• This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated June 13, 2019 by Matthew C.

Migrating from physical win VIC 6.5 to VCSA 6.7up1

  • Ralph H
    January 10, 2019 10:57:37 PM

    hi, so I’m posting to see if forums or support have any documented processes on migrating from an external windows OS virtual center version 6.5 up2 to the VCSA 6.7 u1?   we’ll use the migration assistant and move to the new IP and DNS VCSA or if we have to (easier) migrate to the same DNS and IP VCSA.   I’ve seen a couple of older version’s posting but nothing recent.  the VMware migration process (with migration assistant) is pretty straight forward except for the zerto part.   It looks like in some posts that the zerto third party plug-in is migrated (in older versions) but I’m looking for any recovery or rebuild zerto on new VCSA steps for just in case.

    or does anyone have any observations or recommendations from their migrations of these versions?

    Alex W
    May 17, 2019 01:51:26 AM

    @ Ralph H, i am migrating from Windows 6.0 to VCSA 6.7 appliance also, so I am looking for the same answer…

    Tagged: 
    Matthew C
    May 17, 2019 12:19:33 PM

    Hi Ralph and Alex. I migrated vCenter from Windows to VCSA a few years ago. I believe I was running v5.5 on Windows, and the migration assistant took me to v6.0 on VCSA. I’ve since upgraded VCSA from v6 to v6.5, which is the same process really, so once you’ve done it once, get used to it, it’s how you’re going to upgrade vCenter going forward.

    All that said, the Zerto piece was pretty straight-forward. I opened a support call prior to the upgrade, to ask the same questions you’re asking. Essentially the biggest part of all of this (as far as Zerto is concerned) is the vCenter database. You want to maintain the existing database, that is critical. If you do that, and you keep the vCenter name and IP address the same (which the migration assistant will do), then Zerto really won’t be impacted. Zerto support said I might need to re-register with vCenter, so I was ready to do that, but I ended up not having to.

    Now, that’s when everything goes right. You should prepare yourself in the event all doesn’t go right. You should export your VPG configuration ahead of time, and anything else you might need, in the unlikely event that you have to rebuild your vCenter or use a fresh vCenter database. If that happens, then Zerto will be back to square-1 as well. You’ll have to delete all your VPG’s and set them up again. You can use the export to help with that process.

    Hope this helps.

    Alex W
    June 12, 2019 09:16:28 PM

    Thank Matthew C for your reply, We all know that moving from windows vCentre which is SQL to vCentre appliance with postgre which means new database completely though with the migration task, moving the data across, is exactly the same but with new moid references. There is NO downtime at all in the vCentre world.

    So are you saying best to log a job with Zerto beforehand? Have them assist us?

    We didn’t choose this product, its a typical reseller decision and is now holding up our vCentre roadmap, cause nobody will giver us straight instruction.  We have only installed it last month, i am ready to pull it out… @Matt i am not angry at you its the product and support hassle

    Tagged: 
    Connie L
    June 12, 2019 09:47:48 PM

    We’ve migrated from Windows based vCenters to the VCSA with Zerto in place, just need to keep the same vCenter database (the migration assistant should take care of that for you.).

    Like Matthew said, it is a good idea to backup the Zerto configs, just in case the vCenter upgrade does go sideways. We’ve had that happen a few times, though they were Zertoless and we had rollback options.

    Matthew C
    June 13, 2019 12:14:11 PM

    Alex – The migration you’re outlining should not create new moid references. While yes, it’s changing from SQL to Postgre, all references are moved over, and as far as Zerto (or other products like Veeam) are concerned, it’s the same database. All critical information is transferred over.

    As I said, I did this migration, and Zerto didn’t have any issues at all. That doesn’t mean you’ll have the same experience, I’m just sharing my experience with you.

    If you’re a customer, I suggest opening a ticket with them just to double check everything. I mean you’re paying for support, why not use it? Seems logical to me.

You must be logged in to create new topics. Click here to login