How to Upgrade a High Availability VMM Management Server
Updated: May 13, 2016
Applies To: System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager
If you are running Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) in System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1) on two or more nodes of a cluster that are configured with high availability, you can use the information in this topic to upgrade the VMM management servers in the cluster to high availability VMM management servers for System Center 2012 R2. You need to perform the following procedure on all the nodes that you want to upgrade.
Before you begin the upgrade process, review Planning Considerations for Upgrading VMM.
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, on the computer that you are configuring is the minimum required to complete this procedure.
Warning
To avoid any loss of important data, before you upgrade VMM, we highly recommended that you perform a full backup of your VMM database.
To prepare for a high availability upgrade
Uninstall VMM in System Center 2012 SP1 from the nodes of the cluster that you want to upgrade, while choosing to retain the database.
We strongly recommend that you upgrade the operating system to Windows Server 2012 R2 on the VMM management server. For more information, see Planning Considerations for Upgrading VMM. Depending on whether you decide to upgrade the operating system, do the following:
If you choose to not upgrade Windows, delete the high availability VMM resource group from the failover cluster.
If you choose to upgrade Windows:
During the upgrade, choose the upgrade option, not a fresh installation, to retain data.
Note the name of your cluster, and then destroy the cluster.
Upgrade the operating system on all the nodes in the cluster that you want to upgrade.
Recreate the cluster by using its previous name.
For information about hardware and software requirements for VMM in System Center 2012 R2, see System Requirements for System Center 2012 R2 and Preparing your environment for System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager.
Use the next procedure on each node that you want to upgrade, to install VMM for System Center 2012 R2 by using the retained database.
To upgrade to high availability VMM management server
On the VMM management server, start the System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager Setup Wizard by double-clicking setup.exe in your product media or on your network file share.
On the main setup page, click Install.
On the Select features to install page, select the VMM management server check box, and Client if you want to upgrade the client, and then click Next.
Note
If you are installing the VMM management server on a computer that is a member of a cluster, you will be asked whether you want the VMM management server to be a high availability server. For more information about installing a high availability VMM management server, see Installing a Highly Available VMM Management Server.
On the Product registration information page, provide the appropriate information, and then click Next. If you do not enter a product key, VMM will be installed as an evaluation version that expires in 180 days after installation.
On the Please read this license agreement page, review the license agreement, and if you agree with it, select the I have read, understood, and agree with the terms of the license agreement check box, and then click Next.
On the Join the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) page, select the option of your choice, and then click Next.
On the Installation location page, use the default path or type a different installation path for the VMM program files, and then click Next.
The computer that you are upgrading is checked to ensure that the appropriate hardware and software requirements are met. If a prerequisite is not met, a page appears with information about which prerequisite has not been met and how to resolve the issue. If all prerequisites have been met, the Database configuration page appears.
For information about hardware and software requirements for VMM in System Center 2012 R2, see System Requirements for System Center 2012 R2.
On the Database configuration page, do the following:
Specify the name of the computer that is running SQL Server. If you are installing the VMM management server on the same computer that is running SQL Server, in the Server name box, type the name of the computer (for example, vmmserver01), or type localhost.
If you are upgrading a database that was configured with AlwaysOn Availability Groups, enter the name of the availability group listener.
Specify the port to use for communication with the computer that is running SQL Server, if all of the following conditions are true:
SQL Server is running on a remote computer.
The SQL Server Browser service is not started on that remote computer.
SQL Server is not using default port 1433.
Otherwise, leave the Port box empty.
Select or type the name of the instance of SQL Server to use. If you are upgrading a database that was configured with AlwaysOn Availability Groups, leave the text box for the instance of SQL Server empty.
Select Existing Database, and then select the database that you backed up from your System Center 2012 SP1 installation.
Check Use the following credentials, provide the user name and password of an account that has the appropriate permissions to access the database, and then click Next.
On the Cluster configuration page, do the following:
In the Name box, type a name for this high availability VMM management server implementation. For example, type
havmmcontoso. Do not enter the name of the failover cluster or the name of the computer on which the high availability VMM management server is installed.You will use this clustered service name when you connect to this high availability VMM management server implementation by using the VMM console. Because there will be multiple nodes on the failover cluster that have the VMM management server feature installed, you need a single name to use when you connect to your VMM environment by using the VMM console.
If you are using static IPv4 addresses, you must specify the IP address to assign to the clustered service name. The clustered service name and its assigned IP address will be registered in DNS. If you are using IPv6 addresses or DHCP, no additional configuration is needed.
After you have entered this information, click Next.
On the Configure service account and distributed key management page, specify the account that will be used by the System Center Virtual Machine Manager service. When you are installing a high availability VMM management server, choose a domain account.
Under Distributed Key Management, select whether to store encryption keys in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). When you are installing a high availability VMM management server, choose the distributed key management option, and then click Next.
Warning
Choose your service account and distributed key management settings carefully. For more information, see Choosing Service Account and Distributed Key Management Settings During an Upgrade.
On the Port configuration page, provide unique port numbers for each feature as appropriate for your environment, and then click Next.
On the Library configuration page, click Next to continue.
On the Upgrade compatibility report, review the information and do one of the following:
Click Cancel to exit the upgrade and resolve the noted issues.
Click Next to proceed with the upgrade.
On the Installation summary page, review your selections and do one of the following:
Click Previous to change any selections.
Click Install to upgrade the VMM management server.
After you click Install, the Installing features page appears, and the upgrade progress is displayed.
On the Setup completed successfully page, click Close to finish the installation.
To open the VMM console, ensure that the Open the VMM console when this wizard closes check box is selected. Alternatively, you can click the Virtual Machine Manager Console icon on the desktop.
For information, see: