vCenter 5 with a mix of 4.1 and 3.5 ESX hosts

[Kev_3PNTS]

Hi Everyone,

I hope all is well in the land of Vmware.

Quick quesiton, or at least I hope so.

I just recently installed vCenter 5 on my server and I'm not able to update any of the 4.1 and 3.5.

When I try to update the 3.5 I recevie this error(s)

Cound not case (enter ip address here)

VMware vSphere Update Manager had an unknown error. Check the events and logs files for details.

I'm assuming that the vCenter 5 can't update the 3.5... it can mange it, just not update it. Is that correct?

Simlar to when I try to update 4.1 too.

I have received Operation timed out.  - When trying to put it in Maintence mode

However, the main VM on this host also controls the DNS.  So when I power down the VM, I lose internet connection, but only on the VM host. All other PCs working fine.

So I'm assuming the only really option at this point is to manually update the server right?   After reading a few posts, seem to be a bit of a tasks.  Any suggestions there?

[vGuy]

Welcome to the community!

Kindly verify the update level of both 3.5 and 4.1 hosts running is in the compatibility list of vCenter 5.

(VMware interoperability matrix: http://partnerweb.vmware.com/comp_guide2/sim/interop_matrix.php )

[Kev_3PNTS]

Thanks vGuy, that was useful.

Now that I know both ESX 4.1u1 and ESX 3.5u5 are both supported by vCenter 5... I'm just confused why I can't update them.

I'm a bit disappointed that it's not easier to update them...    I guess I'll have to do some digging around to figure out how to manually update them.   I just wish it was a bit more automated.

Kevin

[Troy_Clavell]

what do you mean by update them?  There is no direct patch to "upgrade" 3.5 Hosts to ESXi5.

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2004501

[Kev_3PNTS]

When I got to the update manager and scan the host, it comes up with a bunch of updates required.  This goes with my ESX 4.1 and ESX 3.5.  When I try to run the update.  The host running 4.1 powers down the VM, which also controls the DNS, I lose internet connection, and can't download the updates.   With 3.5, it tries to update, then errors out.  Giving me the generic error "Unknow Error has occur, please reivew logs"

But I'm assuming that 3.5 can't be scanned, as the firewall doesn't have a option to allow the update manager to scan it.

Or, becuase I used non-default Ports for update manager, the 4.1 can't becuase it's look on port 80, which mine is set to 81.  I guess I'll have to manually modify the firewall rules to apply for that.

I'm not trying to update 3.5 to the newest version of ESXi, I'm tring to update the necessary patches.

So I guess I'm forced to update it manually, which seems like to be a pain in patch...

Kevin

[Troy_Clavell]

like I said, you cannot use VUM or any other upgrade option to upgrade your ESX 3.5 Hosts to ESXi5.  As for your 4.1 hosts, as long as you have vCenter5 and you upgraded VUM to the most current release you can use VUM to upgrade your 4.1 hosts.

[Kev_3PNTS]

Hi Troy,

I'm not trying to upgrade my 3.5 to 5.  I want to keep 3.5 the current version as the hardware only supports 3.5. 

There are security updates, general updates etc, for 4.1 and 3.5, that are indicated by vUM. But both are not able to do so.

When I try to update 4.1 I receive error as I explained earlier

Based on the first link, vUM 5 does support 4.1 and 3.5...a#

In any case, I'm just find the update process a bit time consuming, as even the latest CDs don't include the updates.

So I guess manually is the only way to do it.

[vGuy]

Hello Kevin - According to release notes, vCenter Update Manager 5 does support the host patching of 3.5 and later hosts.

have you tried to reinstall the update manager --> run the update download task and rescan again. Also, check the logs for any clues, On vCenter server: C:\Users\All Users\VMware\VMware Update Manager\Logs and /var/log/vmware/esxupdate.log on the individual hosts.

[Kev_3PNTS]

Yeah, I've tried that, and still northing works.

Do you think it might have anything to do with using a custom HP ISO?

Kevin

[vGuy]

Can you plz post the above logs mentioned? am hoping it should throw some light.