vSphere 6.7 is here! and the vCenter Server Appliance is now the default deployment. This release is full of new enhancements for the vCenter Server Appliance in all areas. Now customers have more tooling to help with monitoring. The vSphere Client (HTML5) is full of new workflows and closer to feature parity. The vCenter Server Appliance architecture is moving to a simpler deployment model. Did I mention the built-in File-Based backup now includes a scheduler? And the vCenter Server Appliance UI is sporting the Clarity theme? These are only a few of the new enhancements in the vCenter Server Appliance 6.7. This blog post will go into more details of the enhancements mentioned above and more.
Lifecycle
Install
One significant change for the vCenter Server Appliance is around simplifying the architecture. Going back to running all vCenter Server services on a single instance with all the benefits. We can now do exactly that with the vCenter Server Appliance 6.7. Introducing vCenter Server with Embedded PSC with Enhanced Linked Mode. Let’s take a look at the benefits this deployment model brings:
One significant change for the vCenter Server Appliance is around simplifying the architecture. Going back to running all vCenter Server services on a single instance with all the benefits. We can now do exactly that with the vCenter Server Appliance 6.7. Introducing vCenter Server with Embedded PSC with Enhanced Linked Mode. Let’s take a look at the benefits this deployment model brings:
- No load balancer required for high availability and fully supports native vCenter Server High Availability.
- SSO Site boundary removal provides flexibility of placement.
- Supports vSphere scale maximums.
- Allows for 15 deployments in a vSphere Single Sign-On Domain.
- Reduces the number of nodes to manage and maintain.
Migrate
vSphere 6.7 is also the last release to include vCenter Server for Windows, which has been deprecated. Customers can migrate to the vCenter Server Appliance with the built-in Migration Tool. In vSphere 6.7 we can now select how to import the historical and performance data during a migration:
vSphere 6.7 is also the last release to include vCenter Server for Windows, which has been deprecated. Customers can migrate to the vCenter Server Appliance with the built-in Migration Tool. In vSphere 6.7 we can now select how to import the historical and performance data during a migration:
- Deploy & import all data
- Deploy & import data in the background
Customers will also get an estimated time of how long each option will take when migrating. Estimated time will vary based on historical and performance data size in your environment. While importing data in the background customers have the option to pause and resume. This new ability is available in the vSphere Appliance Management Interface. Another improvement to the migration process is support of custom ports. Customers who changed the default Windows vCenter Server ports are no longer blocked.
Upgrade
vSphere 6.7. will support upgrades and migrations only from vSphere 6.0 or 6.5. vSphere 5.5 does not have a direct upgrade path to vSphere 6.7. Customers still on vSphere 5.5 will need to upgrade to vSphere 6.0 or 6.5 first and then to vSphere 6.7. Also, a vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 managing ESXi 5.5 hosts cannot be upgraded or migrated until the hosts have been upgraded to at least ESXi 6.0.
vSphere 6.7. will support upgrades and migrations only from vSphere 6.0 or 6.5. vSphere 5.5 does not have a direct upgrade path to vSphere 6.7. Customers still on vSphere 5.5 will need to upgrade to vSphere 6.0 or 6.5 first and then to vSphere 6.7. Also, a vCenter Server 6.0 or 6.5 managing ESXi 5.5 hosts cannot be upgraded or migrated until the hosts have been upgraded to at least ESXi 6.0.
Reminder:end of general support for vSphere 5.5 is September 19, 2018.
Monitoring & Management
A lot of investment went into improving monitoring for the vCenter Server Appliance. We saw these improvements starting in vSphere 6.5, and vSphere 6.7 is adding several new enhancements. Let’s first log in to the vSphere Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) on port 5480. The first thing we notice is the VAMI has received an update to the Clarity UI. We also notice there are several new tabs on the left-hand side compared to vSphere 6.5. There is now a tab dedicated to monitoring. Here we can see CPU, memory, network, and database utilization. A new section of the monitoring tab called disks is now available. Customers can now see each of the disk partitions for the vCenter Server Appliance, space available, and utilization.
File-Based Backup was first introduced in vSphere 6.5 under the summary tab and now it has its own backup tab. The first available option front and center when going to the backup tab is a scheduler. Now customers can schedule the backups of their vCenter Server Appliances and select how many backups to retain. Another new section for File-Based backup is Activities. Once the backup job is complete it will be logged in the activity section with detailed information. We can’t talk backup without mentioning restore. The Restore workflow now includes a backup archive browser. The browser displays all your backups without having to know the entire backup path.
