How to easily update your VMware Hypervisor from 6.5.x to 6.5 Update 1 (ESXi 6.5 U1)

Posted by Paul Braren on Jul 28 2017 (updated on Mar 31 2018) in
  • ESXi
  • Virtualization
  • HowTo
  • HomeLab
    • 36 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.

    VMware ESXI 6.5 U1

    Release Notes. The simple update method that this article details means you won't need the ISO Download Page for:
    ESXi 6.5 U1 | 27 JULY 2017 | Build 5969303

    This upgrade is also known as version 6.5.0 Build 5969303 or 6.5U1.

    More about this update in KB 2149910:

    Warning:

    1. vCenter/VCSA 6.5 should be upgraded to 6.5 Update 1 (aka U1) before upgrading your host(s) to ESXi 6.5 U1 Build 5969303, see:
      How to easily update your VMware vCenter Server Appliance from 6.5.x to 6.5 Update 1 (VCSA 6.5 U1)
      Jul 28 2017
    2. I have only tested this method when upgrading from 6.5.0a Build 5224934 to Build 5969303, your experience from earlier 6.x versions may vary.
    3. I have been able to replicate that the Xeon D 10GbE X552/X557 driver VIB needs to be re-installed right after the upgrade, simple one line workaround is documented here, with details below.
    4. This is not official VMware documentation, it's merely a convenient upgrade technique that may help in lab tests, a little simpler than the official procedure VMware documents and demonstrates in KB2008939. It's up to you to adhere to the backup-first advice detailed below, full Disclaimer found at below-left, at the bottom of very TinkerTry page.
    5. See also the Drawbacks section 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 yesterday. 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 U1 Build 5973321
    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.

    Drawbacks

    1. See also Differences Between vSphere Upgrades and Updates and Upgrade or Update a Host with Image Profiles:

      The esxcli software profile update command brings the entire contents of the ESXi host image to the same level as the corresponding upgrade method using an ISO installer. However, the ISO installer performs a pre-upgrade check for potential problems, and the esxcli upgrade method does not. The ISO installer checks the host to make sure that it has sufficient memory for the upgrade, and does not have unsupported devices connected. For more about the ISO installer and other ESXi upgrade methods, see Upgrade Options for ESXi 6.0.

    2. See also Upgrading Hosts by Using esxcli Commands and Overview of the ESXi Host Upgrade Process.
    3. Before proceeding, you should read Overview of the ESXi Host Upgrade Process. This article below is just about the quick and easy way, effective and safe for most folks. For those more interested in "clean installs", where you login to My VMware, download the ESXi 6.5U1 ISO, shut down the ESXi on USB that you're already running, eject that USB flash drive and label it and set it aside, then boot from another USB drive like the SanDisk Ultra Fit with a fresh install of 6.5U1 imaged onto it. This clean install is much more time consuming than the easy method outlined below. Why? This is because once ESXi 6.5U1 is freshly installed, at a minimum you'll also have to use Datastore Browser to locate your VMs on your VMFS datastores, then add those files with *.vmx extensions back into your inventory, then add the host back to your cluster that should already be at 6.5U1. While this extra work may help you be sure that you don't have any drivers or changes carried over from your previous build, for many users, that's not a concern.

    Prerequisites

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

    1. upgraded to VCSA 6.5 U1
    2. ensured your ESXi 6.5.x host has a working internet connection
    3. reviewed the release notes
    4. 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
    5. backed up the ESXi 6.5.x you've already got, if its on USB or SD, then use something like one of the home-lab-friendly and super easy 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 U1 ISO / creating bootable media from that ISO / booting from that media (or mounting the ISO over IPMI/iLO/iDRAC/IMM/iKMV) and booting from it:

    File size: 332.63 MB
    File type: iso
    Name: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0.update01-5969303.x86_64.iso
    Release Date: 2017-07-27
    Build Number: 5969303

    Upgrade

    Download and upgrade to 6.5 U1 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-6.5.0-20170702001-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, see also Douglas' comment. Wait time for the successful install depending mostly on the the speed of the ESXi's connection to the internet, and somewhat on the write speed of the storage media that ESXi is installed on.

