Back when virtualization admins were still scrambling to handle the IT demands of COVID-19, VMware announced that the end of general support for vSphere 6.7 would be on November 15, 2021. Many of us in the industry thought we’d have more time. Apparently we whined loudly enough to convince VMware to extend the date. Now, VMware vSphere 6.7 will enter end of life status on October 15, 2022. For real this time.
If your organization hasn’t upgraded yet— or hasn’t even started planning to do so — now is the time, my friend.
There’s a lot to do before you upgrade.
For example, are all of your third-party integrations already in a version state where they can be supported and coexist in both 6.7 and 7.0?
Depending on the complexity of your environment, you may also have to consider some or all of these things before you can even start the upgrade process:
- Backup software
- Replication software
- Hardware compatibility/support
- VDI software support
- Automation tools that may be affected by API changes
- Network integrations such as NSX
- Storage plugins and optimizations
Here at Deft, we manage VMware environments as a service for our customers, which of course includes upgrades like this one. We’ve been trucking along with those upgrades so far.
Soon, we’ll be back to share our experience with upgrading all sorts of different customer environments, along with any tips and tricks we learned along the way. Stay tuned. But first, stay employed — go upgrade vSphere.