Another new tab called Services is also within the VAMI. Once located within the vSphere Web Client and now in VAMI for out of band troubleshooting. All the services that make up the vCenter Server Appliance, their startup type, health, and state are visible here. We are also given the option to start, stop, and restart services if needed.
While the Syslog and Update tabs are not new to the VAMI, there are improvements in these areas as well. Syslog now supports up to three syslog forwarding targets. Prior, vSphere 6.5 only supported forwarding to only one. There is now more flexibility in patching and updating. From the Update tab, we will now have the option to select which patch or update to apply. Customers will also have more information including type, severity, and if a reboot is necessary. Expanding a patch or update in the view will display more information about what is included. Finally, we can now stage and install a patch or update from the VAMI. This capability was previously only available from the CLI.
vSphere Client (HTML5)
Another area where there has been significant investment in the vSphere Client. With vSphere 6.5 VMware introduced a supported version of the vSphere Client (HTML5). Included in the vCenter Server Appliance it only had partial functionality. The vSphere team has been working hard on getting the vSphere Client to feature parity. Based on customer feedback, the team has been optimizing and improving workflows. The release of vSphere 6.7 also marks the final release of the vSphere Web Client (Flash). Some of the newer workflows in the updated vSphere Client release include:
- vSphere Update Manager
- Content Library
- vSAN
- Storage Policies
- Host Profiles
- vDS Topology Diagram
- Licensing
Some of the workflows mentioned above are not all feature complete. VMware will continue updating the vSphere Client in future vSphere maintenance (patch/update) releases. We are almost there!
There is also one less client, The Platform Services Controller (PSC) UI (/psc) functionality is now part of the vSphere Client. Now located under the Administration menu, the PSC options are divided between two tabs. Certificate management has its own tab and all other management is under the configuration tab.
CLI Tools
The vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 CLI also has some new enhancements. The first is the repointing enhancements using cmsso-util. While not a new feature, it was not available in vSphere 6.5 and makes a return in vSphere 6.7. We are talking about repointing an external vCenter Server Appliance across SSO Sites within a vSphere SSO domain. That’s not all you can do with repointing.
Customers can now repoint their vCenter Server Appliance across vSphere SSO domains. Can you say consolidation? The domain repoint feature only supports external deployments running vSphere 6.7. Built-in the domain repoint feature has a pre-check option, which I cannot stress enough to use. The pre-check compares the two vSphere SSO domains and lists any discrepancies in a conflict JSON file. This is your opportunity resolve any of the discrepancies before running the domain repoint tool. The repoint tool can migrate licenses, tags, categories, and permissions from one vSphere SSO Domain to another.
Another CLI enhancement is around using the cli installer to manage the vCenter Server Appliance lifecycle. The vCenter Server Appliance ISO comes with JSON template examples. These JSON templates are a way to ensure consistency across installs, upgrades, and migrations. Usually, we would have to run one JSON template from the cli installer at a time in the correct order. This manual per-node deployment is now a thing of the past with batch operations. With batch operations, several JSON templates can be run in sequence from a single directory without intervention. Before running use pre-checks option on the directory to verify the templates including sequence.
Conclusion
There you have it, the vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 is the new standard for running vCenter Server. This blog post highlights several of the new features in this release. I will also have more detailed posts on the features mentioned above and more, stay tuned. Please post questions in the comments section or reach out to me @emad_younis via Twitter.
