vCenter Server Upgrade from Virtual Center
So tonight, I ran the VMware vCenter Server Upgrade from Virtual Center 2.x.
I got a warning from the installer shortly after it began saying that I have IIS installed and there may be conflicts. I pressed on since I know the default website on IIS is set for port 81 and is currently serving nothing, and is only installed as a pre-requisite for SQL Server 2005 which is serving as the Virtual Center backend.
After paying close attention to some of the wizards instructions, like making sure to update VMware Update Manager and VMware Converter to a compatible version, and making sure the SQL Server Browser service was running, which it wasn’t, I pressed on with the upgrade.
I jotted down the ports that are being configured by default:
| HTTPS port | 443 |
| HTTP port | 80 |
| Heartbeat port (UDP) | 902 |
| Web Services HTTP port | 8080 |
| Web Services HTTPS port | 8443 |
| LDAP port | 389 |
| SSL port | 636 |
Not that I’m planning on punching all of these through a firewall or anything, but I’ve noticed that it’s nice to know what’s operating on what ports.
At that point I ‘jack-assed’ and was disconnected. Can you figure out why? Quickly… quickly… 
I was about to freak, but then realized that I was connected to the Virtual Center server via the VI Client. I immediately reconnected directly to the ESX host and opened the console back up to see the installer still chugging away.
When the installer completed, with such few and easy questions, it was without fanfare, and I went on to install the upgrades it mentioned before, Update Manager and Converter. While those upgrades were running, I pulled up the web interface to confirm that all was well, and downloaded the vSphere client.
With the Converter installation, I had to add 2 more ports to my port list:
| SOAP port | 9085 |
| Web port | 9086 |
Back to the vSphere client download… with it being complete, I took my last look (at least in my environment) at the VI client and took a picture for the memories. 
I shut down the VI Client and installed and started the vSphere client.
What a seemless upgrade! I’m very impressed. Anyone debating on installing/upgrading from Virtual Center 2.x to vCenter Server, don’t wait… just do it.
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What about the database during upgrade. If no-overwrite, the schema will be different. If overwrite, the VC database will be empty after upgrade which means I need to reconnect the ESX.