    5. If you have Xeon D X552/X557, to regain the 10GbE driver VIB that the upgrade process removed, simply paste the easy one-liner fix described below before proceeding
    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-65U1-Build-5969303-TinkerTry-Jul-28-2017
    Here's how my upgrade from 6.5.0d to 6.5 U1 Build 5969303 looked, right after the 1 minute download/patch.
    dcui-showing-6.5.0d-build-5969303-tinkertry-2017-JUL-28
    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-6.5U1-build-5969303-fulllength-TinkerTry-2017-JUL-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 5969303, 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-6.5.0-20170702001-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, the fully supported way for production purposes without the `no-sig-check` option takes more steps, and is detailed in the same article below

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

    then rebooted. Everything working fine again.

    Potential Intel Xeon D I-350 1GbE Driver gotcha

    Added Apr 19 2017 Update
    If you encounter the service console networking problem, the fix is reported below.

    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 or 4 lines of code is pretty darn easy.

    Looking ahead, since VUM is now built into VCSA 6.5, this adds 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

    Jul 30 2017 Update

    Helpful information, care of gbX who left this comment below:

    I've got a problem with online depot update (from 6.5.0d to 6.5.0 U1). If you encounter "[ErrNo 28] Not enough space", just download the patch *zip from myvmware:
    https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatchByReleaseName.portal

    Store the *zip package on your datastore and install with following command:

    esxcli software profile install -d="zip location"

    Seems like downloading update from online depot fills up your tmp storage resulting in above error.

    Soon, Todd Taylor stepped in with this reply:

    Same error. I hammered on it for about an hour trying to track down the space issue, deleting logs, etc. and then found a reference on reddit about changing the swap datastore which worked for me first time. I didn't have a datastore set in the web UI under Host | Manage | System | SWAP. When I chose a datastore in the dropdown and retried the update it worked first try. All props to cpierr03 for his helpful post here:
    https://www.reddit.com/r/vmware/comments/6q4akd/error_trying_to_update_an_esxi_65_host_to_the/#bottom-comments

    Aug 15 2017

    When the upgrade is complete, on the ESXi Host Client UI, under Host / Configuration, you should see the following "Image profile"
    (Updated) ESXi-6.5.0-20170702001-standard (VMware, Inc.)

    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, and Ctrl+F to Find stuff quickly:

    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-1541-5028d:~] esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
[root@xd-1541-5028d:~] esxcli software profile install -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170702001-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_i40en_1.3.1-5vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_igbn_0.1.0.0-14vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_ixgben_1.4.1-2vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_misc-drivers_6.5.0-1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_ne1000_0.8.0-16vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_net-ixgbe_3.7.13.7.14iov-20vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ntg3_4.1.2.0-1vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_nvme_1.2.0.32-4vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_pvscsi_0.1-1vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_qlnativefc_2.1.50.0-1vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_sata-ahci_3.0-26vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_usbcore-usb_1.0-3vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_vmkata_0.1-1vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_vmkusb_0.1-1vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMW_bootbank_vmw-ahci_1.0.0-39vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.5.0-1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_esx-tboot_6.5.0-1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_esx-ui_1.21.0-5724747, VMware_bootbank_esx-xserver_6.5.0-0.23.5969300, VMware_bootbank_lsu-hp-hpsa-plugin_2.0.0-5vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-lsi-mr3-plugin_1.0.0-10vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-lsi-msgpt3-plugin_1.0.0-7vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-megaraid-sas-plugin_1.0.0-8vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-mpt2sas-plugin_2.0.0-6vmw.650.1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_vmware-esx-esxcli-nvme-plugin_1.2.0.10-1.26.5969303, VMware_bootbank_vsan_6.5.0-1.26.5912915, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_6.5.0-1.26.5912974, VMware_locker_tools-light_6.5.0-0.23.5969300
   VIBs Removed: INT_bootbank_net-ixgbe_4.5.1-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585, 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_ixgben_1.0.0.0-9vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_misc-drivers_6.5.0-0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_ne1000_0.8.0-11vmw.650.0.14.5146846, 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_pvscsi_0.1-1vmw.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_usbcore-usb_1.0-3vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_vmkata_0.1-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_vmkusb_0.1-1vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMW_bootbank_vmw-ahci_1.0.0-34vmw.650.0.14.5146846, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.5.0-0.19.5310538, VMware_bootbank_esx-tboot_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_esx-ui_1.18.0-5270848, 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_vmware-esx-esxcli-nvme-plugin_1.2.0.10-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_vsan_6.5.0-0.19.5310540, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_6.5.0-0.19.5310541, VMware_locker_tools-light_6.5.0-0.0.4564106
   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_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_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_mtip32xx-native_3.9.5-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, 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_nvmxnet3_2.0.0.22-1vmw.650.0.0.4564106, VMW_bootbank_ohci-usb-ohci_1.0-3vmw.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_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_vmkplexer-vmkplexer_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, 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_native-misc-drivers_6.5.0-0.0.4564106, VMware_bootbank_rste_2.0.2.0088-4vmw.650.0.0.4564106
[root@xd-1541-5028d:~]
[root@xd-1541-5028d:~] esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient
[root@xd-1541-5028d:~] reboot

