I would like to show you my stumbling blocks when migrating to VCSA.

First of all, this is not a Migrate to VSCA step by step guide. There are tons great guides out there. Like this from VMware.

I will show you some tips to sucessfully migrate to VCSA 6.5, even when you get some errors 😉

My setup is:

• Windows 2008 R2 Server
• MS SQL Server 2008 R2
• vCenter 5.5 Build 4541947
• ISO of vCenter Appliance 6.5 d (Build 5318154)

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When running the migration assistent on my “old” vCenter, I got the first error:

“User running the upgrade does not have Replace a process level token privilege”

The running user was the Builtin-Administrator user :/ Ok, but you can fix this when changeing this local GPO. Simply add your running user here.

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Second, this errors has to do with VMware Update Manager (VUM).

I got multiple issues like:

“VMware Update Manager health status is red”

or during the upgrade when compressing the “vum_registry.csv” “The compressed (zipped) Folder is invalid or corrupted”

I simply suggest you to uninstall VUM before the Upgrade and activate it later in the new vCenter.

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Another hint is, deploy the VCSA first (with the ovf in the vCenter Installation ISO) and take a snapshot before the first boot. In case of haveing trouble like my errors, you get your next try a lot faster. 😉

When it came up with your configured IP (it takes it’s time …), you can also run the migration wizzard when you enter the https://[yourIP]:5480

But have a look at your vCenter DB Size when deploying the new VCSA. I my case i had to extend the disks before the first boot.

BTW: William Lam explaied the disks for VCSA here.

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I hope we can reduce the complexity of a vCenter Update in the future with the new VCSA.