Specifications

ESXi 5.5 Upgrade Options
VMware provides several ways to upgrade ESX/ESXi hosts.
vSphere Update
Manager
vSphere Update Manager is software for upgrading, migrating, updating,
and patching clustered hosts, virtual machines, and guest operating systems.
Update Manager orchestrates host and virtual machine upgrades. If your site
uses vCenter Server, VMware recommends that you use Update Manager.
For instructions about conducting an orchestrated host upgrade, see “Using
vSphere Update Manager to Perform Orchestrated Host Upgrades,” on
page 166. For instructions about conducting an orchestrated virtual machine
upgrade, see the Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager
documentation.
Upgrade or migrate
interactively using an
ESXi installer ISO image
on CD/DVD or USB flash
drive
You can run the ESXi 5.5.x installer from a CD/DVD or USB flash drive to do
an interactive upgrade or migration. This method is appropriate for
deployments with a small number of hosts. The installer works the same as
for a fresh installation, but if you select a target disk that already contains an
ESX/ESXi 4.x, ESXi 5.0.x, ESXi 5.1.x, or ESXi 5.5.0 installation, the installer
upgrades the host to 5.5.x, and gives you the option to migrate some existing
host settings and configuration files, and preserve the existing VMFS
datastore. See “Upgrade or Migrate Hosts Interactively,” on page 180.
Perform a scripted
upgrade
You can upgrade or migrate hosts from version 4.x ESXi and ESX, version
5.0.x ESXi, version 5.1.x ESXi, and version 5.5.0 ESXi to ESXi 5.5.x by
invoking an update script, for an efficient, unattended upgrade. Scripted
upgrades provide an efficient way to deploy multiple hosts. You can use a
script to upgrade ESXi from a CD, DVD or USB flash drive, or by PXE-
booting the installer. You can also call a script from an interactive
installation. See “Installing, Upgrading, or Migrating Hosts Using a Script,”
on page 182.
vSphere Auto Deploy
Auto Deploy is a new feature in vSphere 5.x. After an ESXi 5.x host is
deployed with Auto Deploy, you can use Auto Deploy to reprovision the
host and reboot it with a new image profile that contains an ESXi upgrade or
patch, a host configuration profile, and, optionally, third-party drivers or
management agents provided by VMware partners. You can build custom
images by using ESXi Image Builder CLI. See “Using vSphere Auto Deploy
to Reprovision Hosts,” on page 196.
esxcli
You can use the esxcli command-line utility for ESXi to upgrade ESXi 5.0.x
hosts or ESXi 5.1.x hosts to ESXi 5.5.x. You cannot use esxcli to upgrade
ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts to ESXi 5.5.x. The esxcli command-line utility requires
the vSphere CLI. See “Upgrading Hosts by Using esxcli Commands,” on
page 200.
The esxupdate and vihostupdate utilities are not supported for ESXi 5.x upgrades.
vSphere Upgrade
150 VMware, Inc.