    All Comments on This Article (36)

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Sounds good, let us know how it goes. Sounds like budget is tight (or free). For 365 day licenses rather than 60 day time-bombs, and all the fun vSphere gets you (like vMotion), consider VMUG Advantage EVALExperience for $200:
    https://TinkerTry.com/evalexperience-2016
    with discount code TINKERTRY getting it down to $180.

    Jacco van der Zaag

    Hi Paul,

    Not yet. I still had some parts to come in, but I was already installing the ESXi to see if it's working or not.
    About the older version, I might know why I have that. Back in October last year, I had this course at school which required a download because we were installing and configuring ESXi on a few Proliants (we run them at the navy) and I made an account already. The evaluation was already over, so that's why I got that free license I guess.

    I'm getting my hands on a new version now, 5969303, with a fresh account. Will try that. Don't know if VMware will get angry, it's just for a homeserver.. :)
    Might have better luck with a new version updating it I guess?

    Thanks for the response. I'll let you know in this thread if everything has worked out good. Might be Sunday/Monday when I have it up and running.. :)

    Regards,

    Jacco

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Sorry for the delayed response. Any luck since posting this question 3 days ago? It would seem likely that the repository has been pulled for that older version, any chance you're interested in the later version detailed here?
    https://TinkerTry.com/easy-upgrade-to-esxi-65u1-201801001
    You should actually do VCSA upgrades first though:
    https://TinkerTry.com/easy-upgrade-to-vcsa-65u1f

    Jacco van der Zaag

    Hi guys, I'm on a free 6.5.0a, build 4887370. Been reading this, and to me it seemed I was able to update.

    When I put in the command to update it from the index site, I get this error:






    vSphere Security documentation for more information.
    [root@localhost:~] esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
    [root@localhost:~] esxcli software profile install -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170702001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
    [MetadataDownloadError]
    Could not download from depot at https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml, skipping (( 'https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml', '', 'file not found'))
    url = https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
    Please refer to the log file for more details.

    Am I missing something? :

    TheLastBoyscout

    I'm running into a similar issue:
    [root@localhost:~] esxcli software profile install -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170702001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.co
    m/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
    [InstallationError]
    Failed updating the bootloader: Execution of command /usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader failed:
    non-zero code returned
    return code: 1
    output: ERROR: ld.so: object '/lib/libMallocArenaFix.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 238, in
    main()
    File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 224, in main
    bootPartNum = BOOTPART_NUM[partType]
    KeyError: 'unknown'
    vibs = VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.5.0-1.26.5969303
    Please refer to the log file for more details.

    I'm currently on 6.5.0 (4887370). The same error happens trying to go to ESXi 6.5 U1 EP04 (6765664). ESXi is installed on an 8GB USB stick.

    Does anyone know a workaround?

    TheLastBoyscout

    Looks like disabling the new USB driver helps:
    https://communities.vmware.com/message/2707635#2707635
    Reboot after the above, install the update and then re-enable the new USB driver:
    esxcli system module set -m=vmkusb -e=TRUE

    killerbee

    yeah you should add check swap space. i had to point the host swap to a datastore with enough space

    nnyan

    I have my main firewall on my ESXi server, so is there some way to download the files first then install them?

