Upgrading vSphere Replication From 6.5 To 8.1

With the release of vSphere Replication 8.1, the upgrade path is not how it was earlier. The 8.1 vR server now hosts a PhotonOS and the upgrade is similar to a vCenter migration. In this case, you will deploy a new 8.1 vR server via the OVF template with a temporary IP and then follow a series of upgrade / migrate steps to transfer data from the old vR server to the new one.

1. Proceed with the regular deployment of the vSphere replication appliance, where you download the 8.1 ISO, mount it on a windows server and choose the support.vmdk, system.vmdk, certificate, manifest and the OVF file for deployment. A temporary IP is needed for the appliance to be on network.

2. Once the deployment is done, power on the 8.1 appliance and open a VM console. During the boot you will be presented with the below options.


The 192.168.1.110 is my 6.5 vSphere Replication appliance and it was already registered to the vCenter server. Select the Option 3 to proceed with the Upgrade.

3. Provide in the root password of the old replication server to proceed.


4. The upgrade process begins to install the necessary RPMs. This might take about 10 minutes to complete.


5. You will then be prompted to enter the SSO user name of the corresponding vCenter this vR is registered to and it's password.


6.  Post a few configuration progress in the window, the upgrade is done and you will be presented with the 8.1 banner page.