If it feels like 6.4.2 was just released, you’d be correct – only three weeks ago. The new 6.4.3 release (build 9927516) is what’s referred to as an express maintenance release. These releases aim to correct specific customer identified problems as quickly as possible rather than having to wait many months for the next full patch release.
In this release, only two identified bugs have been fixed. The first is an SSO issue that can occur in environments with multiple PSCs:
“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.”
The second is an issue with IPsets that can impact third party security products – like Palo Alto Networks and Checkpoint Net-X services for example:
“Issue 2186968: Static IPset not reported to containerset 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 6.4.3.”
You can find more information on these problems in VMware KB 57770 and KB 57834.
So knowing that these are the only two fixes included, the question obviously becomes – do I really need to upgrade?
If you are running 6.4.2 today, you might not need to. If you have more than one PSC associated with the vCenter Server that NSX manager connects to, or if you use third party firewall products that work in conjunction with NSX, the answer would be yes. If you don’t, there is really no benefit to upgrading to 6.3.4 and it would be best to save your efforts for the next major release.
That said, if you were already planning an upgrade to 6.4.2, it only makes sense to go to 6.4.3 instead. You’d get all the benefits of 6.4.2 plus these two additional fixes.
Kudos goes out to the VMware NSBU engineering team for their quick work in getting these issues fixed and getting 6.4.3 out so quickly.
Relevant Links:
vswitchzero 