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Upgrade VMware Aria Operations

VMware Aria Operations (formerly vRealize Operations Manager) tracks and analyzes the operation of multiple data sources in the SDDC by using specialized analytic algorithms. These algorithms help VMware Aria Operations learn and predict the behavior of every object it monitors. Users access this information by using views, reports, and dashboards. Also, enable self-driving IT Operations Management across private, hybrid and multi-cloud environments with a unified operations platform that delivers continuous performance, capacity and cost optimization, intelligent remediation and integrated compliance through AI/ML and predictive analytics.

When upgrading to VMware Aria Operations, it is important to understand changes in component behavior for version 8.10 that can affect the upgrade process. Understanding changes from previous versions of VMware Aria Operations can help in your upgrade planning. For a complete list of new features in VMware Aria Operations 8.10, see the Release Notes for version 8.10 releases.

For high availability and scalability, you can deploy several VMware Aria Operations instances in a cluster to track, analyze, and predict the operation of monitored systems. Cluster nodes can have either of the following roles:

Primary node – Required initial node in the cluster. In large-scale environments, the primary node manages all other nodes. In small-scale environments, the primary node is the single standalone VMware Aria Operations Manager node.

Primary replica node – Optional. Enables high availability of the primary node.

Data node – Optional. Enables scale-out of VMware Aria Operations in larger environments. Data nodes have adapters installed to perform data collection and analysis. Data nodes also host vRealize Operations Manager management packs.

Remote collector node – Overcomes data collection issues across the enterprise network, such as limited network performance. Remote collector nodes gather statistics about inventory objects and forward collected data

Cloud Proxy – Using cloud proxies in vRealize Operations Cloud, you can collect and monitor data from your on-prem data center or cloud (VMC on AWS, VMC on Dell EMC, Azure VMware Solution, Google Cloud VMware Engine). You can deploy one or more cloud proxies in vRealize Operations Cloud to create a one-way communication between your end-point environment and vRealize Operations Cloud. The cloud proxies work as one-way remote collectors and upload data from the end-point environment to vRealize Operations Cloud. Cloud proxies can support multiple vCenter Servers or cloud accounts.

Prerequisites

The upgrade procedure for a VMware Aria Operations environment can be rather complex and may require careful planning. Determining the steps of the upgrade procedure depends on several factors, mainly

Product dependency: Please make sure below products are compatible with the current and target versions of VMware Aria Operations using VMware interoperability Matrix

VMware Aria Lifecycle
VMware vSphere and vCenter version.
VMware NSX version.
VMware Cloud Director version.
VMware vRealize Operation Tenant App version
VMware Cloud Director Availability version
VMware Usage Meter version
Management Packs and Integrations etc…

Note:- If you deployed and managing the VMware Aria Suite products by VMware Aria Lifecycle you can upgrade using the Lifecycle console which helps you to do the upgrade plan as well or you can upgrade manually and initiate an inventory sync in Lifecycle to get the Lifecycle Environment get updated.

Run the VMware Aria Operations 8.10 Pre-Upgrade Readiness Assessment Tool. The tool generates a report detailing the precise impact on your environment and gives suggestions for replacement metrics.

Back up or take a snapshot of the source VMware Aria Operations appliances that you want to upgrade.

Upgrade Path – Please make sure we have an upgrade path available to the target version or we need to go with any interim versions using VMware interoperability Matrix.

Obtain the PAK file for your cluster. See Obtain the Software Update PAK File for details.

Before you install the PAK file, or upgrade your VMware Aria Operations instance, clone any customized content to preserve it. Customized content can include alert definitions, symptom definitions, recommendations, and views. Then, during the software update, you select the options named Install the PAK file even if it is already installed and reset out-of-the-box content.

Since version 6.2.1, vRealize Operations update operation has a validation process that identifies issues before you start to update your software. Although it is good practice to run the pre-update check and resolve any issues found, users who have environmental constraints can disable this validation check.