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ESXi Version 5.5.0 History
Jump to release date: 2018-09-13 | 2018-08-14 | 2018-06-28 | 2018-03-20 | 2018-01-22 | 2017-09-14 | 2017-03-28 | 2016-12-20 | 2016-09-15 | 2016-08-04 | 2016-02-21 | 2016-01-04 | 2015-12-08 (Update 3b) | 2015-10-06 (Update 3a) | 2015-09-16 (Update 3) | 2015-05-08 | 2015-04-07 | 2015-02-05 | 2015-01-27 | 2014-12-02 | 2014-10-15 | 2014-09-09 (Update 2) | 2014-07-01 | 2014-06-10 | 2014-04-19 (Heartbleed) | 2014-03-11 (Update 1) | 2013-12-22 | 2013-09-22 (GA) |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20180904001-standard (Build 9919047) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.124.9919047 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201809401-BG |
ipmi-ipmi-devintf | 39.1-4vmw.550.3.124.9919047 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 ipmi-ipmi-devintf | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201809402-BG |
ipmi-ipmi-si-drv | 39.1-4vmw.550.3.124.9919047 | VMware | ipmi_si_drv: ipmi driver for VMware ESX | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201809402-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20180804001-standard (Build 9313066) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cpu-microcode | 5.5.0-3.120.9313066 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 cpu-microcode | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201808402-BG |
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.120.9313066 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201808401-BG |
esx-ui | 1.21.1-9210156 | VMware | VMware Host Client | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201808403-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20180604001-standard (Build 8934887) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cpu-microcode | 5.5.0-3.117.8934887 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 cpu-microcode | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201806402-BG |
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.117.8934887 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201806401-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20180304001-standard (Build 7967571) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
cpu-microcode | 5.5.0-3.114.7967571 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 cpu-microcode | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201803402-BG |
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.114.7967571 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201803401-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20180103001-standard (Build 7618464) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.107.7618464 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201801301-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20170904001-standard (Build 6480324) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.106.6480324 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201709401-BG |
esx-ui | 1.21.0-5752109 | VMware | VMware Host Client | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201709402-BG |
esx-xserver | 5.5.0-3.103.6480267 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-xserver | security | important | ESXi550-201709103-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20170901001s-standard (Build 6480267) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.103.6480267 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201709101-SG |
esx-ui | 1.12.0-6027315 | VMware | VMware Host Client | security | important | ESXi550-201709102-SG |
esx-xserver | 5.5.0-3.103.6480267 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-xserver | security | important | ESXi550-201709103-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20170304001-standard (Build 5230635) includes the following updated VIBs: Download dubbed hollywood movie in ….
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.101.5230635 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201703401-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20161204001-standard (Build 4722766) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.100.4722766 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201612401-BG |
esx-tboot | 5.5.0-3.100.4722766 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-tboot | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201612402-BG |
esx-ui | 1.12.0-4722375 | VMware | VMware Host Client | security | important | ESXi550-201612102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20161201001s-standard (Build 4756874) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.97.4756874 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201612101-SG |
esx-ui | 1.12.0-4722375 | VMware | VMware Host Client | security | important | ESXi550-201612102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20160904001-standard (Build 4345813) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ehci-ehci-hcd | 1.0-3vmw.550.3.95.4345813 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 ehci-ehci-hcd | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201609402-BG |
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.95.4345813 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201609401-BG |
esx-ui | 1.8.0-4277191 | VMware | VMware Host Client | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201609403-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-3.95.4345813 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201609402-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-3.92.4345810 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | security | important | ESXi550-201609102-SG |
xhci-xhci | 1.0-3vmw.550.3.95.4345813 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 xhci-xhci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201609402-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20160901001s-standard (Build 4345810) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.92.4345810 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201609101-SG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-3.92.4345810 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | security | important | ESXi550-201609102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20160804001-standard (Build 4179633) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ehci-ehci-hcd | 1.0-3vmw.550.3.89.4179633 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 ehci-ehci-hcd | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201608404-BG |
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.89.4179633 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201608401-BG |
esx-ui | 1.2.0-3845898 | VMware | VMware Host Client | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201608405-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-3.89.4179633 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201608404-BG |
sata-ahci | 3.0-22vmw.550.3.89.4179633 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 sata-ahci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201608402-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-3.89.4179633 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201608403-BG |
xhci-xhci | 1.0-3vmw.550.3.89.4179633 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 xhci-xhci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201608404-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20160801001s-standard (Build 4179631) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.86.4179631 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201608101-SG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-3.86.4179631 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | security | important | ESXi550-201608102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20160204001-standard (Build 3568722) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.84.3568722 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201602401-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20160104001-standard (Build 3343343) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.81.3343343 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | enhancement | important | ESXi550-201601401-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20151204001-standard (Build 3248547) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ehci-ehci-hcd | 1.0-3vmw.550.3.78.3248547 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 ehci-ehci-hcd | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201512402-BG |
