Which is VMware’s recommended approach to upgrading each VMFS5 datastore to VMFS6?

A vSphere administrator upgraded vCenter Server (VC) from version 5.5 to 6.5. Existing VMFS5 datastores consumption is 75% full. All of the ESXi hosts have been upgraded to version 6.5. Existing datastores have not yet been upgraded.

Which is VMware’s recommended approach to upgrading each VMFS5 datastore to VMFS6?
A . The option to upgrade datastores to VMFS6 is only available during the ESXi host upgrade process.
B . Log on one ESXi host at a time using vSphere 6.5 Windows Client. Navigate to the datastores view. Right-click on the VMFS5 datastore, and then select upgrade to VMFS6.
C . Log on to VC using vSphere 6.5 Web Client. Navigate to the datastores view. Right-click on the VMFS5 datastore, and then select upgrade to VMFS6.
D . Log on to VC using vSphere 6.5 Web Client. Create a VMFS6 datastore on a new LU
E . Use storage vMotion to migrate the data to the new datastore.

View Answer

Answer: D

Explanation:

Perform version check for the vCenter Server and all ESX hosts.

Note: All ESXi hosts and vCenter Server must be of vSphere 6.5. Do not proceed if any one of ESXi hosts is not vSphere 6.5. Proceeding further means business continuity loss and the new datastore is not visible in old ESX hosts.

Perform all pre checks for free space availability on datastore DS-2. Available space on DS-2 must be equal or more than the datastore DS-1 space.

Ensure that the datastore DS-2 is VMFS 6 type.

Prepare list of all virtual machines in the vCenter Server’s inventory that are hosted on datastore DS-1.

Evacuate the datastore DS-1. For this, migrate all the virtual machines running from datastore DS-1 to datastore DS-2. Storage vMotion operations are performed on these virtual machines.

Perform one migration at a time to avoid disrupting the performance of remaining datacenter entities. Keep track of any migration failures, if any, re-trigger the migration for those virtual machines.

Ensure that datastore DS-1 is empty by listing files on this datastore.

Note: Proceed further only if datastore DS-1 is empty.

Unmount datastore DS-1 from all ESX hosts.

Delete datastore DS-1.

Create a new datastore with the VMFS 6 filesystem using the same lun. For example, DS-1.

Trigger a storage rescan operation on all hosts and wait for few minutes for this operation to complete.

Move all virtual machines back to datastore DS-1 from datastore DS-2 by performing storage vMotion operation. It is suggested to migrate one virtual machine at a time. Keep track of any migration failures, if any, re-trigger migration for those virtual machines.