How to update your ESXi 6.0 host the easy way

Great news, this article has already been written by Vladan Seget, it's good to go as-is!

How do I know? Because I tested it, updating to ESXi 6.0.0 build 2715440, and recorded each and every step of the process in the short video below.

JUL 21 2015 Update - I've now tested updating to ESXi 6.0.0 build 2809209, and have updated the article below.

So if you only have a single ESXi 6.0 host to patch, especially to handle the CBT bug explained here, you'll see this can all be done without installing and configuring VMware Update Manager.

Vladan's excellent article

• How to Install latest ESXi VMware Patch – [Guide]

  by Vladan Seget on May 18 2015

Detailed step-by-step TinkerTry walk through

In this video, you'll see these 4 basic steps (on an earlier build, but the procedure is the same):

1. Enter ESXi Maintenance mode

2. Download ESXi600-201507001.zip, upload to ESXi using Datastore Browser

3. use PuTTY to SSH in and type this install command:

esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/SSD3-256GB/patch-directory/ESXi600-201507001.zip
substituting the SSD3-256GB part with the full path to your .zip file. Tab/type-ahead is your friend!

1. reboot

2. verify the new build that's seen as the system reboots. After boot, an alternative is to use the vSphere Web Client, select the host, select Summary, then select the Configuration pane.

Before the upgrade, using the March 12 initial release of vSphere 6.0 it shows:
VMware ESXi, 6.0.0, 2494585
After this patch and the reboot, it should show:
VMware ESXi, 6.0.0, 2809209

See also

• VMware ESXi 6.0, Patch ESXi600-201505401-BG: Updates esx-base (2116126)

  kb.vmware.com/kb/2116126

Summaries and Symptoms

This patch updates the esx-base VIB to resolve an issue where after you upgrade to or install VMware ESXi 6.0.x, the following operations might fail or not work as expected on a Change Block Tracking (CBT) enabled virtual machine due to excessive CBT heap exhaustion:

•Virtual machine backup

•Virtual machine Power on

•Expanding the size of the virtual disk

•Taking virtual machine quiesced snapshots

• VMware Update Manager

  Better suited for automating many ESXi host upgrades.

JUN 15 2015 Update

Thanks to Thomas's comment below, who mentions Andreas Peetz excellent alternative approach that is even easier (requires outbound access to the internet from the ESXi server):

• ESXi 6.0 hits the VMware Online Depot - What does that mean?

  by Andreas Peetz at Friday, April 17, 2015

JUL 11 2015 Update

VMware ESXi 6.0.0b | 07 JULY 2015 | ISO Build 2809209 ESXi600-201507001.zip
A new patch is here, and the procedure works exactly the same as outlined above, well, other than the filename

1. Enter ESXi Maintenance mode

2. Download ESXi600-201507001.zip, upload to ESXi using Datastore Browser

3. use PuTTY to SSH in and type this install command:

esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/b_SSD3-OCZ-256-2.5/ESXi600-201507001.zip
substituting the "b_SSD3-OCZ-256-2.5" part with the full path to your .zip file. Tab/type-ahead is your friend!

See also at TinkerTry

• How to safely patch your vCenter Server Appliance 6.0 (VCSA)
  JUL 13 2015 by Paul Braren