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.78.3248547 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201512401-BG |
lsi-msgpt3 | 00.255.03.03-2vmw.550.3.78.3248547 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 lsi-msgpt3 | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201512404-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-3.78.3248547 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201512402-BG |
net-e1000e | 3.2.2.1-2vmw.550.3.78.3248547 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-e1000e | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201512402-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-3.78.3248547 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201512403-BG |
xhci-xhci | 1.0-3vmw.550.3.78.3248547 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 xhci-xhci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201512402-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20151201001s-standard (Build 3247226) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.75.3247226 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201512101-SG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-3.75.3247226 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | security | important | ESXi550-201512102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20151004001-standard (Build 3116895) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.71.3116895 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201510401-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150902001-standard (Build 3029944) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
elxnet | 10.2.309.6v-1vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 elxnet | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509212-UG |
esx-base | 5.5.0-3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201509201-UG |
lsi-mr3 | 0.255.03.01-2vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 lsi-mr3 | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509209-UG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509203-UG |
net-e1000e | 3.2.2.1-2vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-e1000e | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509210-UG |
sata-ahci | 3.0-22vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 sata-ahci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509211-UG |
scsi-megaraid-sas | 5.34-9vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-megaraid-sas | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509204-UG |
scsi-mpt2sas | 14.00.00.00-3vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-mpt2sas | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509205-UG |
scsi-mptsas | 4.23.01.00-9vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-mptsas | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509206-UG |
scsi-mptspi | 4.23.01.00-9vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-mptspi | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509207-UG |
scsi-qla2xxx | 902.k1.1-12vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-qla2xxx | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509208-UG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509202-UG |
xhci-xhci | 1.0-2vmw.550.3.68.3029944 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 xhci-xhci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201509213-UG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150901001s-standard (Build 3029837) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.65.3029837 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201509101-SG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-2.65.3029837 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | security | important | ESXi550-201509102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150504001-standard (Build 2718055) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.62.2718055 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201505401-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-2.62.2718055 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201505404-BG |
net-ixgbe | 3.7.13.7.14iov-12vmw.550.2.62.2718055 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-ixgbe | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201505403-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-2.62.2718055 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201505402-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150501001s-standard (Build 2702869) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.59.2702869 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201505101-SG |
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Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150402001-standard (Build 2638301) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.58.2638301 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201504201-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150204001-standard (Build 2456374) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.55.2456374 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201502401-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150104001-standard (Build 2403361) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.54.2403361 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201501401-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-2.54.2403361 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201501403-BG |
net-igb | 5.0.5.1.1-1vmw.550.2.54.2403361 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-igb | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201501405-BG |
sata-ahci | 3.0-21vmw.550.2.54.2403361 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 sata-ahci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201501404-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-2.54.2403361 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201501402-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20150101001s-standard (Build 2352327) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.51.2352327 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201501101-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20141204001-standard (Build 2302651) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.42.2302651 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201412401-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20141004001-standard (Build 2143827) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.39.2143827 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201410401-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-2.39.2143827 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201410402-BG |
net-vmxnet3 | 1.1.3.0-3vmw.550.2.39.2143827 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-vmxnet3 | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201410406-BG |
sata-ahci | 3.0-21vmw.550.2.39.2143827 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 sata-ahci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201410403-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-2.39.2143827 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201410405-BG |
xhci-xhci | 1.0-2vmw.550.2.39.2143827 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 xhci-xhci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201410404-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20141001001s-standard (Build 2093874) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.36.2093874 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201410101-SG |
![Vmware vsphere 5.5 eol Vmware vsphere 5.5 eol](/uploads/1/2/3/7/123736712/767541362.png)
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140902001-standard (Build 2068190) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201409201-UG |
