How to easily update your VMware Hypervisor from ESXi 6.5.x to 6.5.0d

Posted by Paul Braren on Apr 18 2017 (updated on Mar 31 2018) in
  • ESXi
  • Virtualization
  • HowTo
  • HomeLab
    • 25 Comments

    Important Update - On Mar 20 2018, VMware VMSA-2018-0004.3 announced that CVE-2017-5715 (Spectre-2) mitigation is now included in the latest patch that you should be using instead of the older patch featured in the original article below. You'll find the newer article that features an even easier update method here:

    Article below as it originally appeared.

    ESXi 6.5.0d | 18 APRIL 2017 | ISO Build 5310538

    Warning:

    1. vCenter/VCSA 6.5 should be upgraded to 6.5.0d before upgrading your host(s) to ESXi 6.5.0d Build 5310538, see:
      How to easily update your VMware vCenter Server Appliance from VCSA 6.5 to 6.5.0d
      Feb 07 2017
    2. I have only tested this method when upgrading from 6.5.0a Build 5224934 to Build 5310538, your experience from earlier 6.x versions may vary.
    3. I have been able to replicate a possible issue with the Xeon D 10GbE driver VIB after the upgrade, workaround completed, details below. There is also one report of a Xeon D 1GbE driver issue, he was able to recover by backing out.
    4. This is not official VMware documentation, it's merely a convenient upgrade technique that may help in lab tests, it's up to you to adhere to the backup-first advice detailed below.

    Why ESXCLI?

    All the background story on how this easy ESXCLI upgrade method came about was covered in my earlier articles about updating 6.0 U2 and 6.5.
    If you're in production, beware, this code just came out today. This article is for the lab, where you may want to give this critical patch a try.

    Benefits

    1. No new license needed to go from 6.0.x or 6.5.x to 6.5.0d Build 5310538
    2. Users of the free hypervisor and folks who can't download the GA Offline bundle now have a path forward as well, without needing to read TinkerTry's My VMware's "You either are not entitled or do not have permissions to download this product." error, and what to do about it.

    Prerequisites

    Once you've completed ALL of the following preparation steps:

    1. upgraded to VCSA 6.5.0d
    2. ensured your ESXi 6.5.x host has a working internet connection
    3. reviewed the release notes
    4. reviewed this VMSA-2017-0006 patch
    5. reviewed How to easily update your VMware Hypervisor to ESXi 6.0 Update 2 for the full back story that includes some warnings about potential gotchas/driver issues
    6. backed up the ESXi 6.5.x you've already got, if it's USB or SD, then use something like one of the home-lab-friendly methods such as USB Image Tools under Windows, as detailed by Florian Grehl here

    you can now continue with this simple approach to upgrading your lab environment. Unsupported, at your own risk, see the full disclaimer at below left.

    You should wind up with the same results after this upgrade as folks who upgrade by downloading the full ESXi 6.5.0d ISO and boot from it:

    VMware vSphere Hypervisor (ESXi ISO) image (Includes VMware Tools)
    File size: 331.09 MB
    File type: iso
    Name: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-201704001-5310538.x86_64.iso
    Release Date: 2017-04-18
    Build Number: 5310538

    Upgrade

    Download and upgrade to 6.5.0d update using the patch directly from the VMware Online Depot

    The entire process including reboot is usually well under 10 minutes. Triple-clicking on a line of code below highlights the whole thing, so you can then right-click and copy it into your clipboard:

    1. Open an SSH session (eg. PuTTY) to your ESXi 6.0.x server
      (if you forgot to enable SSH, here's how)
    2. Turn on maintenance mode, or ensure you've set your ESXi host to automatically gracefully shutdown all VMs upon host reboot, or shutdown all the VMs gracefully that you care about, including VCSA.
    3. Firewall allow outbound http requests - Paste the one line below into into your SSH session, then press enter: 
      esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient

      More details about the firewall here.

