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In the previous post we have talk about the pre-upgrade phase during a VMware View 5.1 upgrade path. Now let’s the the steps to perform the upgrade.

As written in the Upgrade Guide (VMware View Upgrade Overview) the steps are:

• Upgrade View Connection Server on the existing host or migrate to a new machine. See Upgrade View Connection Servers in a Replicated Group.
• If you use View Security Servers, upgrade to 5.1, see Upgrade View Security Server.
• Upgrade View Composer on an existing Windows Server 2008 host or, if you are running View Composer 2.6 on Windows Server 2003, migrate to a new machine. See Upgrade View Composer.
• If you are also upgrading vSphere components, upgrade vCenter Server. See Upgrade vCenter Server.
• For the View Client with Local Mode component, upgrade or install and configure one or more View Transfer Server instances. See Upgrade View Transfer Server.
• If you are also upgrading vSphere, upgrade the ESXi hosts and virtual machines. See Upgrade ESX/ESXi 4.0.x, 4.1.x, or 5.0.x Hosts and Their Virtual Machines. Remember that now virtual hardware 8 could be used also with local mode so consider to upgrade to it.
• Upgrade the VMware View Agents that runs on the physical or virtual machines that are used as desktop sources, as full-clone desktops in a pool, and as individual desktops in a manual pool. See Upgrade View Agent.
• Use the newly upgraded virtual desktop sources to create upgraded pools of View desktops. See Upgrade View Composer Desktop Pools.
• Upgrade the VMware View Clients that runs on end users’ client devices. See Upgrade View Clients and Upgrade View Local Mode Clients.

Of course you have to make a backup of your configurations before start the process!

Strange that the document suggest to upgrade the Composer after the Connection Server, because from the compatibility matrix, the new one could be compatible with old Connection Servers (and note that new Connections Servers are not compatible with old Composer).

Is not clear if this version of View will be compatible with the next version of vSphere (probably also 5.1) or if the new version of vSphere will be no more compatibile with View 5.0… But probably is the right moment to plan you upgrade!

Andrea Mauro

Virtualization, Cloud and Storage Architect. Tech Field delegate. VMUG IT Co-Founder and board member. VMware VMTN Moderator and vExpert 2010-24. Dell TechCenter Rockstar 2014-15. Microsoft MVP 2014-16. Veeam Vanguard 2015-23. Nutanix NTC 2014-20. Several certifications including: VCDX-DCV, VCP-DCV/DT/Cloud, VCAP-DCA/DCD/CIA/CID/DTA/DTD, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP, CCA, NPP.