esx-tboot | 5.5.0-2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-tboot | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201409201-UG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201409206-UG |
net-tg3 | 3.123c.v55.5-1vmw.550.2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-tg3 | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201409203-UG |
sata-ahci | 3.0-20vmw.550.2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 sata-ahci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201409204-UG |
sata-ata-piix | 2.12-10vmw.550.2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 sata-ata-piix | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201409207-UG |
scsi-megaraid-sas | 5.34-9vmw.550.2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-megaraid-sas | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201409205-UG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-2.33.2068190 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201409202-UG |
Vmware Vsphere 5.5 End Of Life
(For more information see KB2079732.)Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140901001s-standard (Build 1980513) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-1.30.1980513 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201409101-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140704001-standard (Build 1892794) includes the following updated VIBs:
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Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-1.28.1892794 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201407401-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-1.28.1892794 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201407402-BG |
net-tg3 | 3.123c.v55.5-1vmw.550.1.28.1892794 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-tg3 | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201407405-BG |
scsi-megaraid-sas | 5.34-9vmw.550.1.28.1892794 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-megaraid-sas | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201407404-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-1.28.1892794 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201407403-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140701001s-standard (Build 1892623) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-1.25.1892623 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201407101-SG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-1.25.1892623 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | security | important | ESXi550-201407102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140604001-standard (Build 1881737) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-1.18.1881737 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | important | ESXi550-201406401-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140404001-standard (Build 1746018) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-1.16.1746018 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201404401-SG |
lsi-mr3 | 0.255.03.01-2vmw.550.1.16.1746018 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 lsi-mr3 | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201404403-BG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-1.16.1746018 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201404402-BG |
Vmware Vsphere 5.5 Documentation Center
(For more information see KB2076124.)Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140401020s-standard (Build 1746974) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-0.15.1746974 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201404420-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140302001-standard (Build 1623387) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201403201-UG |
lsi-msgpt3 | 00.255.03.03-1vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 lsi-msgpt3 | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403206-UG |
mtip32xx-native | 3.3.4-1vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 mtip32xx-native | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403207-UG |
net-e1000e | 1.1.2-4vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-e1000e | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403204-UG |
net-igb | 5.0.5.1.1-1vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-igb | enhancement | important | ESXi550-201403210-UG |
net-tg3 | 3.123c.v55.5-1vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 net-tg3 | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201403211-UG |
rste | 2.0.2.0088-4vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 rste | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403203-UG |
sata-ahci | 3.0-18vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 sata-ahci | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403208-UG |
scsi-megaraid-sas | 5.34-9vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-megaraid-sas | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403209-UG |
scsi-mpt2sas | 14.00.00.00-3vmw.550.1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 scsi-mpt2sas | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403205-UG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-1.15.1623387 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201403202-UG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20140301001s-standard (Build 1598313) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-0.14.1598313 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201403101-SG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-0.14.1598313 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | security | important | ESXi550-201403102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20131204001-standard (Build 1474528) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-0.8.1474528 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | bugfix | critical | ESXi550-201312401-BG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-0.7.1474526 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | security | important | ESXi550-201312102-SG |
tools-light | 5.5.0-0.8.1474528 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 tools-light | bugfix | important | ESXi550-201312402-BG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-20131201001s-standard (Build 1474526) includes the following updated VIBs:
Name | Version | Vendor | Summary | Category | Severity | Bulletin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
esx-base | 5.5.0-0.7.1474526 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 esx-base | security | critical | ESXi550-201312101-SG |
misc-drivers | 5.5.0-0.7.1474526 | VMware | Updates the ESX 5.5.0 misc-drivers | security | important | ESXi550-201312102-SG |
Imageprofile ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-standard (Build 1331820) is the GA release of ESXi 5.5.0.
VMware vSphere High Availability (HA) feature is used to prevent unplanned downtime that could cause from hardware failure, power outage, etc. VMware vSphere HA protects against host failures, guest OS failures and application failures by restarting the virtual machine in another host within the cluster. So configuring HA is one of the important tasks in vSphere infrastructure. In this post, I will show steps to configure VMware vSphere HA in vSphere 5.5
Configure VMware vSphere HA in vSphere 5.5
In vSphere HA, the hosts should be in cluster and managed by same vCenter server. Similarly, the shared storage should also be accessible by all hosts in the cluster. The hosts should also have VMkernel network with Management Network check box enabled and static IP address configured. VMware vSphere HA protects from three types of failures: –
- Host Failures: – To protect virtual machines from host failures, heart beats are exchanged between physical hosts in the vSphere cluster. If any hosts of the cluster fails then the virtual machines are restarted in another hosts in the cluster after 30 seconds by default.
- Guest OS Failures: – To protect the guest OS failures, the heartbeats are exchanged between the virtual machine and vCenter server. The VMware tools installed in the guest OS does the heartbeat exchange with vCenter server. If vCenter server stops receiving the heartbeats then the VM is restarted on the same host.
