This post covers the upgrade of NSX Manager only, and is not a full NSX environment upgrade guide. After NSX Manager is upgraded any other NSX components will also need upgrading. In this example NSX Manager is being used for offloaded AV so we will also upgrade Guest Introspection. If other components are in use they should be upgraded in the order below, for more information see the NSX 6.4.1 Upgrade Guide post.
- NSX Controllers
- ESXi hosts in the prepared clusters
- NSX Edges / Logical Distributed Routers
- Guest Introspection, any third party service deployments
Pre-Requisites
- Take a snapshot of the NSX Manager virtual machine
- Take a backup of NSX Manager data using the built-in VMware NSX Backup and Restore feature
- Check compatibility of other VMware products using the Product Interoperability Matrixes
- Check the compatibility of any other products interacting with NSX, such as Anti-Virus
- NSX Manager system requirements are 16 GB RAM and 4 vCPU (or 24 GB RAM, 8 vCPU for environments with other 256 hosts). Ensure the existing NSX Manager meets these requirements
- Check your existing NSX Manager version in the upgrade path matrix here
The versions of NSX used in this post are 6.2.4 to 6.2.5, the appropriate release notes for NSX 6.2.5 can be found here. Note that NSX 6.2.x is not compatible with vSphere 6.5. NSX 6.2.x requires vSphere 5.5 to vSphere 6.0 U2. NSX 6.3.0 has been released and is compatible with vSphere 6.5a, download NSX 6.3 here, NSX 6.3 release notes here, NSX 6.3 what’s new here.
For more up to date versioning and information see the NSX 6.4.1 Upgrade Guide post
Upgrade Process
Download the NSX for vSphere Bundle from VMware: v6.2.5, v6.3.0.
Browse to the IP address or FQDN of the NSX Manager and log in. From the home page click Upgrade.
The current software version will be listed. In the top right hand corner click Upgrade.
Click Browse and locate the .tar.gz bundle downloaded earlier, then click Continue.
Answer the SSH and Customer Experience Improvement Program questions (note that enabling SSH isn’t an upgrade requirement) and click Upgrade.
The upgrade will now commence, there is no status bar. You will be logged out of the NSX Manager once the upgrade is complete.
Log back into the NSX Manager and verify the NSX Manager version in the top right hand corner. Return to the Upgrade page to verify the upgrade status now shows complete.
Before going any further restart the vSphere web client service on the vCenter Server to update the plug-in. You may also need to restart your browser or clear the cache if the plug-in does not display correctly in the vSphere web client.
If you are using Guest Introspection then the ESX Agents must also be upgraded. Log into the vSphere web client and click Networking & Security.
From the left hand navigation pane select Installation and the Service Deployments tab. Existing Guest Introspection deployments will show a status of Upgrade Available. To upgrade Guest Introspection select the service deployment and click the blue upgrade arrow.
When prompted confirm the deployment options (datastore, port group, and IP addressing) and click Ok. New ESX Agents will be deployed and the old versions deleted. Once complete the installation status will change to Succeeded.
After NSX Manager is upgraded you may notice that the vApp Details on the Summary page when you select the virtual machine still shows the old version. You can manually change this by right clicking the virtual machine and selecting Edit Settings. Open vApp Options and scroll down to Authoring, expand Product. Enter the correct version number and click Ok, the updated version will now be displayed in the vApp details.
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