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Darn, no easy fix found yet, can't win them all. Any chance either of you can open an SR?

    glenndm

    Had the same issue.
    this link: https://communities.vmware.com/thread/560543 had two solutions
    1) The Swap approach as Todd Taylor mentionned
    2) manually installation of the locker_tools followed by the update command> this worked for me

    Thanks for the article
    best regards

    Big Poppa Pump

    I also got this error too. I dont get it

    John Valenti

    Dave, if you look at the list of virtual machines in the web ui, right click on one, choose Guest OS - Upgrade VMware Tools. Does that do anything?

    I just did that on a few of my Win2016 VMs, seems to update.

    [oops, scratch that, my version is 10.1.7 after doing this, so apparently not working here]

    John Valenti

    This bit me too. I had the Management interface on a non-routed IP address, I spent about 45 minutes looking for how to add a second IP address to the management interface, never found it in the web ui. I switched over to the vSphere client and made the change in a few minutes. I was then able to update ESXi, but when I went to wipe out the 2nd IP address, I still haven't figured out how.

    The Last Boyscout

    You can download the latest tools from VMware: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=VMTOOLS10110&productId=614
    Then extract the correct .iso file and transfer it to the local datastore.
    (I did that successfully for the last two ESXi upgrades for the Solaris version of the VMware tools)

    Alex Kara

    Hi,

    I encounter the following error, when trying to update from Build 5969300:
    "esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170702001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
    [InstallationError]
    Failed updating the bootloader: Execution of command /usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader failed: non-zero code returned
    return code: 1
    output: ERROR: ld.so: object '/lib/libMallocArenaFix.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 238, in
    main()
    File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 223, in main
    partType, diskGeom, parts = getDiskInfo(diskPath)
    File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 151, in getDiskInfo
    rc, out, err = execCommand(command)
    File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 94, in execCommand
    raise Exception("%s failed to execute: status(%d)" % (command, process.returncode))
    Exception: /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.200049454505080f failed to execute: status(255)
    vibs = VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.5.0-1.26.5969303
    Please refer to the log file for more details."

    I do have enough space, tried about everything I could think of, nothing seems to work. :(

    Did anyone else encounter this?

    Thank you!

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Great to hear that, thanks for the feedback, and glad you found TinkerTry helpful!

    drohm

    Great instructions, Paul. Worked perfectly!

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Oh my, well, I hope this comment helps others, and I really appreciate your taking the time to write this up here!

    Stux

    What's ironic is I *just* setup ghettoVCB in order to backup my VMs before doing this install... and the install erased my backup config! Doh.

    So, I tried the "update" method after the "install" warned that ghettoVCB woudl be removed. I had the configs I had made and some backup scripts in /opt/ghettovcb... and they pretty much got erased.

    Oh well.

    using the --ok-to-remove flag then fully removed ghettovcb.

    Wish I had seen your tip to do a -f instead!

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Hmm, so an issue, and somehow mine does offer new VMware tools. I admit I don't have any great insight at the moment, as I've not run into this myself. Did you manage to make any progress, and/or find anything interesting on VMTN https://communities.vmware.com/community/vmtn/vsphere/esxi, where you might also want to inquire?

    Dave Campbell

    After installing the update as descibed above, my VM's don't see any new VMware tools images (they thing they are up to date). How to update the ISO images on the ESXi host so the VM's show a tools upgrade as being available? The images do not seem to have been updated during the ESXi update to 6.5.0U1.

    Dave Campbell

    VMware Tools does not seem up update on the esxi host. My VM's are still running tools v 10.1.7 (the latest is 10.1.10). How do you update the ISO images on the ESXi host so that the guest VM's recognize the need to upgrage?

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Not that I know of, see also 6.5 Update 1 release notes:
    https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/vsphere-esxi-651-release-notes.html
    which says:
    "vCenter Server, vSphere Web Client, and vSphere Client Issues
    A warning message appears after you install the desktop vSphere Client for Windows, and try to connect to an ESXi host
    The desktop vSphere Client was deprecated in vSphere 6.5 and is no longer supported. When you try to connect to an ESXi 6.5 host, the following warning message appears: The required client support files need to be retrieved from the server "0.0.0.0" and installed. Click Run the installer or Save the installer.

    In this case use the VMware Host Client to conduct host management operations."

