I have another post being prepared on how to configure iSCSI target service on VSAN to support Microsoft WSFC “Windows Server Failover Cluster” and Virtual Machines hosted on a VSAN cluster. Doing a bit of testing on how iSCSI multipath would work and failover scenarios when iSCSI VSAN host owner moves or fails.

1- Download vCenter 6.7 ISO and launch vCenter UI Installer:

First start by Upgrading External PSC so connect to that:

2- Insert vCenter details and credentials so that the installer reads the existing PSC virtual appliance in your existing VSAN cluster:

3- Insert vCenter details and credentials so that the installer deploys the new PSC virtual appliance in your existing VSAN cluster:

The new PSC virtual appliance VM name, and root password:

Make sure it is deployed on your VSAN cluster and enable thin provisioning if required:

Networking details for the new PSC VM virtual appliance ( this is a temporary IP and the new PSC will use your existing PSC IP once its done upgrading):

Take a snapshot of your existing PSC just incase thing go south:

The old PSC has been shutdown and the new PSC is now deployed with same IP and Hostname of old PSC (don’t delete the old PSC until everything is migrated and operational):

4- The exact same procedure now has to be conducted for the upgrade of the vCenter VM virtual appliance:

I have NSX, RP4VM, and Horizon installed on this cluster but for sake of demonstration I kept them before upgrading and got the following error:

5- Time to upgrade vSphere build to 6.7, so lets head over to Update Manager and have the 6.7 ISO ready:

Import the ISO:

Create a new Upgrade baseline with the newly imported ISO image:

VUM will start to put hosts into maintenance mode (one by one) after vmotioning all VMs to active nodes and upgrade/reboot. I can honestly state that this is the fastest build update I have conducted in my 10 years working with VMware products:

6- Time to upgrade VSAN to disk version 6.0:

Done …

Conclusion:

VMware You’ve outdone yourself this time and I mean it. The simplicity of the whole upgrade process, the ease of management with HTML5, and the speed of upgrade is phenomenal to say the least. Cant wait for future builds to support NSX and Horizon in order to move on with enterprise upgrades. Next up Configure VSAN iSCSI Target with Windows Server Failover cluster.

Salam .

Vmware esxi 6.5 free license
Just want the easy upgrade (rather than download ISO) methods for vSphere 6.5 Update 1, also known as 6.5U1 or 6.5 U1? No problem, jump on over to:
Today's big vSphere 6.5 Update release is a big deal in that many customers choose to wait for these Update 1 versions of any major vSphere version before upgrading their enterprise. Yes, to mee, it seemed that vSphere 6.5 was such a major change from 6.0 that it could have just as well been called 7.0. That nitpicking aside, the wait-for-N+1 customers and risk-averse home-labbers is over. Start your downloads, but be sure to read this entire article before you begin installing!

Download

For new installs, or upgrade-from-bootable-ISO installs

Download 1

Download 2

Overview

Let's roll up our sleeves and have a look at all the great new vSphere features and fixes:
For those of you into vSAN, there's considerable refinement that moving from vSAN 6.6 to vSAN 6.6.1 will bring.

VMware vSAN 6.6.1 Release Notes

VMware vSAN 6.6.1 | 27 July 2017 | ISO Build 5969303
Check for additions and updates to these release notes.
There are many fixes, and a few new features. This article helps remind folks that the vSAN bits are baked right into the Hypervisor, so there is no separate download for vSAN 6.6.1, it's right in vSphere 6.5 U1! Also, anybody can now upgrade from vSphere 6.0 U3 to vSphere 6.6.1 / vSphere 6.5 U1,.
Don't miss the VUM Integration video featured in the video gallery below.

VMware's Announcements

From earlier today:
added Jul 28 2017, another closely related post
Don't forget to check out the deeply technical overview by Jeff Hunter and others over at StorageHub.
If you are already at vCenter/VCSA 6.5.x and ESXi 6.5.x, then you can get vSAN bits today by simply installing or upgrading to vCenter/VCSA 6.5 U1 and ESXi 6.5 U1. Details appear (soon) for both new installs and upgrade.

vSphere 6.5 Update 1 Prerequisites

Vmware Esxi 6 5 License Key

  1. read VMware's vSphere Upgrade guide
  2. You will also need to do your homework before any major upgrade, even in a home lab. While all that goes into such efforts is well beyond the scope of this article, a great place to get started appears here:

vSAN Prerequisites

  1. You will need the right hardware for the best experience, especially if you're expecting resilience and performance. Not just on the VCG (VMware Compatibility Guide) aka HCL, but also on the VMware Compatibility Guide for vSAN, featuring a caching layer made from SSDs of the proper write endurance paired with PLP/Supercapacitors, typically found in enterprise (costlier) flash storage devices
  2. You will need a vSAN license key
  3. Licensing was discussed recently here, with VMware EVALExperience~being by far the most affordable way to dip your toes into to a 6 node hybrid vSAN (unconfirmed, but the license key should cover 6), albeit a bit behind on version. I'm hoping for updates to that program soon, stay tuned.~
    This has been [mostly] Fixed! That huge update story broke right here at TinkerTry first:
It shouldn't be too long before the EVALExperience downloads links are updated to 6.5 U1. Keep in mind that you can always upgrade your 6.5.x version quite easily, seen below.

VCSA baby! (NOT vCenter)

My focus and yours should be on VCSA going forward, not the old school vCenter installed on Windows. That is why TinkerTry how-to guides generally don't include vCenter on Windows. I'm all in with HMTL5 UIs, and enjoy the ease-of-install, ease-of-update, and speed of this Photon OS-based appliance. See for yourself in the update videos.

Nested Vmware Esxi 6 5

Easy Upgrade

Vmware Esxi 6.5 Keygen

Here's the exact way that I got these two upgrades done safely and easily, with a focus on simplicity for smaller home labs, download and install is done with one command, which I tested using the latest BIOS and IPMI on Xeon D:
What are you still reading this for? Roll up your sleeves, backup your VCSA and ESX, and get upgrading! Then come back and let us know how it went by dropping comments below the articles.

Video