We have talked lot about various VMware products and even deep dive articles about VMware vSphere and its components. I am getting lot of requests from the beginners, who want to start their career with VMware virtualization. Beginners who want to learn VMware virtualization often get confused with the different terms like VMware vSphere, VMware ESXi and VMware vCenter. This post i am going to focus the basics of VMware virtualization and also helps them to understand what is VMware vSphere with very basic information about VMware ESXi and VMware vCenter Server. I Will explain detailed architecture information about ESXi and vCenter server in the upcoming articles.
With ESXi 6.5, we take this capability of the firmware storing digital certificates and validating the boot loader and we build upon that. ESXi is comprised of a number of components. There is the boot loader, the VM Kernel, Secure Boot Verifier and VIBs, or “vSphere Installation Bundles”. VSphere ESXi 6.5 U3 – Build 13932383 (single 3-node HA/DRS cluster) Preparing for Upgrade Regardless of which version you are currently running, I highly recommend creating an upgrade run-book (spreadsheet) to track the tasks associated with your upgrade.
What is VMware vSphere ?
VMware vSphere is not a specific product or software. VMware vSphere is the commercial name for entire VMware suite. The VMware vSphere stack comprises virtualization, management, and interface layers. The two core components of VMware vSphere are ESXi server and vCenter Server. ESXi is the hypervsior, where you create and run virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is the service through which you manage multiple ESXi hosts connected in a network and pool host resources. I hope this simple information clears your mind from the question “What is VMware vSphere”. VMware vSphere is being the master in virtualization industry as compared to other hypervisors such as Microsoft Hyper-v and Citrix Xen Server. Take a look at my article comparison deep dive VMware vs Hyper-v
History of VMware vSphere ?
Prior to VMware vSphere, entire VMware product suite is called “VMware Infrastructure”. VMware renamed its flagship product name “VMware Infrastructure” to “VMware vSphere” with the release of VMware vSphere 4.
VMware first released the VMware Workstation in 1998 which is the root product of VMware. Followed by VMware Workstation, They released ESX (Elastic Sky X) and GSX (Ground Storm X) hypervisors. Where ESX ran directly on the server hardware (bare metal hypervisor) and GSX required a host OS. VMware GSX has be retired but ESX line is now renamed to ESXi with the lot of architectural differences and improvements across each release of ESXi host. Take a look at my article to understand Difference between VMware ESX and VMware ESXi
Below are brief product release history of VMware vSphere products shows the evolution of VMware workstation to VMware vSphere 6.5.
I hope this table helps you to understand what is VMware vSphere and evolution of VMware vSphere. If you are looking for comparison between various vSphere versions . Take a look at my article on the below link
Vmware Esxi 6.5 License Key Generator
What is VMware ESXi?
VMware ESXi is the bare metal hypervisor from VMware. VMware ESXi is the piece of software available in the form of ISO which gets installs directly on the physical hardware as same like windows or linux operating systems. ESXi installation is a small footprint with size of 144 MB. Even you can install ESXi on USB pendrive. VMWare ESXi allows you to create multiple virtual machines in top of it to run multiple operating system such as windows, linux, solaris,macOS,etc in a single physical hardware. It enables you to run your workloads on top of virtual machine which allows you to consolidate multiple physical hardware’s to run your workloads into fewer physical hardware.
Prior to vSphere 5, vSphere has 2 hypervisors ESX & ESXi. With the release of vSphere 5.0, ESXi is the only hypervisor. Take a look at my article to understand difference between ESX and ESXi
VMware ESXi comes with free and paid version. As you guessed, Free version of ESXi will comes with few limitation as compared to the paid ESXi. You won’t be able to manage your free ESXi hypervisor using vCenter Server. I will explain about vCenter server in a little while. Eventhough Free ESxi have few limitations which is far enough to work with that on lab purposes, POC, evaluation before upgrading to advanced versions of ESXi and even in test & development purposes.