- Application Failures: – To protect applications, heartbeats are exchanged between the application itself and vCenter server. If the application stops sending heartbeats to vCenter server, then the whole virtual machine is rebooted on the same host.
Enough of the basics, now let’s start configuring vSphere HA. Here are the reminders,
- Make sure the shared storage is accessible by all the hosts that will be in same cluster.
- Create a cluster.
- Configure vSphere HA.
- Add hosts in the cluster.
Step 1. Login to vCenter server with vSphere client or web client. I will use vSphere client. Go to Hosts and Clusters view, right-click the virtual datacenter and click New Cluster.
New Cluster wizard will pop up as shown below. Type the name of the cluster, MBG-Cluster. Under the cluster feature, check Turn on vSphere HA. Click Next.
Step 2. Under Host Monitoring Status, check Enable Host Monitoring option. This option is checked by default. Similarly, under Admission Control, check Enable: Disallow VM Power on operations that violate availability constraints. The vSphere HA Admission Control policy ensures enough resources are available upon failure of any host in the cluster. Under Admission Control Policy, choose percentage of cluster resources reserved as failover spare capacity. Here, you can increase or decrease percentage value based upon your scenario. Click Next.
Step 3. Under Virtual Machine Options, you can set the restart priority of virtual machines. You can always come back later here and edit the settings. Choose Leave powered on option for Host Isolation response option.
Step 4. Under Virtual Machine Options, set VM restart priority. You can set important VMs with higher priority so that it starts earlier than other non-critical VMs. For Host isolation option, choose leave powered on option and click Next. Under VM Monitoring, choose VM and Application Monitoring from the drop down. Click Next.
Step 5. On the VMware EVC tab, you can enable if you have hosts with different processor but with same vendor and same family. If you have same processors on all hosts then leave disable and click Next.
Step 6. Under VM Swapfile location, leave the default and click Next.
Step 7. Now review the configuration settings and click Finish.
Step 8. Now simply add the hosts to the cluster object by simply adding the hosts. Right click the cluster object and click Add Host.
Step 9. New Add Host wizard will open. Here, enter the IP addresses of the host. Enter username and password of the host and click Next.
Step 10. View the summary and click Next.
Step 11. Under Assign License setting, enter the license key. Here, I will choose evaluation mode and click Next.
Step 12. Under Lockdown Mode, leave the default and click Next.
Step 13. Review the information and click Finish.
You can see the list of VMs being added in the cluster.
Step 14. Now add another host in the cluster. Repeat the same steps to add another host as shown below.
Step 15. Review the host information and click Next.
To view the cluster status, click the cluster object and select the summary tab.
To test vSphere HA, turn off the host that is running some virtual machines, after few minutes you will see the virtual machines are restarted in another (secondary) host(s) within the cluster. This is how you can configure vSphere HA.
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Bipin is a freelance Network and System Engineer with expertise on Cisco, Juniper, Microsoft, VMware, and other technologies. You can hire him on UpWork . Follow Bipin Giri on Google+. Bipin enjoys writing articles and tutorials related to Network technologies. Some of his certifications are, MCSE:Messaging, JNCIP-SEC, JNCIS-ENT, and others.
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If you don’t already know, VMware Update Manager (aka, VUM) is a tool which allows you to easily automate patching and upgrading VMware hosts as well as virtual machine hardware and VMware tools. It’s a wonderful tool and makes upgrading and patching so much easier and allows you to quickly see how compliant/up-to-date your environment is with the built in pie graph.
Recently we had some pretty serious array issues which corrupted the VUM database taking Update Manager down. Since we was going to have to rebuild Update Manager I opted to move from Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2012, in the steps below I’ll document step by step how to install VMware Update Manager 5.5 on Server 2012 and a separate database.
Creating the VMware Update Manager database
Since we already have our vCenter SQL database on it’s on VM (not installed on the vCenter server), I’m going to use the same database server to also run the VMware Update Manager database as well.
To automate the creation of the database I used ran the following script on the database server, be sure to replace “domainservice-account-name” with your own domain and service account username.
That should create the databases needed with the correct permissions. The only thing you may want to change is set the database recovery from “Full” to “Simple”, otherwise that’s it on the database server.
