Recently VMware release is a new update for NSX. The release is NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 for vSphere.
Important: Previously known as NSX for vSphere, is now known as NSX Data Center for vSphere.
NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 release is launched just some weeks after 6.4.2 was released. Mostly to fix some of the bugs from version 6.4.2.
Before we continue a small note, this blog post is about NSX-V and not NSX-T. Many times users mix both products. One is for VMware / vSphere (NSX-V), and other is for any Hypervisor (NSX-T), Cloud and physical environments.
Regardless of their System Operation or Hypervisor. Brandon Lee wrote an excellent article here in Vembu regarding the differences between both products.
VMware NSX-T latest release is 2.2 and NSX-V latest release is 6.4.3.
What’s new in the new NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 release?
Is not a big release, since had only a few changes and a few bugs fixed. In this new release there are no new features added to the product, mostly are bug fixes and improvements in the product.
First, let us check where this new version is supported and what versions have entered End of Life(EOF), End of Availability (EOA) and End of General Support (EOGS).
vSphere:
- Using NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 with vSphere 6.0 Update 2, and 6.0 Update 3 is supported; however, VMware recommends vSphere 6.0 Update 3
- Using NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 with vSphere 6.5a, 6.5 Update 1 and 6.5 Update 2 are supported; however, VMware commends vSphere 6.5 Update 1
- Using NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 with vSphere 6.7 is supported and recommended.
Note: When using vSphere 6.0 Update 3 we avoid the issue of duplicate VTEPs in ESXi hosts after rebooting the vCenter server. See VMware Knowledge Base article 2144605 for more information.
Note: When using vSphere 6.5 Update 1 resolves the issue of EAM is failing with OutOfMemory. See VMware Knowledge Base Article 2135378 for more information. However, if you are using multicast routing on vSphere 6.5, vSphere 6.5 Update 2 is recommended.
Important note: Upgrading to DVS version 6.6 is not supported by NSX-V and should not be attempted. So if you are upgrading an existing vSphere installation to vSphere 6.7, do not upgrade vSphere Distributed Switches to 6.6.
In VMware KB Known issues while upgrading to DVS version 6.6, you can check more details regarding this issue.
Note: NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3x doesn’t support vSphere 5.5.
Guest OS:
Windows:
All versions of VMware Tools are supported. Some Guest Introspection-based features require newer VMware Tools versions:
- Use VMware Tools 10.0.9 and 10.0.12 to enable the optional Thin Agent Network Introspection Driver component packaged with VMware Tools
- Upgrade to VMware Tools 10.0.8 and later to resolve slow VMs after upgrading VMware Tools in NSX / vCloud Networking and Security (see VMware knowledge base article 2144236)
- For Windows 10 should use VMware Tools 10.1.0 or later
- For Windows Server 2016 should use VMware Tools 10.1.10 or later
Linux:
NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 version is supported in the following Linux versions:
- RHEL 7 GA (64 bit)
- SLES 12 GA (64 bit)
- Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (64 bit)
Note: For the minimum vSphere/OS supported versions of NSX or any other VMware products, please always check the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix
Next, let us list some of the versions that are or will be EOL/EOA and End of Support Warnings:
- NSX for vSphere 6.1.x has already reached EOA and EOGS on January 15th, 2017. (See also VMware knowledge base article 2144769)
- Previous product version of vCNS Edges is no longer supported by VMware. You must upgrade to an NSX Edge first before upgrading to NSX 6.3 or later. All the products continue to function. However, no new releases or patches are launched for this products
- NSX for vSphere 6.2.x has also reached EOGS recently. Concretely in the last 20th of August 2018
EOL: End of Life
EOA: End of Availability
EOGS: End of General Support
NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 Bug Fixes:
NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 new version fixes some specific customer bugs that were reported to VMware in previous versions.
Next, let us list the bugs that were fixed in this release:
General Resolved Issues
“Fixed Issue 2186945: NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.2 will result in loss of SSO functionality under specific conditions
NSX Data Center for vSphere cannot connect to SSO in an environment with multiple PSCs or STS certificates after installing or upgrading to NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.2. Fixed in this NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 version.”
The bug was reported in this KB57770.
Security Services Resolved Issues
“Issue 2186968: Static IPset not reported to container set API call
If you have service appliances, NSX might omit IP sets in communicating with Partner Service Managers. This can lead to partner firewalls allowing or denying connections incorrectly. Fixed in this NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 version”
The bug was reported in this KB57834.
Know issues for NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3:
There are some known issues when installing this NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3, as always in any product, but some are very important. So you should check the list before install NSX or even upgrade from a previous version.
The list is too big to fit in this blog post; please check here the Known Issues. Take special attention to installation and upgrade known issues known list. It’s important.
Final thoughts about this new release:
Since the product didn’t have significant changes or improvements, and if you are already running the version NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.2, I think only worth to upgrade your NSX if you have multiple PSCs with different Tenant Credentials or multiple STS certificates and facing the bugs listed above. Then you should upgrade to NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3 since bugs are fixed in this last version.
However, if you are running your NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.2 without this scenarios and issues, then you should wait for the next NSX version.
If you are running NSX version previous 6.4.2, then yes you should upgrade to the latest version of the latest. In this case, the NSX Data Center for vSphere 6.4.3.
Official full release notes can be found in HERE in VMware site.
Final note: Don’t forget, before performing any upgrade, backup your NSX and do snapshots of your NSX VMs. Check another article from Brandon Lee here in Vembu, How to configure NSX Backups.
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