Upgrading To Vcenter Server 4.0; About The Database Upgrade Wizard; Upgrade To Vcenter Server - VMware ESX 4.0 - UPGRADE GUIDE UPDATE 1 Update Manual

Upgrading to vCenter Server 4.0

The upgrade to vCenter Server includes a database schema upgrade and an upgrade of VirtualCenter 2.x.
This chapter includes the following topics:

"About the Database Upgrade Wizard,"

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"Upgrade to vCenter Server,"

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About the Database Upgrade Wizard
The Database Upgrade wizard updates the schema of the VirtualCenter database. The Database Upgrade
wizard runs after you complete the vCenter Server installation wizard.
When you perform an upgrade to vCenter Server, you must use a VirtualCenter 2.x database that is supported
for upgrade by vCenter Server 4.0.
The Database Upgrade wizard runs after you click Install in the vCenter Server installer. The Database
Upgrade wizard upgrades the database schema to make it compatible with vCenter Server 4.0. The schema
defines the tables, the fields in each table, and the relationships between fields and tables.
If you are upgrading from VirtualCenter 2.5, the Database Upgrade wizard runs in the background. If you are
upgrading from VirtualCenter 2.0.x, the Database Upgrade wizard appears and you must complete the wizard.
The Database Upgrade wizard does not upgrade an unsupported database version (for example, Oracle 9i)
into a supported database.
C You cannot use the updated database schema with previous versions of VirtualCenter. You cannot
AUTION
roll back the schema update. You must create a back up of your database before you upgrade your database
and before you begin the upgrade to vCenter Server.
Upgrade to vCenter Server
The vCenter Server installer detects any VirtualCenter 2.x release and upgrades it.
This procedure requires downtime for the VirtualCenter Server that you are upgrading. No virtual machines
need to be powered off.
If the upgrade fails, there is no automatic rollback to the previous VirtualCenter version.
Prerequisites
The prerequisites for upgrading to vCenter Server include requirements for the vCenter Server system and
requirements for the database. See
VMware, Inc.
on page 49
on page 49
"Prerequisites for the vCenter Server Upgrade,"
6
on page 40.
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