This article is a work-in-progress DRAFT, meanwhile, you can see how easy an upgrade is from 6.5 to 6.7 in this step-by-step article (spoiler, it's not VAMI, it's using a GUI wizard):
... ESXi and vCenter Server Version Compatibility
The VMware Product Interoperability Matrix provides details about the compatibility of current and earlier versions of VMware vSphere components, including ESXi, VMware vCenter Server, and optional VMware products. Check the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix also for information about supported management and backup agents before you install ESXi or vCenter Server.
The vSphere Update Manager, vSphere Client, and vSphere Web Client are packaged with vCenter Server.
Hardware Compatibility for ESXi
To view a list of processors, storage devices, SAN arrays, and I/O devices that are compatible with vSphere 6.7, use the ESXi 6.7 information in the VMware Compatibility Guide. ...
...
For vSphere
See the vSphere 6.7 GA Release Notes for information on unsupported CPU's in vSphere 6.7.
Devices deprecated and unsupported in ESXi 6.7
Windows 2003 and XP are no longer supported
VMware Performance Impact for CVE-2017-5753, CVE-2017-5715, CVE-2017-5754 (aka Spectre and Meltdown)
Windows 7 and 2008 virtual machines lose network connectivity on VMware Tools 10.2.0
It is not possible to upgrade directly from vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6.7. ...
Apr 18 2018 VMware KB
Document Id
53710
Purpose
VMware has made available certain releases to address critical issues and architectural changes for several products to allow for continued interoperability:
For environments with any VCSA 6.0 or VCSA 6.5 version, and a functioning connection to the internet. I don't yet have video of an upgrade to 6.7 prepared, meanwhile, you can see 6.5 VAMI update video below.
As of Apr 27 2018, if you try to update 6.5 via VAMI updates, you get this error:
Available Updates
Update Status
Latest updates already installed on vCSA, nothing to stage/install
On Apr 27 2018, trying to get from 6.5 to 6.7 directly from VAMI's updater doesn't work, it seems you'll need to use the ISO/installer method instead.For 6.5 to later patches, you simply clicked on 'Update' along the left edge of DCUI, then clicked on 'Check Updates', then 'Check Repository', then under Available Updates, clicked on 'Install Updates' then choose 'Install All Updates', accept the EULA, and when it's done downloading and upgrading, you were prompted to reboot the VCSA appliance.
When moving from 6.0 or 6.5 to 6.7, my understanding is that the wizard will essentially be replacing your VCSA under the covers, migrating all your data over, then removing the old VCSA only if the migration succeeds. When moving from 6.0 to 6.5 or 6.7, it's a move form SuSE to Photon OS, which is much more svelte, reboots a lot faster, and is now even faster on 6.7 than it was on 6.5, see Introducing VMware vSphere 6.7!
Moreover, with vSphere 6.7 vCSA delivers phenomenal performance improvements (all metrics compared at cluster scale limits, versus vSphere 6.5):
2X faster performance in vCenter operations per second 3X reduction in memory usage 3X faster DRS-related operations (e.g. power-on virtual machine)
This is how the first screen looks when you mount/open your VCSA 6.5 ISO file VMware-VCSA-all-6.7.0-8217866.iso
then explore that mounted drive to find your way to the installer. Here's the path to the Windows installer, but note that there are Mac and Linux versions too! \vcsa-ui-installer\win32\installer.exe
I'm still working on testing this upgrade method, basically you walk through the wizard and answer the questions, which tends to be straight-forward if you have proper DNS including FQDN and reverse lookups.
How to easily update your VMware vCenter Server Appliance from 6.5.x to 6.5 Update 1g [VCSA 6.5 U1g]. This same exact process isn't available for 6.7 yet, still investigating.
Here's a summary of update related errors I've noticed when I was attempting to perform a VCSA update. I was using VCSA 6.7's VAMI interface for vCenter Server Appliance maintenance, then clicking on the Update area along the left, then the CHECK UPDATES and the CHECK CDROM + URL option, and the similar procedure in 6.5U1g too, here's the results I found on Apr 17, and replicated on Apr 22 2018:
Back on Tue Apr 17 2018, I received this error when trying to Check Updates.The error is now appropriate, there are no updates to install for 6.5.0.15000 Build Number 8024368, when checking for updates again on Sun Apr 22 2018. Note that it does not offer 6.7.
Check the URL and try again.
No applicable update found.
Upon more careful inspection of the vSphere 6.7 Release Notes, there's a key sentence in there for those attempting to upgrade, using the VAMI Update:
vCenter Server Appliance 6.7 displays an error message in the Available Update section of the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface (VAMI)
The Available Update section of the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) displays the following error message:
Check the URL and try again.
This message is generated when the vCenter Server Appliance searches for and fails to find a patch or update. No functionality is impacted by this issue. This issue will be resolved with the release of the first patch for vSphere 6.7.
Workaround: None. No functionality is impacted by this issue.
I'm not finding the 6.5 "Download Failed." error documented, and I realize many folks have the TLDR attitude and will go ahead and try the update button anyway. I also noticed that the 6.7 "No applicable update found." error is missing from the 6.7 release notes, so I've added it here as well.
I have also reported these warnings internally at VMware, as have others. Despite these odd warnings, it appears you can proceed with the Upgrade using VCSA ISO file's Win/Mac/Linux installer featuring a friendly wizard, so these current online update issues are not show-stoppers.
I'm no longer getting errors when running Check Updates on VCSA 6.5 Update 1g, and it no longer shows Update version 6.7.0 10000 Build Number 8217866. Instead, it says:
Update version - 6.5.0.15000 Build Number 8024368
Update Status - Latest updates already installed on vCSA, nothing to stage/install
With VCSA 6.5 Update 2 (6.5U2, aka 6.5.0U2, aka 6.5.0.200000 Build Number 8307201) now released, running Check Updates on VCSA 6.5 Update 1g gets this response:
Current version details Vendor - VMware, Inc. Appliance name - VMware vCenter Server Appliance Update version - 6.5.0.15000 Build Number 8024368 Description - vCenter Server with an embedded Platform Services Controller Release date - March 20, 2018
Available Updates Update Status - Update source: URL. Only product updates are available. Reboot Required - Yes Update last checked at - 5/7/2018, 1:10:38 PM Update version - 6.5.0.20000 Build Number 8307201
Clicking on More Details gets this response:
More Details Appliance name - VMware vCenter Server Appliance Description - VC-6.5.0U2-Appliance-FP Release date - May 03, 2018 Severity - Critical Category - Bugfix Summary - Update for VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5.0 Knowledge base - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/000051550
So it would seem that the easy update mechanism is for keeping a given major release current, such as keeping 6.5 patched/updated or 6.7 patched/updated. It does not seem to be for updating from 6.5 to 6.7, but gladly, that's not too hard either, for folks who have access to the VCSA download through either my.vmware.com VCSA ISO with trial or full license keys, and/or for VMUG Advantage EVALExperience subscribers.
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop selling them in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. So far, Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh looking a little better for 2024. More cores, but still just PCIe Gen4 and DDR4. Looking ahead, I'm glad it's Pat Gelsinger at Intel's helm. I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when Pat was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.
