VMware vSphere 4 Host Memory Upgrade,any considerations.

[ranj]

Hi

 

Just have a question. I am planning on upgrading the host memory for all of our ESX4 Host servers to 32gb Ram.

 

Any tips or advice on pre checks I should do. I know its only a memory upgrade but because we're so reliant on this if something did go wrong I want to make sure I did everything I could do to get it back up and running quickly as possible.

 

Are there any configs I should backup or checks I should do?

 

Any advice will be most appreciated. At the moment there are no issues as far as I am aware on any of the ESX hosts. All are running ESX4.0.0 175625.

 

Thanks

[Theblacksheep]

You should run a memory test for 72 hours before booting into ESX.

 

I would update your ESX hosts first. You are well out of date. Update rollups 1+2 for security and component patching. There is also ESX4.1 available with some new features, although this can be quite a big upgrade depending on your virtual center configuration.

 

ESX 4.0 = Build 164009 - Released 21 May 2009

ESX 4.0 Update 1 = Build 208167 - Released 19 Nov 2009

ESX 4.0 Update 2 = Build 261974 - Released 10 June 2010

ESX 4.1 = Build 260247 - Released 13 July 2010

Edited July 27, 2010 by Theblacksheep

[ranj]

You should run a memory test for 72 hours before booting into ESX.

 

I would update your ESX hosts first. You are well out of date. Update rollups 1+2 for security and component patching. There is also ESX4.1 available with some new features, although this can be quite a big upgrade depending on your virtual center configuration.

 

ESX 4.0 = Build 164009 - Released 21 May 2009

ESX 4.0 Update 1 = Build 208167 - Released 19 Nov 2009

ESX 4.0 Update 2 = Build 261974 - Released 10 June 2010

ESX 4.1 = Build 260247 - Released 13 July 2010

 

Can I roll from this version that I am currently on straight to ESX4.0 Update 2? I have just put a host in maintence mode and clicked on update manager and noticed that update 2 is on there. So am planning on doing that at some point in the next few weeks. When I roll this update out to each host do I need to update our vCenter box as well? Also I noticed there was a vmware tools update will i need to update every VM with this or will it do it automatically?

 

I noticed in update manager that 4.1 wasn't on the list. Have they purposely left this out from update manager?

 

On another note if an admin could move this thread into virtual machines section as i accidently put it into the virtual learning platforms area.

 

Thanks

[Theblacksheep]

Can I roll from this version that I am currently on straight to ESX4.0 Update 2? I have just put a host in maintence mode and clicked on update manager and noticed that update 2 is on there. So am planning on doing that at some point in the next few weeks. When I roll this update out to each host do I need to update our vCenter box as well? Also I noticed there was a vmware tools update will i need to update every VM with this or will it do it automatically?

 

I noticed in update manager that 4.1 wasn't on the list. Have they purposely left this out from update manager?

 

On another note if an admin could move this thread into virtual machines section as i accidently put it into the virtual learning platforms area.

 

Thanks

 

Yes you can goto 4U2. However, do a search for its know issues, it does break a few things (mostly vmware view and pcoip related).

 

Yes VMware tools will need to be updated and the servers rebooted. Best manually done IMHO.

 

4.1 updates require vcenter (and inturn update manager) to be on 4.1. So it wont appear until vCenter is upgraded. 4.1 is 64bit only. I put some info about this on here last night, so a search of edugeek will give you some ammo.

[ChrisH]

Thread moved.

[bio]

I would run a mem check first then reinstall (no upgrade) all esx host one by one. Its alot faster then upgrading. You could go for esx4u2 or esx4.1 right away.

 

bio...