How do you build home lab using VMware ESXi. You can even install VMware ESXi in top of VMware Workstation. Take a look at my article to understand how to install ESXi on VMware Workstation
Install ESX/ESXi Server on VMware Workstation – Part 1
Install ESX/ESXi Server on VMware Workstation – Part 2
Install ESX/ESXi Server on VMware Workstation – Part 1
Install ESX/ESXi Server on VMware Workstation – Part 2
Upgrading from free version of ESXi to advanced paid version of ESXi is just an seemless by updating the new license keys.
Articles related to Free VMware ESXi hypervisor:
vSphere 5.5 – ESXi 5.5 Free version with no more 32 GB RAM hard limit
vSphere 5.5 – Download Free ESXi 5.5 License Keys
vSphere 6.0 – Download Free ESXi 6.0 License Keys
Download VMware vSphere 6.5 – Get your Copy to Evaluate!!!
Articles related to Free VMware ESXi hypervisor:
vSphere 5.5 – ESXi 5.5 Free version with no more 32 GB RAM hard limit
vSphere 5.5 – Download Free ESXi 5.5 License Keys
vSphere 6.0 – Download Free ESXi 6.0 License Keys
Download VMware vSphere 6.5 – Get your Copy to Evaluate!!!
I will explain the detailed architecture overview about VMware ESXi in the upcoming articles. Naruto full movie english dub.
What is VMware vCenter Server?
VMware vCenter is the software which helps you to centrally manage your entire VMware Virtualzation infrastructure. vCenter can add about thousands of ESXi hosts into the inventory which allows you to manage multiple ESXi hosts and also virtual machines running on the ESXi hosts. vCenter Server provides lot of vSphere features such as VMware DRS, VMware HA (High Availability), VMware vMotion , VMware Fault Tolerance, Virtual machine templates, VM cloning,etc. We will talk about each of the features in detail in the upcoming posts. Take a look at my article to understand the difference between clone and Template.
VMware vCenter can be installed on Windows or via linux based vCenter called vCenter Server Appliance. Which was recently switched from SUSE to Photon OS (VMware’s Operating system) on vSphere 6.5. To understand the difference between Windows based vCenter server and vCenter Server appliance. You need to have an external database such as Microsoft SQL server,Oracle,etc or embedded database such as PostgreSQL to install vCenter Server. PostgreSQL become embedded database from vSphere 6.0 prior to that Microsoft SQL server Express edition was the embedded database for VMware vCenter Server. vCenter server databases stores the information about virtual infrastructure inventory objects such as ESXi host information, Virtual machine information along with the performance data.
What is vSphere Client and vSphere Web Client?
I hope your got basic idea about what is VMware vSphere, VMware ESXi and VMware vCenter Server. Let’s foucs on what is vSphere Client and vSphere Web client. vSphere client and vSphere web client is nothing but the Client software which helps the end-user to connect to the vCenter Server. In simple terms, It is same as the RDP client which helps you to remotely connect your windows server. Similar to that , vCenter server is a software running on Windows or even Photo OS based appliance will just run as service. We need vSphere Client or vSphere Web client to connect to the vCenter server and manage the virtual infrastructure.
vSphere Client is the client software which needs to be installed on the user desktop or laptop but vSphere Web client is the browser based client. You don’t need to install client software to manage vCenter server using vSphere web client. You can even manage ESXi host directly using vSphere Client but vSphere Web Client can only use to manage vCenter Server. We can also manage ESXi 6.5 host using host client via Web browser. There will be no more vSphere Client (windows based) from vSphere 6.5. We need to use only vSphere Web Client to manage the VMware virtual infrastructure from vSphere 6.5 onwards.
Download link for All Versions of VMware vSphere Client
vSphere 6.0 What’s New – Improved and Faster vSphere Web Client
Download link for All Versions of VMware vSphere Client
vSphere 6.0 What’s New – Improved and Faster vSphere Web Client
I hope this article helps you to understand what is VMware vSphere and basic information about the core components of VMware vSphere such as VMware ESXi, VMware vCenter Server ,vSphere Client and vSphere Web Client. We will talk in detail about each of the core components in the upcoming posts. I hope this is informative for you. Thanks for Reading!!!. Be social and share it in social media, if you feel worth sharing it.
vSphere 6.5 Blog posts:
What’s New with VMware vSphere 6.5?
vSphere 6.5 -What’s New with vCenter 6.5?
