Patching/Updating a VCHA enabled vCenter Server Appliance

The first patch to vSphere 6.5 was released last week. You can find the release notes here 

That means that you may be looking to patch your vCenter HA enabled vCenter Server Appliance(s).

Download the VMware-vCenter-Server-Appliance-6.5.0.5200-4944578-patch-FP.iso from VMware and mount this ISO to all three nodes in your VCHA Cluster.

Make a note of the current role of your VCHA VMs. Make sure to know which VM is currently your active and which VM is currently your passive.

vcha_settings

It would always be advised to ensure you have a valid backup of your vCenter Server before patching or updating.

With all that out of the way here is the process to patch/update a vCenter HA enabled vCenter Server.

Place the VCHA Cluster mode into Maintenance.

  • From the vSphere Web Client, navigate to vCenter > Configure > vCenter HA
  • Select Edit… and choose Maintenance Mode

vcha_maintenance1

vcha_maintenance2

Patch the Witness Node

  • Open an SSH Session or VM Console to the Witness VM
  • Run the following command from the Appliance Shell (not BASH) to install the patch
software-packages install --iso --acceptEulas
  • Disconnect the ISO from the Witness VM (Important to do this BEFORE you reboot)
  • Reboot the Witness VM
shutdown reboot -r "6.5.0a Patch"

Patch the Passive Node

  • Open an SSH Session or VM Console to the Passive VM
  • Run the following command from the Appliance Shell (not BASH) to install the patch
software-packages install --iso --acceptEulas
  • Disconnect the ISO from the Passive VM (Important to do this BEFORE you reboot)
  • Reboot the Passive VM
shutdown reboot -r "6.5.0a Patch"

Perform a fail-over

  • From the vSphere Web Client, navigate to vCenter > Configure > vCenter HA
  • Select Initiate Failover and choose yes to begin a failover

vcha_failover1

  • Observe that your active and passive roles have switches VMs

vcha_failover2

Patch the Last Node

  • Open an SSH Session or VM Console to the Last VM. This should be the current passive (having previously been active before the failover)
  • Run the following command from the Appliance Shell (not BASH) to install the patch
software-packages install --iso --acceptEulas
  • Disconnect the ISO from the Last VM (Important to do this BEFORE you reboot)
  • Reboot the Last VM
shutdown reboot -r "6.5.0a Patch"

Perform a fail-back

Optionally you can perform a fail-back if you want. This is not required and can be skipped.

  • From the vSphere Web Client, navigate to vCenter > Configure > vCenter HA
  • Select Initiate Failover and choose yes to begin a failover

Exit the VCHA Cluster from Maintenance Mode

  • From the vSphere Web Client, navigate to vCenter > Configure > vCenter HA
  • Select Edit… and choose Enable vCenter HA

vcha_enable1

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