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Upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version

Purpose

This article provides information about upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version.

Resolution

You can upgrade the hardware version of virtual machines to the latest version of ESXi in use. For virtual machines that are running on ESXi 5.x, VMware recommends that you upgrade the virtual hardware to version 8.

When upgrading virtual hardware, consider these points:

  • When you upgrade from virtual hardware version 4 to version 8, the upgrade is reversible if you take a virtual machine backup or snapshot before performing the upgrade.
  • Upgraded virtual machines cannot be powered on by an ESX 2.x host, even if relocated to a VMFS2 datastore.
  • To automate this process, consider using Update Manager for virtual machine upgrades. For more information, see the VMware vCenter Update Manager Installation and Administration Guide.
  • Update Manager takes automatic snapshots before performing virtual machine upgrades. For more information, see Perform an Orchestrated Upgrade of Virtual Machines with vSphere Update Manager in the vSphere Upgrade Guide.
  • When you upgrade virtual hardware, no downtime is required for vCenter Server or ESX/ESXi hosts. For virtual machines, the only significant downtime is the time to shutdown and restart the guest operating systems. 
Before you upgrade the virtual hardware:
  1. Create a backup or snapshot of the virtual machine. See the Virtual Machine Administration Guide.
  2. Upgrade VMware Tools. On Microsoft Windows virtual machines, if you upgrade the virtual hardware before you upgrade VMware Tools, the virtual machine might lose its network settings.
  3. Verify that all .vmdk files are available to the ESX/ESXi host on a VMFS3, VMFS5, or NFS datastore.
  4. Verify that the virtual machines are stored on VMFS3, VMFS5 or NFS datastores.
  5. Determine the version of the virtual hardware by selecting the virtual machine from the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client and clicking the Summary tab. The VM Version label displays the virtual hardware version.

Upgrading virtual hardware on a single virtual machine

To upgrade the virtual hardware of a single virtual machine:
  1. Start the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client and log in to the vCenter Server.
  2. Power off the virtual machine.
  3. Right-click the virtual machine and select the menu option to upgrade virtual hardware.
    • In vSphere Client, the option is Upgrade Virtual Hardware.
    • In vSphere Web Client, the option is Configuration > Upgrade Virtual Hardware

      The software upgrades the virtual hardware to the latest supported version.

      Note: The Upgrade Virtual Hardware option appears if the virtual hardware on the virtual machine is not the latest supported version.

  4. Click Yes to continue with the virtual hardware upgrade.
  5. Power on the virtual machine.

    Note: If the virtual machine has a Microsoft Windows guest operating system, the operating system detects a new device, configures the device, and prompts you to reboot the guest operating system. If any unknown devices are recognized, the operating system prompts you to configure the device manually.
  6. For Windows guest operating systems, reboot the guest operating system to make the changes take effect.

Upgrading virtual hardware on multiple virtual machines
You can upgrade virtual hardware on multiple virtual machines in a single operation by using the Virtual Machines tab.
Procedure:
  1. Start the vSphere Client or vSphere Web Client and log in to the vCenter Server.
  2. Select the host or cluster that contains the virtual machines to upgrade.
  3. Click the Virtual Machines tab.
  4. Select and power off the virtual machines to upgrade.
  5. Right-click your selections.
  6. Select Upgrade Virtual Hardware and click Yes.
  7. Power on the virtual machines.

    Note: For Microsoft Windows guest operating systems, the operating system detects a new device, configures the device, and prompts you to reboot the guest operating system. If any unknown devices are recognized, the operating system prompts you to configure the device manually.
  8. For Windows guest operating systems, reboot the guest operating system to make the changes take effect.

Ensuring that your virtual machine is upgraded to latest hardware version

To ensure that your virtual machine is upgraded to latest hardware version:
  1. Migrate the virtual machine from host with earlier ESX version to host with latest ESX version. For more information, see Migrating Virtual Machines in the Basic System Administration Guide.
  2. Power on the virtual machine.
  3. Upgrade VMware Tools and reboot if required. For more information, see Installing VMware Tools in vSphere (2004754 ).

    Note: Upgrading the VMware Tools must be done before upgrading the virtual hardware.
  4. Shutdown the virtual machine and upgrade the virtual hardware.
  5. Power on the virtual machine.

    Note: In some instances, the operating system may require you to reboot the virtual machine after powering it on.
  6. Ensure all the virtual machine network settings (such as IP, DHCP, and DNS) are correct..

    Notes:
    • If you are using dynamic DNS, some Windows versions require ipconfig /registerdns to be run. 
    • If you are using DHCP, a new IP address may be assigned because the MAC address changes on the virtual NIC during the hardware upgrade. If you are using statically assigned DHCP addresses, ensure that you assign the new MAC address the IP address you were using before the virtual hardware upgrade.   

Additional Information

You can upgrade VMware Tools and the virtual hardware manually from within each virtual machine or you can use VMware Update Manager. 

For more information about manually upgrading VMware Tools and virtual hardware, see the :
For more information about upgrading VMware Tools and virtual hardware using VMware Update Manager, see the VMware vCenter Update Manager documentation for the applicable version in use.
 
For upgrading best practices, see:

Tags

upgrade-virtual-hardware

See Also

Update History

04/06/2010 - Added information about DHCP and statically assigned MAC addresses.

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