.5 license file. The second camp does not favor this but instead wants to do a PlateSpin P2P and then on the new server do an upgrade. Why? They contend that doing a fresh install of vCenter and attaching the 3.5database will do harm to the database because it will necessarily modify the metadata. So, the sticky point is the SQL VirtualCenter2.5 database. In the class I attended I thought that a fresh install with the VirtualCenter2.5 database and existing license file was possible and that there would be no issues (other than the fact that vSphere features would not work...but, all the existing features would still function normally). Am I wrong? Is there a problem in doing a fresh vCenter install and connecting to the existing database and license file?

[Troy_Clavell]

Is there a problem in doing a fresh vCenter install and connecting to the existing database and license file?

You can do a fresh install/or upgrade, either one will work. If you have a separate DB, even better. You would just use existing DB and during the install/upgrade process the schema of your DB will be upgraded as well.

No need to spend the additional money on PlateSpin, it's very expensive and not necessary.

If you are going to manage 3.5 hosts with your vCenter4 instance, then you will still need to keep your license server in tact. However, that license server can reside anywhere, you just need vCenter4 to be aware of it.

[pearlyshells]

Thanks Troy,

So a fresh install with the existing Dbase and license file "will work" and cause no harm. That's how I remember the discussion in class. vCenter install will upgrade the Database so that we can continue to work vMotion, create VMs, use our existing DRS/HA clusters, et al with the old VirtualCenter features...not the vSphere features, correct? We lose nothing that we currently have. All will seem normal except that we are vCenter and one step further into our migration to vSphere4.

how can I explain this to our Database folks who are "sure" that connecting vCenter to the old database "will harm" the metadata and thus render vCenter nonfunctional for us?

[Troy_Clavell · Accepted solution]

you will not lose any of your features. Remember features are based on licensing. I assume you had/have Enterprise Licensing with VI3, that licensing will be the same in vSphere4.

As for your DBA's, tell them just to make a full backup of the DB and you'll call them if you need their help

P.S. see this snipit from the vSphere Upgrade Guide

About the Database Upgrade Wizard

The Database Upgrade wizard updates the schema of the VirtualCenter database. The Database Upgrade

wizard runs after you complete the vCenter Server installation wizard.

When you perform an upgrade to vCenter Server, you must use a VirtualCenter 2.x database that is supported

for upgrade by vCenter Server 4.0.

The Database Upgrade wizard runs after you click Install in the vCenter Server installer. The Database

Upgrade wizard upgrades the database schema to make it compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. The schema

defines the tables, the fields in each table, and the relationships between fields and tables.

If you are upgrading from VirtualCenter 2.5, the Database Upgrade wizard runs in the background. If you are

upgrading from VirtualCenter 2.0.x, the Database Upgrade wizard appears and you must complete the wizard.

The Database Upgrade wizard does not upgrade an unsupported database version (for example, Oracle 9i)

into a supported database.

[pearlyshells]

Thanks Troy

Appreciate your help