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We currently have a single server running ESXi 5.5.0 1331820 with Live VMs and would like to upgrade the license to 6.5 Essentials so that we can use Altaro VM Backup since this does not work with the current free version.

Are there any migration paths which we can take without shutting down the ESXi and off course without re-installing the ESXi from the start since this is the only physical server we have?

Thanks in advance.

StefanGrech
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  • You can upgrade the host from 5.5 to 6.5 and apply your 6.5 license, but you'll have to shut down the guests during the upgrade. – joeqwerty Mar 27 '17 at 23:15

1 Answers1

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There's no option to upgrade entire versions of VMware ESXi without reboot.

Perhaps if you were in a clustered setup with shared storage, but for a standalone host, you MUST reboot.

For instance, would you expect to be able to upgrade Windows Server 2008 to 2012 without a reboot?

ewwhite
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