    4. Pull down ESXi Image Profile using https and run patch script - Paste the line below into into your SSH session, then hit enter and wait while nothing seems to happen, taking somewhere between roughly 3 to 10 minutes before the completion screen (sample below) appears: 
      esxcli software profile install -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170404001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

      If this command fails, you may want to try changing update to install, details below. Thanks Douglas! Wait time for the successful install depending mostly on the the speed of the ESXi's connection to the internet, and a little on the speed of the storage media that ESXi is installed on.

    5. If you have Xeon D X552/X557, to regain 10GbE driver VIB that works, consider using the easy one-liner fix described below. While I have not yet tested doing this before the reboot, Alastair did, and kindly left a comment below, noting that it worked fine.
    6. Firewall disallow outbound http requests - Paste the line below into into your SSH session: 
      esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient
    7. If you turned on maintenance mode earlier, remember to turn maintenance mode off.
    8. If you normally leave SSH access off, go ahead and disable it now.
    9. Type reboot and hit return (to restart your ESXi server), or use your favorite ESXi UI to restart the host.
    10. After the reboot is done, it would be a good idea to test login using ESXi host client, pointing your browser to the IP or hostname of your just-graded server, to be sure everthing seems to be working right.

    You're done!

    Special thanks to VMware ESXi Patch Tracker by Andreas Peetz at the VMware Front Experience Blog. This upgrade test was performed on a TinkerTry'd VMware HCL system. Yes, on both the very popular 8 core and the rather special 12 core version of the beloved Supermicro SuperServer SYS-5028D-TN4T system.

    esxcli-update-successful-6.5.0.d-Build-5310538-TinkerTry-Apr-18-2017
    Here's how my upgrade from 6.5.0a Build 5224529 to 6.5.0d Build 5310538 looked, right after the 1 minute download/patch.
    dcui-showing-6.5.0d-build-5224529-tinkertry-2017-mar-31
    Yep, it worked! This is called the DCUI, using Supermicro's iKVM HTML5 UI to show you what my console looked like after the patch & reboot.
    esxi-host-client-6.5.0d-build-5310538-full-length-tinkertry-2017-apr-18
    ESXi Host client view of Build 5310538.

    That's it! When the reboot is complete, you'll see for yourself that you now have the latest ESXi, Build 5310538, as pictured above. Now you have more spare time to read more TinkerTry articles!

    Potential gotchas

    1. Depending upon your ESXi firewall configuration, if the above command results in a network related error such as:
      'NoneType' object has no attribute 'close'
      then you skipped the firewall configuration step above, try again!

    2. Notice that the command recommended you use when clicking on the ESXi-6.5.0-20170304101-standard link at VMware ESXi Patch Tracker: 
      esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170404001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

      doesn't work, says:
      Message: Host is not changed.
      but simply changing from update to install worked for me, but your results may vary. See also the interesting comment below.

      host-is-not-changed
      Using the update parameter doesn't work, as seen above, but using install does.

    Potential SATA and Realtek NIC gotcha

    1. If you find some of your SATA/AHCI datastores disappear from view after this upgrade, worry not, the VMFS datastores are still there, you just can't see them. This article should still save you:
      For ESXi 6.0, those ESXi 5.1 VIBs for ASMedia SATA ports and Realtek NICs still seem to be working (but unsupported)
      Mar 04 2015

    Potential Intel Xeon D X552/X557 10GbE Driver gotcha

    Apr 19 2017 Update

    3262897528
    Click the image above to read the rest of the conversation thread.
    re-installed-newer-10gbe-drivers-for-x552-x557-xeon-d
    Here's how re-install of Intel X552/X557 VIB 4.5.1 looks, right-after successful easy re-install on 6.5.0d, proper way without no-sig-check takes more steps, and is detailed in the same article

    Getting past this issue was straight-forward, just re-installed my Intel's 4.5.1 X552/X557 10GbE VIB::

    then rebooted. Everything working fine again.

    Potential Intel Xeon D I-350 1GbE Driver gotcha

    Added Apr 19 2017 Update
    I haven't encountered this issue reported below, or been able to replicate it, but all the more reason to backup first.

