With the release of of VCF 4.4 i wanted to get my lab upgraded. The release blog can be found here and the release notes are here

In order to get to 4.3.1.0 in the past we had to upgrade to each version incrementally. As per the documentation found here we can now upgrade from any release past 4.1.0.1 directly to 4.4 skipping the releases in between. We can do so by going to Repository -> Bundle management -> Download now.

The image shows Bundle Management with a successful download initialization and options to schedule or download a VMware Cloud Foundation Update 4.4.0.0.

The next step is to upgrade VCF by going to Inventory -> Workload Domains -> Select the workload domain -> Update/Patches -> Select the cloud foundation version were upgrading to and click on Update Now for the VMware Cloud Foundation Update 4.4.0.0

Select Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0, download bundles, then click Update Now.

Next we are taken to the Upgrade page where we can follow the upgrade for each one of the components

Upgrading VMware Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0, 1/6 resources updated.

Once the upgrade is complete we can click Finish to be returned back to the main screen

Because we are changing the SDDC-Manager versions i would strongly recommend to clear cache and log back in before going forward.

Next step is to download and install the configuration drift package. We can find it under Lifecycle management -> Bundle management or Inventory -> Workload Domains -> Select workload domain -> Update/Patches -> Under the drop down select Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0 -> Download Now

UI shows Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0 update with options to download.

Once the download is complete in the same location click on update now

Select Cloud Foundation version, download bundles, then click “Update Now.

We can view the upgrade process by clicking on view status

In-Progress Updates show VMware Cloud Foundation Update 4.4.0.0 and In-Progress Update #1. Updating VMware Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0, configuration drift stage in progress.

Next step is to upgrade NSX-T installation to NSX-T 3.1.3.5. The release notes can be found here. We can go to inventory -> Workload Domains -> Select the workload domain -> Update/Patches -> Under Available updates click on the drop down and select Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0 -> Download now.

UI shows Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0 update for NSX-T Data Center 3.1.3.5.

Once the download is complete we can proceed with updating the NSX component by clicking on the update now

Update screen for VMware Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0; click “Update Now” to start.

The upgrade will go thought upgrading the NSX managers as well as the edges. We can view the upgrade status by clicking on view status

In-progress update for VMware Software Update 4.4.0.0.

Once the upgrade is complete we can proceed with the vCenter Upgrade. VCF 4.4 comes with vCenter Server 7.0 Updated 3c. The release notes can be found here. We can go to inventory -> Workload Domains -> Select the workload domain -> Update/Patches -> Under Available updates click on the drop down and select Cloud Foundation 4.4 -> Download now.

Select “Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0” to upgrade VCF 4.4.

Once the download is complete we can click on Update now

UI shows Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0 update options.

We can follow the status of the upgrade by clicking on the view status tab

UI shows upgrade progress for VMware vCenter Server 7.0 Update 3c.

Here we can see the different components that are getting upgraded

The image shows a VMware vCenter Server upgrade process with various stages and their statuses.

Once the upgrade is complete we are taken back to the previous page where we can see that the ESXi servers are next. The release notes can be found here. Click on Download Now

UI shows Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0 update details, options to schedule or download.

Once the download is complete we can click on Update now

UI shows Cloud Foundation 4.4.0.0 update options for ESXi 7.0.

If we have multiple clusters we can enable Cluster-level selection and select the specific cluster(s) we want to upgrade.

Select clusters for upgrade in VCF 4.3.1 to 4.4.

We can also enable sequential cluster upgrade as well as quick boot

Upgrade Options screen in a VCF upgrade wizard.

We get to review the options once again before we click finish to to submit the task

Review page of a wizard showing selected clusters and upgrade options.

Once submitted we can view the status by clicking on View Status

In-Progress Update #1 shows a Domain Level Upgrade in progress.

And with that we are finished with the workload domain. We can follow the same steps for the other domains