What’s New with Virtual SAN 6.5? – New Features Overview
vSphere 6.5 -What’s New with vSphere 6.5 HA & DRS
vSphere 6.5 – What’s is in VMware vSphere 6.5 Fault Tolerance?
Download VMware vSphere 6.5 – Get your Copy to Evaluate!!!
vSphere 6.5 – Deploying vCenter appliance 6.5
Deploying vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services Controller
Deploying vCenter Server appliance 6.5 with External PSC
vSphere 6.5 – Configuring vCenter Server 6.5 HA
vSphere 6.5 – vCenter 6.5 Native HA Failover Testing
vSphere 6.5 Configuration Maximums – What’s New?
vSphere 6.5 – How VM’s are Secured using vSphere 6.5 Security Features?
Migrate Windows vCenter Server 6.0 to vCenter Server appliance 6.5
If you have not already heard, vSphere 6.7 has been released, and Update Manager is now available in the HTML5 based vSphere Client. If you want to upgrade ESXi to 6.7, Update Manager is the easiest way to do so. Update Manager, also known as VUM, has been integrated into the vCenter Server Appliance since vSphere 6.5, so if you are using the VCSA you are ready to start using Update Manager.vSphere 6.5 -What’s New with vCenter 6.5?
What’s New with Virtual SAN 6.5? – New Features Overview
vSphere 6.5 -What’s New with vSphere 6.5 HA & DRS
vSphere 6.5 – What’s is in VMware vSphere 6.5 Fault Tolerance?
Download VMware vSphere 6.5 – Get your Copy to Evaluate!!!
vSphere 6.5 – Deploying vCenter appliance 6.5
Deploying vCenter 6.5 External Platform Services Controller
Deploying vCenter Server appliance 6.5 with External PSC
vSphere 6.5 – Configuring vCenter Server 6.5 HA
vSphere 6.5 – vCenter 6.5 Native HA Failover Testing
vSphere 6.5 Configuration Maximums – What’s New?
vSphere 6.5 – How VM’s are Secured using vSphere 6.5 Security Features?
Migrate Windows vCenter Server 6.0 to vCenter Server appliance 6.5
Using vSphere Update Manager 6.7, you can upgrade ESXi from 6.0 to 6.7 or ESXi from 6.5 to 6.7. If you are trying to upgrade vSphere 5.5 to 6.7 you can still use VUM, but it will be a two step process. You will first need to upgrade ESXi from 5.5 to 6.5 and then ESXi from 6.5 to 6.7. Now, let’s talk about what you need to get started with your ESXi 6.7 upgrade.
Getting Ready to Upgrade to ESXi 6.7 Using vSphere Update Manager
Before you update ESXi to 6.7, there are a couple of things you you need to do first:
- Have a vSphere 6.7 VCSA deployed. You can easily upgrade your existing VCSA or deploy a new one. This is essential to using vSphere Update Manager for your upgrade.
- Have the ESXi 6.7 ISO downloaded. You will need this to upgrade your ESXi hosts from vSphere 6.0 or 6.5.
- Verified your vSphere environment is compatible with ESXi 6.7. This includes your server hardware, your storage array, and anything else that directly touches your vSphere environment. If you do not check this list, you can find yourself in big trouble when it comes to running a supported configuration after your ESXi 6.7 update. If you are not familiar with the VMware Compatibility Guide, be sure to read this post for step-by-step instructions how to use it.
All of these steps are essential to your ESXi 6.7 upgrade success!
Ready for your ESXi 6.7 upgrade? Great. Here is the step by step guide on how to upgrade ESXi 6.5 to 6.7.
The ESXi Update Process: Getting Used to vCenter 6.7 and the vSphere Client
If you have not used the HTML5 based vSphere Client, it is the client of choice in vSphere 6.7. You will notice things look a little difference once you navigate to your VCSA.
Once you are logged using the first option, the vSphere Client, you will notice things look a little different. Do not worry, if you have not spent much time using the HTML5 based vSphere client, it as easy and intuitive to use as the vSphere Web Client was.
