VMware Horizon – Upgrade Horizon Connection Servers to v. 2206

Release date: September 1st 2022

Welcome to my VMware Horizon series. In this session I will describe how I upgraded my VMware Horizon Connection Servers to v. 2206. According to VMware’s official documentation, this should be done as step 7 in the supported update sequence.

Although this isn’t strictly necessary according to the Release Notes, I will go through the motions in order to have every component in my Horizon infrastructure on the same version. I start out by downloading the installation media from VMware Customer Connect

Because I’m running both local and global replication, I will start out by checking the replication status on all my Connection Servers, as shown below. I have included some useful VMware documentation links at the bottom, in case I will need to troubleshoot replication.

First I check the Local Adam Database replication using the command below:

repadmin.exe /showrepl localhost:389 DC=vdi,DC=vmware,DC=int

As show below, the replication looks okay

Next, I check the Global Adam Database replication using the command below:

repadmin.exe /showrepl localhost:22389 dc=vdiglobal,dc=vmware,dc=int

As show below, this replication also looks okay

As always when upgrading VMware Horizon, before I start upgrading my Connection server, I verify that I have a valid backup and document my settings. I also disable the provisioning and desktop pools

Next, in Horizon Administrator, I disable the connection server I want to upgrade.

Before I start the upgrade, I verify the installed versions from Control Panel

Next, I login on the first Connection Server and perform a silent upgrade by running the command below, as described in VMware’s documentation: Silent Installation Properties for a Horizon Connection Server Standard Installation

VMware-Horizon-Connection-Server-x86_64-8.6.0-20099816.exe /s /v"/qn VDM_SERVER_INSTANCE_TYPE=1 VDM_INITIAL_ADMIN_SID=S-1-5-32-544"

Once the upgrade is finished, I can verify in Event Viewer that the upgrade was successful

I can also see that the correct version is installed in Control Panel

Next, I do a reboot of the Connection Server. Once it is up again, I check that the Horizon Services has started properly

I repeat the procedure above and upgrade my Replica Server by running the command below and a reboot afterward. Notice that when upgrading a Replica Server, the VDM_SERVER_INSTANCE_TYPE property is 2, not 1 as it is with Connection Server

VMware-Horizon-Connection-Server-x86_64-8.6.0-20099816.exe /s /v"/qn VDM_SERVER_INSTANCE_TYPE=2 VDM_INITIAL_ADMIN_SID=S-1-5-32-544"

Finally, I do a manual upgrade of the Connection Server in my secondary POD with a reboot afterwards, as shown below. I launch the Horizon Connection server installation wizard, Next…

I accept the license terms, Next…

Next…

I acknowledge the Operational Data Collection info, Next…

I confirm the installation path, Install…

Once the installer finishes, click Finish…

As the upgrade of Connection Servers normally resets my Clients Repository, I have to set up this again. This I have documented here: VMware Horizon – Upgrade Client repository with Horizon 2111 Clients

Finally I log in on the VMware Horizon Administrator Console and enable the Connection Server and the desktop pools that I disabled to begin with. I also check that all my settings etc. has been preserved through this upgrade.

As a result of the upgrade, I check if I have to recreate my locked.properties file under:

This concludes my session about upgrading the Connection Servers to v. 2206. I can now proceed with upgrading the UAG’s, posted here: VMware Horizon – Upgrade Unified Access Gateway to v. 2207

Useful VMware Documentation:

Detecting and Resolving LDAP Entry and Schema Collisions Using the -X Option

Upgrade Connection Servers in a Replicated Group

Upgrading a Cloud Pod Architecture Environment

Troubleshooting Errors During Upgrade and Installation of Connection Servers

Forcing replication between ADAM databases

VMware Horizon – Upgrades

VMware Horizon planning, deployment etc.

Official VMware Horizon 8 Documentation

Disclaimer: Every tips/tricks/posting I have published here, is tried and tested in different it-solutions. It is not guaranteed to work everywhere, but is meant as a tip for other users out there. Remember, Google is your friend and don’t be afraid to steal with pride! Feel free to comment below as needed.