    VMware's intentions to drop C# client and Adobe Flash client have been communicated a while ago, here's some of my articles:
    https://tinkertry.com/search?s=c%23+client

    The HTML5 based vSphere Client UI is now at 90% feature parity with the vSphere Web Client, and quite snappy when VCSA 6.5 Update 1 is installed on an M.2 NVMe drive, I think you'll be surprised. I believe the last I heard was that the intent is to get to 100% feature parity by early next year, using web browsers for everything. You can make them behave much more app like, see:
    https://tinkertry.com/appify-your-vmware-vsphere-related-web-uis-using-chrome-for-windows

    Nick

    I like the program more. It is much more intuitive. The html client is not user friendly. Is there a way to enable it again?

    Walter Franken

    use the HTML5 client from the web ui :)

    Nick

    Unfortunately the windows vSphere Client program does not work anymore wuith this esxi update. It wants to download something from 0.0.0.0.
    What can I do?

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Cool, grabbing the support bundle is a good start, and I totally understand that proper recreate often takes a lot of time and effort. FYI, I too am using USB mappings to various VMs, including my CyberPower PFCLCD (older) VM.

    Hans Boot

    Well, consider this a glitch. I rebooted esxi again, and now it came back up OK. Tested several times.
    My guess that the message is: if you use a USB boot disk, and have guests that use host-connected USB devices (a UPS for example), you MAY need 2 reboots after upgrade.

    Hans Boot

    Hi, thanks for replying.
    Answers:
    1) yes
    2) latest supported: 3.46 and 1.0b
    3) only difference is that the boot disk is not UEFI only, it accepts legacy as well, to allow booting from other OS systems. That should not be the cause, but I will try that.

    About the USB Image tool, Will try an equivalent to that for linux (dd). That might even work from the esxi system itself, with 2 USB sticks plugged in, allowing IPMI switchover.
    I will give SATADOM a thought too. Forgot about that. Last time I used that technology was on IDE.

    Although the best way would be to do a fresh install every time. I don't like it that much that "esxcli software profile install" leaves some outdated stuff in place, cluttering up after time. It is a lot of more work though.

    About the bug report, I unfortunately do not have the time, nor the resources (meaning: a spare system) to build a reproducible case now, as that would give the best chance of getting it handled. May just send the support bundle and hope they can pick it up.

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    I thank you for reporting this here, and I share your frustrating with the inability to report what appear to be bugs, when using the VMUG Advantage license. One approach is to use the feedback button at the top-right of the vSphere Client (HTML5 Web UI).
    but honestly, I don't know whether VMware staff are able to provide any of tracking for issues reported here. I've had good luck using it, even before I became a VMware employee (in an entirely different group), but not so much for such potential bugs. In my job, I haven't yet found the proper way of reporting bugs on behalf of others, admittedly, something I hope to resolve at some point soon.

    I have not personally run into your reported issue, and have built ESXi on about 7 Xeon D based systems, at least 30 times overall, these past 24 months.

    1) You mention "VCSA complains that the bootbank is not reachable" but you meant ESXi 6.5U1, correct?

    Longshots, I know, but still worth sharing:
    2) what BIOS version?
    3) what BIOS settings are you using, and are they like this? https://TinkerTry.com/recommended-bios-settings-supermicro-superserver-sys-5028d-tn4t

    Workarounds (cop-outs) would be to install onto a SATADOM module, but I realize that doesn't have the convenience of USB. Also consider using this tool to backup a working ESXi:
    http://www.alexpage.de/usb-image-tool/
    so you can easily revert to that known-good state with a simple restore, if the (unfortunate) need arises.

    I really appreciate your taking the time to type this up here, and I'm hoping we get some answers. You may also want to post a link in VMTN as well, if you're willing, but I realize that takes even more of your time.

    Paul Braren | TinkerTry.com

    Wow, this is a very helpful tip, I really appreciate your sharing it here! I've appended this great info to the article:
    https://TinkerTry.com/easy-upgrade-to-esxi-65u1#jul-30-2017-update

    Hans Boot

    Can this type of upgrade cause USB bootdisk problems?