I recommend using the HTML5 based vSphere client for you ESXi 6.7 upgrade, since the upgrade process is so simple. These simple tasks will help you become more familiar with the HTML5 client.
Finding Update Manager in vSphere 6.7 for the ESXi 6.7 Upgrade
![Vsphere esxi 6.5 Vsphere esxi 6.5](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qYz0GStzuzo/maxresdefault.jpg)
![Vsphere Vsphere](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8OkfytPNIn4/hqdefault.jpg)
There are many, many ways to get to Update Manager in vSphere 6.7 when you want to upgrade to ESXi 6.7. Personally, I click Shortcuts under Home in the left navigation pane, then Update Manager in the right pane.
You will see that as you browse other vSphere inventory items, there is often a link for vSphere Update Manager Home. This will bring you to the same place. There are many different ways to do things in VMware vSphere.
ESXi Update Process: Preparing Update Manager for ESXi 6.7 Host Upgrade
Now that we have accessed VUM, we need to configure it in order to be able to upgrade ESXi from 6.5 to 6.7. The first thing we are going to do is upload our ESXi 6.7 image. It is important to do this first, as we will need to have it uploaded for later configuration steps.
In the vSphere Update Manager screen, we simply need to click ESXi images on the right, then click IMPORT. Preparing vSphere Update Manager is essential when it is time to update ESXi.
I hope you remembered where you downloaded that ESXi 6.7 ISO, since we are performing the ESXi 6.7 update. Just browse to the location, and click Import. The import should go quickly, and you are one step closer to completing your ESXi upgrade.
I hope you remembered where you downloaded that ESXi 6.7 ISO, since we are performing the ESXi 6.7 update. Just browse to the location, and click Import. The import should go quickly, and you are one step closer to completing your ESXi upgrade.
Create A New Update Manager Baseline to Upgrade ESXi 6.5 to 6.7
A baseline is just a fancy term for the state you would like Update Manager to bring your vSphere environment to. Start by clicking Baselines, and select New Baseline. It is important that you have uploaded your ESXi 6.7 image before performing this step.
There are three types of baselines in vSphere Update Manager. We are going to create an Upgrade baseline to upgrade ESXi. There is also a Patch baseline for installing ESXi patches, and an Extension baseline to add additional software to an ESXi host. Enter a name for your Upgrade Baseline and click Next.
Vsphere 6.5 Download
It is important to use a name which makes sense, such as vSphere 6.7 Upgrade or vSphere 6.7 Update. That way, in later steps, you will know exactly what the purpose of each baseline is.
Remember that ESXi 6.7 image we imported? Select it, and click next.
Now our vSphere Update Manager baseline is ready to complete. You will see a summary of the host upgrade baseline you have just created. Click Finish to create the baseline. This baseline is for your vSphere 6.7 upgrade to ESXi 6.7.
Attaching a Baseline to ESXi Hosts for ESXi 6.7
The next step is to attach a Baseline to the ESXi hosts you would like to upgrade. There are many different ways to accomplish this. You can attach baselines to different objects within VMware vCenter Server.
I prefer to attach them to vSphere clusters, but you can also attach them at the Datacenter or individual ESXi host level. No matter which way you decide to do this, it is a key step of the ESXi update process.
Click the vSphere cluster in Hosts and Clusters View. In the right pane, click Updates. Remember I said there were many ways to get to Update Manager? You will see you can click GO TO UPDATE MANAGER HOME to get to the Update Manager interface we were just using.
Click ATTACH to attach to select which baseline to attach to the cluster. We are almost ready to update ESXi!
Now, select the baseline you have previously created, I named mine vSphere 6.7 Upgrade. Click OK.
That is it! We are now ready to upgrade ESXi.
Upgrading ESXi to from 6.5 to 6.7 or Upgrade ESXi 6.0 to 6.7
Fist and foremost, let’s take a look at one of the ESXi hosts we will be upgrading to ESXi 6.7 from ESXi 6.5. You could also upgrade ESXi 6.0 to 6.7 using this method. To do this, you would follow the same steps in your vSphere 6.0 environment. The method is identical other than your starting point.
As you can see, my host is running ESXi 6.5, and yes, it is virtual ESXi host. Now we are going to get this host running the latest and greatest version of VMware vSphere!
