Patching order for VCF Management Components, 9.1 to 9.1.1

Here is the patching order for the VCF management components while going from 9.1 to 9.1.1.

The short version is that only two components need to go in a fixed sequence. After that there is no specific order, though two of the remaining components need to be patched on their own.

A note on scope: this covers the management components only. The core components are not shown here, because that order has not changed at all since 9.0.x, or even back in the 5.x days.

1. Fleet Lifecycle

Fleet Lifecycle goes first, as it is documented. It orchestrates the patching of the rest of the components, so nothing else moves until this one is on 9.1.1.0.

See Patching Fleet Lifecycle 9.1.0.0 to 9.1.1.0.

2. VCF Services Runtime

Then VCF Services Runtime. This is the platform which hosts the rest of the management components, so it has to be patched before them. This one does not change, it stays ahead of everything that follows.

See Patching VCF Services Runtime 9.1.0.0 to 9.1.1.0.

3. Then the rest, in no fixed order

Once those two are done, there is no specific order for the remaining components. Fleet Lifecycle handles the documented dependencies between them, so you do not have to sequence them by hand:

• SDDC Lifecycle, see Patching SDDC Lifecycle 9.1.0.0 to 9.1.1.0
• Identity Broker
• Salt RaaS
• Salt Master
• Realtime Metrics Store
• Realtime Metrics
• Telemetry
• VCF Operations for Networks
• VCF Operations, see Patching VCF Operations 9.1.0.0 to 9.1.1.0
• Software Depot
• VCF Automation, which must be patched before the Migration Service Engine
• Migration Service Engine, only once VCF Automation is done

Two of these have to run on their own

VCF Operations. While the VCF Operations patch is running, do not kick off patching for any other component. Let it finish first, then carry on with the rest.

Software Depot. Patching the software depot blocks patching of other components anyway, because the patch binaries are unavailable until the software depot patch completes.

One ordering dependency to keep in mind

VCF Automation goes before the Migration Service Engine. If you patch the Migration Service Engine on its own before VCF Automation, it does not fail fast, it runs for six hours and then fails on vmsp_upgrade. See Patch VCF Automation before the Migration Service Engine.

What to remember

1. Fleet Lifecycle should be the first one. Nothing else moves until it is patched.
2. Then VCF Services Runtime, before heading to the rest of the components.
3. After that there is no fixed order, and Fleet Lifecycle handles the dependencies.
4. VCF Operations and Software Depot each need to run on their own, with no other patching alongside.
5. VCF Automation still goes before the Migration Service Engine. It is the one pairing worth keeping in your head.

For the wider picture on this release, including the known issues to look over before you start, see VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1.1 is now available.