Creating the VUM 32-bit DSN
First thing’s first, make sure your VUM service account is a local admin on your new Server 2012 virtual machine. Next, before I could get started configure the 32-bit DSM connection I first had to install the SQL Server Native Client which I quickly installed by mounting the SQL Server ISO to my new VUM virtual machine and went to the folder: 1033_enu_lpx64setupx64 and ran the file: sqlncli.msi. Velaikaran movie tamil.
Now lets setup the DSN…
- Open the 32-bit ODBC Manager which is located here:
C:WindowsSysWOW64 named odbcad32.exe - Click on the System DSN tab and then click on Add.
- From the list of data sources, select SQL Server Native Client and click on Next.
- Give the new data source a name, description and lastly enter the name of your SQL database server and click Next.
- Leave the default “with Integrated Windows Authentication” selected and click on Next
- From the default database drop down menu select the name of your VUM database and click Next.
- Finish the configuration and now we’re ready to actually install VUM!
Installing VMware Update Manager
For this install I used the latest ISO currently available at the time of writing this (VMware-VIMSetup-all-5.5.0-1750795-20140201-update01.iso).
- Mount the ISO image to your VM which should start the VMware vCenter Installer, select “vSphere Update Manager” and click on Next
- Select the language of your choice and click on Ok.
- Start the install wizard by clicking Next.
- Accept the license agreement.
- I want VUM to download updates right away and so I left the default “Download updates from default sources immediately after installation” checked.
- VUM needs to register with vCenter, so enter the vCenter IP or Name along with any username and password that has administrator access on vCenter.
- Since we’ve opted to use a standalone SQL server for this install, select “Use an existing supported database” and use the previously configured DSN from the drop down (VUM).
- Summary of database configuration.
- Enter the IP or name of your vCenter server, I’ve used the FQDN name in this case.
- Neither of my drives on the VUM VM have have 120GB or more free space and thus the installer shows this warning message. It’s okay, just click Ok to continue.
- I added an 80GB drive to the VM and changed the destination folder to the secondary drive. You don’t have to change the destination if you don’t want to. Click Next.
- To start the installation click on Install
- That’s it, click on Finish.
Now that the install for Update Manager is complete, log into the vSphere client and confirm the “VMware vSphere Update Manager” plugin is listed.
You’ve now installed vSphere Update Manager and are ready to start upgrading and patching your hosts. If you need help with that I’ve already posted about that earlier in my Upgrade ESXi host to ESXi 5.5 using VMware Update Manager 5.5 post.
Enjoy!
Everyone at VMware, including myself, is so very excited about the release of vSphere 6.7. So far, demand has been high as we expected. This release focused on a broad set of new features as well as significant enhancements on top of what we put out in the market with vSphere 6.5 in late 2016.
Any new release does bring up an obvious customer question that I hear all the time: 6.5 or 6.7, as a user which should I choose?
I realize the “it depends” answer is never satisfying but it really is in this case. Even though that is the answer it doesn’t mean users should be in limbo. To me, the choice breaks into a few clearly defined steps that best align with your business and IT objectives:
- First, get educated on what vSphere 6.7 brings to the table. This is ALWAYS the best place to start. This can be done by reviewing the release notes, blogs, or the large variety of VMware events and/or resources available.
- Once you are educated on the feature set and value the 6.7 product release can provide, does this make sense in your environment? I have many customer interactions where I go through a list of features and only one really resonates with my audience but that one is a must-have feature. Is there that one or more within the vSphere 6.7 release for you or your organization?
- If the answer is no, then 6.5 may be a better path in the short term. This may be especially true for customers with long release adoption cycles that involve testing that can last months. It may also be the case for customers that are more risk averse as 6.5 has been through a few patch and update cycles already.
No matter which way a user or organization goes, it makes total sense to create an upgrade timeline. When will you upgrade? Does it make sense to skip a release? Ultimately you want a to create a plan that gives you a rough outline to follow moving forward.
This leads me to my final point. That is the end of general support coming for vSphere version 5.5 in September of 2018. For those on vSphere 5.5, you will need to come up with a plan ASAP if you haven’t done so already. You can upgrade (my best advice) or investigate extended support until you can figure out how to move forward.
Good luck as you evaluate or upgrade to vSphere 6.x. We are here to help and inform.
Michael Adams
Sr. Director for vSphere
Cloud Platform Business Unit