    Closing Thoughts

    Alternatively, you could have used VMware Update Manager on a Windows system or VM, but for one-off upgrades typical in a small home lab, pasting these 3 lines of code is pretty darn easy.

    Looking ahead, since VUM is now built into VCSA 6.5, this will add another way to do future upgrades and patches, even in a small home lab environment.

    Video

    How to easily update your VCSA 6.5 to 6.5.0d Build 5318154 and ESXi to Build 5310538

    Apr 19 2017 Update

    Two new comments from TinkerTry visitors Alastair Mackinlay and Askar Kopbayev have been incorporated into the article above.

    See also at TinkerTry

    See also

    Upgrade Log

    Below, I've pasted the full text of my upgrade, helps you see what drivers were touched, use the horizonal scroll bar or shift + mousewheel to look around, Ctrl+F works as needed too:

    login as: root
Using keyboard-interactive authentication.
Password:
The time and date of this login have been sent to the system logs.

VMware offers supported, powerful system administration tools.  Please
see www.vmware.com/go/sysadmintools for details.

The ESXi Shell can be disabled by an administrative user. See the
vSphere Security documentation for more information.
[root@xd-1567-5028d:~] esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
[root@xd-1567-5028d:~] esxcli software profile install -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170404001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
Installation Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed: VMW_bootbank_net-ixgbe_3.7.13.7.14iov-20vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.5.0-0.19.5310538, VMware_bootbank_esx-ui_1.18.0-5270848, VMware_bootbank_vsan_6.5.0-0.19.5310540, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_6.5.0-0.19.5310541
   VIBs Removed: INT_bootbank_net-ixgbe_4.5.1-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.5.0-0.15.5224529, VMware_bootbank_esx-ui_1.15.0-5069532, VMware_bootbank_vsan_6.5.0-0.15.5224529, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_6.5.0-0.15.5224529
   VIBs Skipped: VMW_bootbank_ata-libata-92_3.00.9.2-16vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-amd_0.3.10-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-atiixp_0.4.6-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-cmd64x_0.2.5-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-hpt3x2n_0.3.4-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-pdc2027x_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-serverworks_0.4.3-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-sil680_0.4.8-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ata-pata-via_0.3.3-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_block-cciss_3.6.14-10vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_char-random_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ehci-ehci-hcd_1.0-4vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_elxnet_11.1.91.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_hid-hid_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_i40en_1.1.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_igbn_0.1.0.0-12vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ima-qla4xxx_2.02.18-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ipmi-ipmi-devintf_39.1-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ipmi-ipmi-msghandler_39.1-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ipmi-ipmi-si-drv_39.1-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ixgben_1.0.0.0-9vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_lpfc_11.1.0.6-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_lsi-mr3_6.910.18.00-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt2_20.00.01.00-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt3_12.00.02.00-11vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_misc-cnic-register_1.78.75.v60.7-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_misc-drivers_6.5.0-0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_mtip32xx-native_3.9.5-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ne1000_0.8.0-11vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_nenic_1.0.0.2-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-bnx2_2.2.4f.v60.10-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-bnx2x_1.78.80.v60.12-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-cdc-ether_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-cnic_1.78.76.v60.13-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-e1000_8.0.3.1-5vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-e1000e_3.2.2.1-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-enic_2.1.2.38-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-fcoe_1.0.29.9.3-7vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-forcedeth_0.61-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-igb_5.0.5.1.1-5vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-libfcoe-92_1.0.24.9.4-8vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-mlx4-core_1.9.7.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-mlx4-en_1.9.7.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-nx-nic_5.0.621-5vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-tg3_3.131d.v60.4-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-usbnet_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_net-vmxnet3_1.1.3.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_nhpsa_2.0.6-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-core_3.16.0.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-en_3.16.0.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-rdma_3.16.0.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_nmlx5-core_4.16.0.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ntg3_4.1.0.0-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_nvme_1.2.0.32-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_nvmxnet3_2.0.0.22-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ohci-usb-ohci_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_pvscsi_0.1-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_qedentv_2.0.3.29-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_qfle3_1.0.2.7-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_qflge_1.1.0.3-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_qlnativefc_2.1.30.0-11vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_sata-ahci_3.0-22vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_sata-ata-piix_2.12-10vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-nv_3.5-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-promise_2.12-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-sil24_1.1-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-sil_2.3-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_sata-sata-svw_2.3-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-aacraid_1.1.5.1-9vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-adp94xx_1.0.8.12-6vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-aic79xx_3.1-5vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-bnx2fc_1.78.78.v60.8-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-bnx2i_2.78.76.v60.8-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-fnic_1.5.0.45-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-hpsa_6.0.0.84-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-ips_7.12.05-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-iscsi-linux-92_1.0.0.2-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-libfc-92_1.0.40.9.3-5vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-megaraid-mbox_2.20.5.1-6vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-megaraid-sas_6.603.55.00-2vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-megaraid2_2.00.4-9vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-mpt2sas_19.00.00.00-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-mptsas_4.23.01.00-10vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-mptspi_4.23.01.00-10vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_scsi-qla4xxx_5.01.03.2-7vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-iscsi-linux-9-2-1-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-iscsi-linux-9-2-2-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-libata-9-2-1-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-libata-9-2-2-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfc-9-2-1-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfc-9-2-2-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfcoe-9-2-1-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-libfcoe-9-2-2-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-vmklinux-9-2-1-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-vmklinux-9-2-2-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_shim-vmklinux-9-2-3-0_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_uhci-usb-uhci_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_usb-storage-usb-storage_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_usbcore-usb_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_vmkata_0.1-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_vmkplexer-vmkplexer_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_vmkusb_0.1-1vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_vmw-ahci_1.0.0-34vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_xhci-xhci_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_cpu-microcode_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_emulex-esx-elxnetcli_11.1.28.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_esx-dvfilter-generic-fastpath_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_esx-tboot_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_esx-xserver_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_lsu-hp-hpsa-plugin_2.0.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-lsi-mr3-plugin_1.0.0-7vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-lsi-msgpt3-plugin_1.0.0-6vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-megaraid-sas-plugin_1.0.0-7vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-mpt2sas-plugin_2.0.0-5vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_native-misc-drivers_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_rste_2.0.2.0088-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_vmware-esx-esxcli-nvme-plugin_1.2.0.10-0.0.4564106, VMware_locker_tools-light_6.5.0-0.0.4564106
[root@xd-1567-5028d:~] esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient
[root@xd-1567-5028d:~] reboot