    Done this method several times with success, but it seems to me that EVERY time I do this on one of my systems (SYS-E300), the first boot works, but after boot the USB drive seems to have gone poof. VCSA complains that the bootbank is not reachable, I cannot do fsck on it and a config sync in view of backup fails with "internal error". The partition table is "unknown" to ESXi, even with arbitrator switched off and rescan plus refresh. But my Mac mounts 3 partitions on that USB drive without issues, so it cannot be that bad.
    This is the second time it happens. The first time I blamed a 1 month old "entry level" SanDisk Cruzer 8GB stick, but this is no longer a coincidence. I now use a 1 month old SanDisk Ultra 32GB. That cannot be due to wear.

    I fooled around a bit with restarting of services, as that seems to help with lost externally mounted boot partitions, but no luck so far.

    I have found NO mention of read or write errors in the logs.
    To me, this all looks like some ESXi software issue, not a hardware issue.

    Unfortunately, I did not do a fresh full disk clone before doing the upgrade, so I'm up for a full re-install again.

    System: SYS-E300, USB key in the back. Went from 6.5.0.d to 6.5.U1 now, using the "esxcli software profile install" method.
    I have NOT configured the host USB controller for pass-through.
    I do use host USB device mounting on VMs, via the USB arbitrator, but have rebooted multiple times before without issue, so that shouldn't be it. And on top of that the arbitrator knows that that specific device is reserved for the kernel (as arbitrator start shows: "UsbUtil: Attempting to reserve for VMkernel USB adapter(s): vmhba32")

    I have 2 questions:
    1) Does anyone know how to prevent this type of error in the future, or what a more robust bootdisk hardware setup would be (without going for wildly more complex solutions like iscsi booting, and yes, I know I should use 2 USB disks, one active, and one 'previous version', while copying configs between them)?

    2) Does anyone know how to file a SR via VMUG Advantage?
    I am willing to make this a SR, but all of my esxi licences come from VMUG Advantage, and I have found no way to make support requests from there. Normal support requests use MyVM, which seems to ignore the VMUG Advantage licenses, making it impossible for me to indicate the correct product in the SR.

    Todd Taylor

    Same error. I hammered on it for about an hour trying to track down the space issue, deleting logs, etc. and then found a reference on reddit about changing the swap datastore which worked for me first time. I didn't have a datastore set in the web UI under Host | Manage | System | SWAP. When I chose a datastore in the dropdown and retried the update it worked first try. All props to cpierr03 for his helpful post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/vmware/comments/6q4akd/error_trying_to_update_an_esxi_65_host_to_the/#bottom-comments.

    gbX

    I've got a problem with online depot update (from 6.5.0d to 6.5.0 U1). If you encounter "[ErrNo 28] Not enough space", just download the patch *zip from myvmware:

    https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatchByReleaseName.portal

    Store the *zip package on your datastore and install with following command:

    esxcli software profile install -d="zip location"

    Seems like downloading update from online depot fills up your tmp storage resulting in above error.

    ssMile

    please advise, ideally, i have 1 new HP server so what i am trying to is in the 1st place, using HP customized 6.5 and then update vmware esxi 6.5 u1 patch thru software update vib command. is it right thing to do without issue? always confused every time new lease comes up in public... update/ upgrade/ install/ upgrade/ update.. what is exact major upgrade means based on vm documents. please help me out.

    ws2000

    Hello

    I am trying to update a ESXI server with version 6.5.0 4564106 and GhettoVCB installed. When I ran the command esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-20170404001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.c...I get the following error.

    [DependencyError]
    VIB virtuallyGhetto_bootbank_ghettoVCB_1.0.0-0.0.0 violates extensibility rule checks: ['(line 24: col 0) Element vib failed to validate content']
    Please refer to the log file for more details. [root@VHost1:~] VIB virtuallyGhetto_bootbank_ghettoVCB_1.0.0-0.0.0 violates extensibility rule VIB virtuallyGhetto_bootbank_ghettoVCB_1.0.0-0.0.0 violates extensibility rule

    Per this post a -f is suppose to resolve the issue. Anyone doing it this way?
    https://github.com/lamw/ghettoVCB/issues/63

    Anyone successfully update with -f or some other work around?

    Update: The -f worked and all *appears* to be fine. I also ran into the ErrNo 28] Not enough space" issue. Thanks to gbX post I was able to resolve that also.