Upgrading vSphere 5.1 to vSphere 5.5- Part 3 Upgrading SSO

In previous post we have gone through some of the basic considerations which should be kept in mind before starting the upgrade process and also we learnt Taking DB and SSL Certficates Backup

In this post we will start with upgrading the vCenter SSO

Before starting upgrading the Single Sign On lets discuss a bit about what has been changed in version 5.5.

SSO architecture has been restructured from the scratch in version 5.5. The new SSO architecture is based on a multi-master model where each instance is automatically kept up to date with it peers via built-in replication. You can create sites to provide logical groupings of registered resources that maybe geographical or organizational separate as well as support for multiple tenants.

Below are some of the key improvements and changes that are made in the vCenter Single Sign-on 5.5 as compared to previous versions:

Dependency on the external Database has been removed
Single Sign-on is now supports multi-master Model and it will be aware about sites. You will have ability to define sites.
Replication between SSO is built-in and automatic
No More Admin@System-Domain: SSO administrator account has been changed to Administrator@vSphere.local in 5.5.

Steps for upgrading Single Sign On

Navigate to the directory where you have unzipped the vCenter Server ISO and double click autorun.exe to launch the installer. Select Single Sign On and click on install as shown below.

You will get the warning about SSL certificate not expiration. We can ignore the below warning as have already backed up our SSL keys in previous step and will continue with installation.

The Installer detects that an earlier version of Single Sign-on is already installed on this system (version 5.1) and it will be upgrade to vCenter Single Sign-on 5.5.0. Click on Next

Accept the license agreement and click next.

Installer will detects the System Information. Review and correct if anything is wrong here before proceeding further. Click on Next

Setup will detect earlier version of SSO running. Hit next to continue installation.

Next screen will ask you for upgrade method. There are 3 types of Upgrade mode for the vCenter Single Sign-on:

First existing vCenter Single Sign-on Server: This option will Install or upgrade your first vCenter Single Sign-on Server

An additional existing vCenter Single Sign-on server in the existing site: This option is to upgrade an additional vCenter single Sign-on in an existing site.

An additional existing vCenter Single Sign-on with a new site: This option is to upgrade an additional vCenter server Single Sign-on server and create a new site.

Select the Checkbox “First existing vCenter Single Sign-on Server” because I want to upgrade my existing SSO and click on Next.

Supply the new password for administrator@vsphere.local account. vsphere.local is a new domain that is created by vCenter SSO.

In the next screen enter the SSO site name. Since this is my VCAP lab so I named the site accordingly.

Review the Single Sign-on installation location. If you want to change the default location, click on change and select the destination location else click on Next