    All Comments on This Article (25)

    Fritzda Louis

    Hi
    I get that issue with ESXI 6.5 when i use /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli ctrl all show config with 6.00 driver I have can see my raid5 2.4 T on the console but not in the web page and when upgrade drivers to 6.5 I have

    /opt/smartstorageadmin/ssacli/bin/ssacli ctrl all show status

    Error: No controllers detected. Possible causes: - The driver for the installed controller(s) is not loaded. - On LINUX, the scsi_generic (sg) driver module is not loaded. See the README file for more details.

    I don't Have any idea what to do.

    I Have HP proliant G5 DL380 a P800 card 64g .

    Thx for your Help.

    Reid

    Turns out, my on-board X552 10Gbps NICs crapped-out right after I upgraded. I powered off the servers to move them and I think powering it back-on somehow damaged them. A quick motherboard swap from SuperMicro (at no charge) and they're back! THIS is yet another reason I'm happy I went with the TinkerTry SuperMicro Superserver for my home lab!

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Sorry for the delayed response, was traveling, and presenting today, to a network user group, showing off 10GbE a bit:

    I'm stumped on your question, haven't run into this. I suspect that Supermicro would tell you to reflash the BIOS again. If that doesn't work, I think I did hear of one customer getting some sort of 10GbE X557-only firmware update, when he contacted the Supermicro Support Hotline directly:
    https://www.supermicro.com/24Hour/24hour.cfm

    I hope this helps!

