You can replace an existing ESXi host in a VMware cluster or a standalone datacenter with a new server. The storage settings are automatically updated so that the logical units used by the original host are presented to the new replacement host, and the datastores (other than local) on the original host are presented to the new replacement host.
- Set up the ESXi host that is to be used in place of the server you are replacing. Optionally you can prepare an appropriate host profile. Creating a host profile requires a VMware vSphere Enterprise Plus license for the ESXi host.
- Register the vCenter server that you want to replace with UCP Advisor.
- Verify that the vCenter server that you want to replace is in the vCenter inventory.
- Create an UCP system and onboard with ESXi details both the replacement server and server that is being replaced.
- Attach the vCenter to UCP system.
- Verify that the firmware version and model of the original server and the replacement server are the same. Note: Host replacement and the migration of vSAN datastores are not supported for HC nodes. Also, when replacing a host server, the same firmware version must be available on both the original and replacement servers.
- Browse to the compute server that you want to replace.
- Click Replace Server.
- Select the target server from the list. Click Next.
- (Optional) Select an ESXi host profile, and then click Next.
- Verify that the information is correct, and then click Confirm.
The original server is replaced by the new server according to the selected host profile.
Note:
- If the host is part of a virtual distributed switch, after replacing the server, you must manually remove the host from the virtual distributed switch, and then remove it from the cluster.
- If the replacement server is on a lower firmware version, it will be upgraded to the recommended firmware version during replacement.