Upgrading VMware NSX-T to version 2.4.1

One week ago NSX-T version 2.4.1 (Build 13716575) was released. Dozens of resolved issues are listed in the release notes. The process of upgrading a deployment is depicted in this post.

First step is to download the 7,5 GB upgrade bundle file and upload it in the first screen of the NSX-T GUI’s Upgrade section:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade bundle upload

After the upload is complete the bundle is extracted and its compatibility matrix is checked. Afterwards the upgrade process can be started:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade bundle upload completed

The obligatory End User License Agreement has to be accepted as usual:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 1

First step in the upgrade process is to upgrade the “Upgrade Coordinator” component:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 2

When this step is completed three boxes with the current and new versions for the hosts, edges and management nodes are displayed:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 3

It is recommended to run the pre-checks first, which check if the environment correctly configured for the further upgrade steps, e.g. whether the vSphere clusters are configured for DRS:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 4 (Pre-checks)

When the pre-checks are completed successfully you can proceed to the second step of the ugprade process which is upgrading the hosts. All of the hosts known to NSX via Fabric/Nodes are displayed and grouped according to their clusters in vCenter. The order of the hosts in each group can be changed, as can the upgrade order (parallel or one after the other). The upgrade mode “Maintenance” is recommended for productive environment, which evacuates (vMotion) each host while placing it in maintenance mode before installing the new NSX VIBs.
For test deployments the “In-place” upgrade mode can be selected, which might lead to service interuptions of the network functions offered by NSX to the running VMs.

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 5 (Host groups)

The overall group upgrade order defines whether the host groups should be upgraded simultaneously:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 6 (In progress)

During the upgrade the invidual status of each group can observed by clicking on it:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 7

When all hosts are upgraded you can contine to the next step by clicking on “Next”:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 7 (Completed)

All edge VMs have to be part of an edge cluster as those correspond to the edge groups, by which the edges are upgraded. During the upgrade the status reveals that a new operating system is installed on these:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 8 (Edges)

When all edges are upgraded you can contine to the next step by clicking on “Next”:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 8 (Completed)

With the NSX-T 2.4 upgrade the controller functionality was moved from the dedicated controller VMs to the manager, which was in turn changed from a single VM to a cluster, the fourth step is obsolete and can be skipped by clicking on “Next”:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 9

The upgrade of the NSX-T manager cluster should be communicated to concerned parties (e.g. network admins) as functionality will not be available during the maintenance window:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 10

The three manager VMs are upgraded in parallel:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 10 (In progress)

By clicking on “More information” the detailed upgrade logs are displayed:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 10 (Recent logs)

After completing the upgrade the manager VMs are rebooted. Until the services are available again this message is displayed:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade step 11

With the management nodes being upgraded successfully the upgrade process is completed:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade completed

The upgrade history can be tracked by clicking on “Show Upgrade History”:

VMware NSX-T 2.4.1 upgrade: Upgrade history