Step-by-Step: How to Update vCenter Appliance [2 Ways]

Updating vCenter Appliance is Necessary

✎ VMware is shifting its focus to vCSA as the preferred method for managing vSphere environments. The vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) simplifies the deployment process.
✎ For vSphere 6.7 or later, the Windows-based vCenter Server has been deprecated, with the vCenter Server Appliance remaining as the only available option.

VMware regularly releases patches for the vCenter Server Appliance that can be used to update vCenter Appliance packages, or related to the core product functionality.

This article introduces 2 available options for vCenter update using the Device Management Interface (VAMI):

• Patching via URL - remote repository using VMware repository URL directly.
• Patching via CD - manually attach an ISO image to the appliance's local repository.

How to update vCenter Appliance to later versions [2 Methods]

Please check the following prerequisites before upgrading vCenter Appliance:

• Please be sure that the right backups have been made before upgrading vCenter Server Appliance.
• Once the PSC or VCSA virtual machine has been turned down, take an offline snapshot of the appliance.
• Make that the vCenter root password is not expired.
• Make sure you have access to the credentials for the local SSO administrator.

Now, you can update vCenter Appliance to the latest version using the methods below. This article applies to VMware vCenter Server 6.5.x / 6.7.x / 7.0.x / 8.0.x.

✍Before you begin, be sure to back up the vCenter Server Appliance and its managed virtual machines in case of data loss.

Method 1. Update vCenter Appliance using URL

This section will show you how to upgrade vCenter Appliance 6.7 to 7.0 as an example.

1. Log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface (https://appliance-IP-address-or-FQDN:5480) as root.

2. Click on Update tab.

3. Click CHECK UPDATES button and select Check CD ROM + URL option.

4. Select the target patch of vCenter, and click STAGE AND INSTALL.

Note: you can also stage the patches for install at a later time by selecting STAGE ONLY.

5. Follow the wizard, accept the End user license Agreement, and wait for the system pre-check.

6. Sign in using vSphere SSO Administrator password, for the [email protected] by default.

7. Confirm that you have backed up the vCenter Server Appliance, then you can click Finish.

Method 2. Update vCenter Appliance using CD

1. Download the patch ISO image from VMware’s official website, and upload it to a datastore.

2. Right-click on the Appliance VM and select Edit Settings…

3. Expand CD/DVD Drive and select Datastore ISO File. Click Browse to select the uploaded ISO file.

4. Log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface (https://appliance-IP-address-or-FQDN:5480) as root, and click on Update tab.

5. Click CHECK UPDATES and select Check CD ROM.

6. Wait for the target updates show up, select it and click STAGE AND INSTALL. Follow the pop-up wizard.

Fixed: Upgrade vCenter Appliance Failed using Command Line

If patching fails for any reason, you can use the command line to collect log packets from the failed node, then restore from a backup or return to a snapshot.

Please take the actions listed below to use the CLI to gather VCSA or PSC logs:

1. Launch an SSH session to the VCSA or PSC and log in as root.

2. Run the command:

shell.set --enabled true
shell

3. To export the logs to /storage/log/:

vc-support-l

Necessary data protection: Batch backup VMs managed by vCenter

You may already know that it is necessary to perform image-based backup of large amounts of VMs managed by vCenter Server, however, vCenter Server does not provide the feature of virtual machine backup. And that makes backup software a commonly accepted choice.

Here I introduce you to a VMware backup software AOMEI Cyber Backup, it enables you to backup multiple VMs either managed by vCenter Server, or on a standalone ESXi host.

✦ Agentless Backup: create complete and independent image-level backup for VMware ESXi and Hyper-V VMs.
✦ Flexible vSphere Backup: batch backup large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server, or multiple VMs on a standalone ESXi host.
✦ Multiple Storage Destinations: backup to local drive, or network destinations like NAS.
✦ Automated Execution: create backup schedules to automate backups daily, weekly, monthly.
✦ Restore Entire VM: restore instant available VMs from any selected restore points to an original or new location.

AOMEI Cyber Backup supports both paid and free versions of VMware ESXi 6.0 and later versions. Next, I will show you how to batch backup VMs managed by vCenter Server with AOMEI Cyber Backup in 4 simple steps.

You can click the following button to download the 30-day free trial.

*You can choose to install this VM backup software on either Windows or Linux system.

Simple steps to backup and recovery VMs managed by vCenter Server

1. Bind Devices: Access to AOMEI Cyber Backup web client, navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device to Add vCenter or Standalone ESXi host. And then click … > Bind Device.

2. Create Backup Task: Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task, and select VMware ESXi Backup as the Backup Type.

3. Set the Task Name, Device, Target, Archive, Schedule and Cleanup as needed.

• Task Name: you can change the task name or use the default name with an ordinal.
• Device: batch select large numbers of VMs managed by vCenter Server for centralized backup.

• Target: select to back up to a local path, or to a network path like NAS.
• Archive: easily backup VMware to AWS by enabling archive feature.
• Schedule (optional): perform full, differential, or incremental backup, and automate execution according to the frequency you specified.
• Cleanup (optional): automatically delete the old backup copies that exceed the retention period you specified.

4. Run Backup: Now you can click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

Created backup tasks will be listed and monitored separately for restoring, progress checking and schedule changing.

5. When restoring, you can also restore to new location to create a new VM in the same or another datastore/host directly from the backup, saving the trouble of re-configuring the new VM.

Summary

If you use vSphere 6.7 and later versions, you may install vCenter Server Appliance on ESXi host to optimize virtual machine management. Also, as later versions release, you may need to update vCenter Appliance to try the new features.

This article showed the steps on how to update vCenter Appliance 6.7 to higher versions in 2 different methods. Except for VM management, VM data protection is also of great importance. You can try the software AOMEI Cyber Backup to help you develop a good VMware backup schedule.