How to easily install a zip file patch on an ESXi 5.0 host

Posted by Paul Braren on Nov 22 2011 (updated on Dec 17 2011) in

On Nov 7, 2011, VMware published this kb article about iSCSI delays:
ESXi 5.x boot delays when configured for Software iSCSI

it includes a link to this site:
VMware ESXi 5.0, Patch Release ESXi500-201111001

which tells you about the ESXi500-201111001.zip file you download from here:
www.vmware.com/patch/download

by searching for the filename, or even easier, here's the direct download link for ESXi500-201111001.zip. This zip file contains numerous patches in the form of VIB files, the screenshot below shows the actual work it did in my situation, which is not much. But consider this a rehearsal for ESX 5.1 or whatever the next release is called, which may use a similar procedure. Also, be sure to shut down all VMs first, since this will require your host be rebooted!

Alternatively, if you must be extremely cautious in a production environment here, and don't necessarily have the usual vSphere Client GUI view of your environment, you might also consider these more advanced set of instructions (that take much longer to get through, but have the same end result).

Here's a simple/fast approach I used in a lab box (with no running VMs), it took 10 minutes total, and there was no issue with any of my virtual machines running after the update.

1) Enable SSH on ESXi 5.0

It’s quite easy with the ESXi vSphere client, step-by-step found here. You can do this for each time you boot, not leaving it enabled at start time (security consideration).

2) Move it

I happened to use freeware WinSCP (or Veeam FastSCP) and the simple GUI, but using Linux will do nicely too. Point WinSCP to your ESX host IP, drag and drop the file you downloaded:
ESXi500-201111001.zip
into the ESXi 5.0 hosts datastore, I used /vmfs/volumes/1.5TB