    Reid

    Upgraded to 6.5.0 4564106 this weekend. Both of my SYS5028D-TN4T's with Xeon 1540-D CPUs upgraded just fine and my Intel X552 10Gbps NIC work just fine, even across reboots. However, my SYS5028D-TNT4 with Xeon 1541-D CPUs refuses to recognize the X522 10Gbps NICs. Even after installing the 4.5.1-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585 driver and rebooting. Any ideas?

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    This alternative approach may be helpful:
    https://TinkerTry.com/supermicro-xeond-superserver-slow-sata-driver-fix-for-esxi65
    Hope you can stop by again and let us know how things turn out for you!

    TheValtss

    Had to roll back to 6.0.0 because of new SATA drivers horrible performance on the B85 motherboard (using SSD drive).

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Here's the feedback button:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2f7234b080ebe3e4d3db509e02f9787503faaf7f1c43a786503575b6e7f99f5f.png
    it's not free support, but at least it makes it less likely this minor issue you may have found will show up in future releases.

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    this may help you with the "not allowed" message:
    https://tinkertry.com/workaround-the-operation-allowed-current-connection-state-host-error-vsphereesxi-5-1
    as for the Linux message, if it's working fine and you can gracefully reboot and clone the VM from the GUI, then it can safely be ignored. If it's a bug, I would encourage you to open a Service Request if you have that ability/license, or click the vSphere client (HTML5) smiley face at the upper right corner, to give product feedback directly to the development team.

    HY Kok

    I upgraded to 6.5 successfully but now I am not able to install VMWare Tools to the Linux guest. When I attempt to do so from the Vsphere Web to deploy to the Guest OS, it always complain the operation is not allowed in the current state.

    What I did is download from

    https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=VMTOOLS1015&productId=614

    and install on guest directly. The process started up fine on the linux guest OS, but the Vsphere Management is still unable to show VMWare Tools is installed. Any idea how to make this work?

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Thank you so much! I've made appropriate updates with attribution, to the article above, right at this spot:
    https://TinkerTry.com/easy-upgrade-to-esxi-650d#upgrade

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Very interesting feedback, will need to carefully watch for this behavior, and maybe rethink how I present the procedure above, given you're not the first to report this potential gotcha (which I greatly appreciate). Thank you!

    Douglas Tody

    A "software profile install" failed for me with the same error reported by syrou in an earlier update (removal of VIB warning); once again, doing an "update" instead of an install worked fine to avoid the exception. In the previous update I *did* do an install instead of update, and that time "install" worked fine for me.

    A possible clue is that the current update reports the version of the referenced VIB as 2.0:
    VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-mpt2sas-plugin_2.0.0-5vmw.650.0.0.4564106
    This most recent update reports this VIB as "skipped", so it must have been updated to the later version at some earlier point.

    Alastair Mackinlay

    Apologies for the delay, finally got a chance to look at this again. So the solution is simple once you'd made me trig about the X552 NICs and pass-through. I just reinstalled net-ixgbe_4.5.1-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585.vib after patching but before rebooting. Everything then was fine on reboot.

    An odd one, 'cos I've patches a couple of times before without issue. Something about this build much break the patch for 10GbE ports.

    Cheers!

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Here's a screenshot of my two Xeon D systems:
    SYS-5028D-TN4T 08 core Xeon D-1541
    SYS-5028D-TN4T 12 core Xeon D-1567
    showing health status with C# client, both running VMware ESXi 6.5.0d with
    BIOS 1.1c and IPMI 3.46
    https://TinkerTry.com/supermicro-superserver-bios-11c-and-ipmi-346-released
    with these BIOS settings:
    https://TinkerTry.com/recommended-bios-settings-supermicro-superserver-sys-5028d-tn4t
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7db0e09150c13babefcae4bd08e353f60fa7050e0ed30eebe4992e57dc4b8b64.png

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Wow, your timing is fantastic, as I am currently having conversations with Wiredzone and Supermicro about this very topic, for the X10SDV-based Xeon D SuperServer Bundles:
    https://TinkerTry.com/superservers
    What seems to be in common with your X10 system is that accurate monitoring of hardware elements got wacky once I moved from 6.0.x to 6.5.x, with fan RPMs reading way too low, for example. While the specifics of our circumstances differ, our issue is similar, in that it would seem that Supermicro isn't currently focused on updating the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide for X10 gear in general. This could be an issue with opening Service Requests with VMware, for example, I'm working on confirming that too.
    I will let you, and everybody, know what comes of this. Not just by updating this thread, but posting a whole new article with my findings.

