I have two BE7K M4 servers, one hosting my publishers for CUCM, CUC, and CER, as well as one CUCM subscriber; and the other hosting subscribers for CUCM, CUC, and CER. All VMs are v11.5. About a month ago, the M4 hosting the subscribers died due to a motherboard issue. We had a Dell VMware host running ESXi 7.0 U3i at the same location, so I turned up the subscribers on that temporarily and they have been performing well.
Before I go on, I am well aware that my software and the M4s are beyond compliance.
We ordered one new BE7K M6 host that came preloaded with ESXi 7.0 U3i, and purchased the appropriate VMWare licensing. We plan on purchasing a second M6 in July (new fiscal year). My plan is to rehost my publishers and CUCM subscriber onto my current M6, then rehost the three subscribers from the Dell environment onto the next M6. My challenge is how and when to begin upgrading the server software.
Cisco documentation, as I understand it, indicates that UCS/CER 11.5 is approved for ESXi 6.7, UCS/CER v14 is approved for ESXi 7, and UCS/CER v15 is only approved one a title-by-title basis for ESXi 8. We have already moved one of the CUCM subscribers to the M6 that is running ESXi 7 and all has been well. Hence, my publishers are running on ESXi 5.5, and all subscribers are running on ESXi 7.0 U3i.
My question is how to do this dance between UCS/CER and ESXi versions while trying to get up-to-date on both. Frankly, while I am not purposefully trying to flaunt the "approved" Cisco tracks, it seems to me my best route would be to leave the M6 at ESXi 7.0 U3i and move the three publishers running UCS 11.5 to the M6.
- After this is done, proceed with the UCS/CER software upgrades to v14 or wait for the second M6 first? I'm concerned about staying on 11.5 any longer than absolutely necessary.
- After getting the second M6 in place, then upgrade to ESXi 8 and UCS/CER 15?
I appreciate the input and advice, and look forward to once again being fully supported by TAC!
David