I wish I was going to click a cool UPGRADE NOW button, but I will select REMEDIATE from the Update pane of our cluster.
Remediate is a nice way of saying make sure our host is compliant with its attached baseline. In this case, clicking the button is what will actually update ESXi. After we click REMEDIATE, we will be prompted to accept the VMware EULA.
After we click accept the EULA, we will see exactly what is about to get upgrade in our environment.
Now, we simply click OK and off our hosts go! They will now be updated to ESXi 6.7. vCenter will cycle through the cluster, putting the hosts into maintenance mode and upgrading them as you can see here:
Now is a good time to step away and get a nice beverage while your ESXi environment upgrades itself. As you can see, our upgrade has been successful and we are now running ESXi 6.7!
You will also see it is complaint with the attached baseline. This is another way of showing it is now running ESXi 6.7 since that is what the baseline was configured to do.
Congratulations! You are now running the latest version of VMware vSphere. I hope you are reading this article before you perform your upgrade, because there are a number of things to think about before hand.
As I mentioned, it is important to make sure your environment is compatible with vSphere 6.7 before you perform your upgrade. Just because everything “works”, that does not mean it is supported!
In addition, a vSphere upgrade can also be an opportunity to fix some things in your environment that may not be optimal. Rebecca Fitzhugh and I presented a session at VMworld 2017 entitled Upgrading to vSphere 6.5 the VCDX Way. This methodology is still valid when upgrading to vSphere 6.7.
VMware vSphere Upgrade Paths to ESXi 6.7
Now that we have shown how to perform an ESXi update to 6.7, we will review your upgrade path options. Remember, before you start your upgrade you should ensure all components (both software and hardware) are compatible on the VMware Compatibility Guide.
Upgrade ESXi 6.5 to 6.7
You are in the right place! Simply follow the steps in this article.
Upgrade ESXi 6.0 to 6.7
Again, you have come to the right place! Simply follow the steps in this article.
Upgrade ESXi 5.5 to 6.5
If you are still running vSphere 5.5, remember, end of general support is coming on September 19, 2018! It will be a two step upgrade from vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6.7, so the time is now to start planning. You can find instructions for upgrading from ESXi 5.5 to 6.5 using Update Manager here.
After you have finished your upgrade to vSphere 6.5, simply follow this article you are reading now to update ESXi to 6.7.
VMware makes it very easy to perform an ESXi upgrade. Upgrading to ESXi 6.7 is not much different than the previous versions, other than the addition of the HTML5 based vSphere client.
If you are just not yet comfortable with new client for your ESXi 6.7 upgrade, you can still use the former vSphere Web Client. You can follow these instructions on upgrading from ESXi 5.5 to 6.5, and simply use the ESXi 6.7 ISO file.
Why Should I Upgrade to ESXi 6.7?
Great question! As much as we all want to upgrade to ESXi 6.7 since it is the latest and greatest version of ESXi, the fact of the matter is we are going to need a good reason to do our ESXi 6.7 upgrade.
The Change Management practices in organizations generally do not like to see someone upgrading an environment just to get to the latest version. Generally, you will have much more success in getting your ESXi 6.7 upgrade approved if you have good business reasons behind it.
Some examples are:
- To remain on a supported version of ESXi (we always want to make sure we can call VMware support if we need to!)
- To take advantage of new features and functionality (check out this blog from VMware on what is new in vSphere 6.7)
- To enhance the security of our environment
- To make the environment easier to use for operations team, such as allowing them to take advantage of the new and improved HTML5 vSphere Client
These are just a couple of ideas to get you started on your upgrade path. Good luck, and enjoy ESXi 6.7
Going Beyond ESXi 6.7?
Are you going beyond ESXi 6.7? Be sure to check out these resources:
Remember, before you update your production environment to vSphere 6.7, it is always nice to get a feel for the upgrade in a development or test environment. After all, each VMware release is full of new features, like in the case of VMware vSphere 6.7 U2 – What You Need to Know.
After testing the new version of vSphere in development or test, you can update your operational documentation before your production environment and be ready to hit the ground running after your VMware vSphere upgrade.
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