Each release of SnapCenter contains an updated SnapCenter Server and plug-in package updates. The updates for SnapCenter Plug-ins Package for Windows include an update for SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere that is distributed with the SnapCenter installer.
Before you begin
You must upgrade the
SnapCenter Server before you can upgrade the
Plug-in for VMware vSphere hosts.
About this task
- You can only upgrade one host at a time.
- Unlike hosts for other plug-ins, vSphere hosts are not put in maintenance mode during upgrade operations.
- Upgrade all plug-ins
If you are using the Plug-in for VMware vSphere in conjunction with other SnapCenter plug-ins to protect virtualized databases and file systems, you cannot upgrade only the Plug-in for VMware vSphere. You must upgrade all SnapCenter plug-ins.
- Run As credentials
If you manually installed the Plug-in for VMware vSphere, then you must configure a Run As credential before you upgrade the plug-in.
- Migrating VSC hosts
If you are using VSC to back up and restore VMs and datastores, you cannot use VSC in SnapCenter 3.0 and later. Instead, you must migrate each VSC host to SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere after you upgrade the plug-in.
The migration operation automatically installs the Plug-in for VMware vSphere on your VSC hosts, installs a SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere web client in vCenter, and migrates your VSC backups, policies, and resource groups.
Note: The migration operation only migrates VSC backups that were performed using SnapCenter.
SnapCenter 3.0 and later does not support data protection operations in VSC 6.2x or VSC 7.0 Appliance or later. If you have VSC 6.2x installed and registered after upgrading to SnapCenter, then all vSphere hosts in the SnapCenter GUI are listed with the status "Plug-in incompatible" until you migrate the VSC host to the Plug-in for VMware vSphere.
After you migrate a VSC host to the Plug-in for VMware vSphere, if you want to use VSC to perform VM management tasks other than backup and restore then you must upgrade to VSC 7.0 Appliance or later. See the VSC documentation for details.
Virtual Storage Console, VASA Provider, and Storage Replication Adapter for VMware vSphere Deployment and Setup Guide for 7.2 release
Steps
- In the left navigation pane of the SnapCenter GUI, click Hosts.
- Verify that Managed Hosts is selected at the top.
- Select the host for which you want to upgrade the plug-in package.
- Click Modify in the toolbar.
- In the Modify page, select Upgrade plug-ins.
Note: All the plug-ins in the package gets selected but only the plug-ins that were installed with the earlier version of SnapCenter are upgraded and the remaining plug-ins are not installed. You must use the Add plug-ins option to install any new plug-in.
If the Plug-in for VMware vSphere is installed on the SnapCenter host, then the Modify Port option is not active for the Plug-in for VMware vSphere. If the Plug-in for VMware vSphere is installed on a dedicated host, then the Modify Port option is active for the Plug-in for VMware vSphere.
- Select Skip preinstall checks if you do not want to validate whether the host meets the requirements to upgrade the plug-in.
- Click Next.
If you have not selected the
Skip preinstall checks check box, the host is validated to see if it meets the requirements to install the plug-in. The disk space, RAM, PowerShell version, .NET version, and location are validated against the minimum requirements. If the minimum requirements are not met, appropriate error or warning messages are displayed. After fixing the issue, click
Validate to re-validate the requirements.
Note: If the error is related to disk space or RAM, you can either update the web.config located at C:\Program Files\NetApp\SnapCenter WebApp or PowerShell config files located at C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules\SnapCenter\
to modify the default values. If the error is related to remaining parameters you must fix the issue and then validate the requirements again.
- Review the summary, and then click Finish.
The upgrade operation also registers the Plug-in for VMware vSphere with the vSphere web client in vCenter.
After you finish
- After a successful upgrade of the Plug-in for VMware vSphere on a host, do the following:
- Clear the browser cache
You must clear the browser cache before
running any Plug-in for VMware vSphere operations. If you do not clear the browser cache, some operations might hang.
- Check the new web client in vCenter
Log onto vCenter to verify that SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere is added as a web client. If the plug-in is not displayed in vCenter, or the Dashboard is not displayed, then you need to restart the vCenter web client service.
- Migrate the VSC host
If you used VSC in conjunction with earlier versions of SnapCenter, you must migrate the VSC host to SnapCenter Plug-in for VMware vSphere before you can use the new web client in vCenter to perform backup and restore operations on VMs and datastores.
- If you upgraded the Plug-in for VMware vSphere on a host in an NLB/ARR configuration, do the following to update the cluster IP and configure SnapCenter with the correct IP:
- In the left navigation pane in the SnapCenter GUI, click Hosts.
- Select the vSphere host and then click Add/update vCenter Details in the plug-in information table on the right.
- Check the box Update SnapCenter Details.