When I first started doing patching of vCenter servers, I found it quite difficult to understand at first. Here’s my quick guide to vCenter Patching:

 

1.  Firstly we need to backup the vCenter server configuration. You can do this via the Virtual Appliance Management Interface (VAMI). To access your VAMI, browse to https://<your venter server’s name>:5480

 

2. Login with either your root user or administrator@vsphere.local credentials

 

 

3. Once logged in click Backup 

 

 

4. Click Backup now

 

 

5.  Fill in the details for a network storage where you can backup the vCenter server appliance. You can back up to FTPS, HTTPS, SFTP, FTP, NFS, SMB and HTTP. You can also choose to just backup the inventory and configuration or include the stats, events and tasks as well. Here in my example below I’m saving to a Windows share on a server I set up in my lab to store the vCenter backup. The format for the backup location is Protocol://<server-address.:port/folder/subfolder. When ready click Start.

 

 

6. You should be able to see the status from the VAMI Backup screen

 

 

7. I would also recommend taking a snapshot of the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA)

 

 

8. In the VAMI, click Update and then Check Updates

 

 

9. You can expand the patch to see more information about it. You can click Run Pre-Uodate Checks to get an idea if the patch is suitable to the environment. You can click Stage Only to download the patch (handy if you want to patch out of hours but save a bit of time by downloading it first). When ready click Stage and Install (or Install if already downloaded).

 

 

10. Click the checkbox to accept the terms of the license agreement and click Next.

 

 

11.  The system will perform pre-update checks and advise of any issues. As you can see below I need to reset my root account password before I can continue with the update.

 

 

12.  Once the rechecks complete you should go to the CEIP screen. Either leave the checkbox checked or uncheck it on the join VMware CEIP screen and click Next.

 

 

13. Click the checkbox to say that you have backed up the vCenter server and when ready to start the installation, click Finish

 

 

14.  The installation will then start

 

 

15. Once finished you should see the following updated version number in the VAMI

 

 

That’s it! You can remove any snapshots and your done.