    Yves Illi

    Hi Paul,

    First of all amazing blog you have here! Always very happy about the news and articles. I use them a lot as guidance and help.

    But I ran into a strange problem lately with my Supermicro X10DRL-i which was working flawlessly on 6.0 U3 Build 5224934 but on 6.5 I can't get the Sensors and Server Health Infomation get to work...

    Did you have simlilar problems? Or is this only with my X10 Board? According to VMWare they say the Board is not on the HCL for 6.5 only for 6.0 and I should ask Supermicro. Supermicro told me its officially not supported since lack of demand...

    Any ideas?

    Thanks for your help

    Cheers,
    Yves https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/461bd7644084592e0ff4994f06dd14f04f3d8a3161df5266316e5ff3420de62a.png https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ea77d115d1db51585aa2bfe71bff09f61546dd88a7acc70da95c13362145f6a5.png

    Naysan

    Interestingly I was able to use the update profile method without a problem on my HPE ML110 Gen9, possibly because i have the HPE custom ESXi 6.5 image profile.

    Alastair Mackinlay

    Ah, of course. That'll be it. Both my i350 NICs are passed through to a VM, leaving only the X552 ports for ESXi. I'll have a play with updating and repatching when I get a spare hour later. Might be a better idea for me to not pass both i350 interfaces and instead pass one i350 and one x552 (assuming the VM will work with it). Its a Supermicro x10sdv-tln4f (1.1c BIOS, 3.46 firmware).

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    After a proper reboot, it works fine again, all 4 NICs visible.

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Good point, yeah, I like this universal/easy approach, and it's time consuming and confusing for folks to have a separate way for each type of hypervisor license holder. But covering VUM also someday is likely best. Will add your comments to the article above, crediting the source. Thank you for improving it!

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    That is very alarming that there are apparently circumstances where the management NICs disappear. Long shot, but can you tell us:
    1) which exact mobo you have?
    2) which BIOS and IPMI?
    https://TinkerTry.com/supermicro-superserver-bios-11c-and-ipmi-346-released

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    both my Intel I-350 1GbE ports are up on both systems post-upgrade, but the 10GbE ports did go away. Followed the short procedure to install or re-install the newer VIB:
    https://TinkerTry.com/how-to-install-intel-x552-vib-on-esxi-6-on-superserver-5028d-tn4t#expert-short-instructions
    seems to have worked, https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8e6a080cacf1f92a3e265a7e871d820f1a22c0244d476b5d736ab0d90b62ab5e.png
    and rebooting/testing now...will add updates to the article above accordingly

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Ah, thanks for the heads-up, looking into this, and re-testing:
    https://tinkertry.com/how-to-install-intel-x552-vib-on-esxi-6-on-superserver-5028d-tn4t#expert-short-instructions

    Alastair Mackinlay

    Just when to upgrade my standalone 6.5.0a Build 5224934 to Build 5310538. On reboot I get no compatible network adapters found (its a Supermicro X10-SDV board). Shift-R on reboot allows a roll-back, which works thankfully. But somethings up with VMW_bootbank_net-ixgbe_3.7.13.7.14iov-20vmw.650.0.0.4564106 as its failing to find either of the gigabit NICs (or the 2 10GBit NICS), for me at least. So just be mindful if you are updating. I'll debug later when I get more time.

    Askar Kopbayev

    I think once vCSA is upgraded to 6.5 at step (1) it will be easier to use built-in VUM.
    However, this post is really handy for those who use free hypervisors.