Note: – vRealize Application Remote Collector virtual appliance is deprecated and is no longer available for download from the vRealize Operations user interface when you upgrade to VMware Aria Operations 8.6. VMware recommends that you use cloud proxy to monitor your application services. You can migrate from an on-prem standalone vRealize Application Remote Collector to on-prem cloud proxy. For information about migrating from vRealize Application Remote Collector to cloud proxy, see KB 83059

Upgrade Procedure

Review the current version and verify the compatibility and upgrade path, As I am running with VMware Aria Suite Lifecycle 8.6.2., it is compatible with other platform products and direct upgrade path is available to 8.10. If your environment is managed my VMware Aria Lifecycle, we can upload the binaries to Aria Lifecycle repository to upgrade the same.

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Log into the master node vRealize Operations administrator interface of your cluster at https://master-node-FQDN-or-IP-address/admin.

Click Software Update in the left pane.

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Click Install a Software Update in the main pane

Note: – Before upgrading, you can gauge the impact on your system by running the vRealize Operations Pre-Upgrade Readiness Assessment Tool (Assessment Tool). The tool generates a report detailing the precise impact on your environment and gives suggestions for replacement metrics.

Click the Browse link and navigate to the PAK file you downloaded and click Upload

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Once the PAK file is uploaded, click NEXT and accept the EULA

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Review the release information and click NEXT. At the Install Software Update screen, click INSTALL

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The Software Update screen appears again, this time with a rotating icon and an installation in progress… bar marking the progress of the PAK file and assessment as they run on your environment. The process can take from five to 20 minutes, depending on the size of your system

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When the process is complete, click Support in the left pane and Select the Support Bundles option above the toolbar

Locate the support bundle most recently created. Click the chevron next to the bundle name to open the file and select it, then click the download link on the toolbar to save the support bundle ZIP file to your local files

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To review the report, extract the files from the ZIP file and open the HTML file(\apuat-data\report\index.html) and also refer this VMware Document for more details

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Once you mitigated all the highlighted warning by Assessment tool proceed with 8.10 upgrade.

Click Software Update in the left pane

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Click Install a Software Update in the main pane and browse the upgrade PAK file downloaded and click Upload

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Follow the steps in the wizard to locate and install your PAK file

This updates the OS on the virtual appliance and restarts each virtual machine

Read the End User License Agreement and Update Information, and click Next

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Click Install to complete the installation of software update

Note: -After you click Install, the installer will restart the VMware Aria Operations administrator interface, and you will be logged out. Log in once again to the VMware Aria Operations administrator interface when it is ready and follow the update status in the software update page.

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Log back into the master node administrator interface.

The main Cluster Status page appears, and cluster goes online automatically. The status page also displays the Bring Online button, but do not click it.

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Clear the browser caches and if the browser page does not refresh automatically, refresh the page.

The cluster status changes to Going Online. When the cluster status changes to Online, the upgrade is complete

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Note: – If a cluster fails and the status changes to offline during the installation process of a PAK file update, then some nodes become unavailable. To fix this, you can access the administrator interface and manually take the cluster offline and click Finish Installation to continue the installation process

Click Software Update to check that the update is done.

A message indicating that the update completed successfully appears in the main pan

Note: -When you update VMware Aria Operations to a latest version, all nodes get upgraded by default. If you are using cloud proxies, the cloud proxy upgrades start after the VMware Aria Operations upgrade is complete successfully

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Review the Dashboards, Integrations and Management packs and make sure everything is working fine then Delete the snapshots you made before the software update.

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During initial Assessment it was already highlighted my Management pack for VMware Cloud Director is not compatible, so I am upgrading my management pack for VMware Cloud Director from 8.6.1 to 8.10

So, I have already downloaded the 8.10 management pack for VMware Cloud Director.

To proceed with upgradation, click on Integration – Repository – Management Pack for VMware Cloud Director.

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Click on Upgrade and Browse the PAK file you downloaded

Click Upload to proceed with Upgrade

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Accept the EULA and click Next

Click Finish to complete the upgradation

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After Upgrade you can see the VMware Cloud Director instance is automatically connected and started receiving data

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Thanks,

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I hope this article was informative, and don’t forget to buy me a coffee if you found this worth reading.



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