Specifications

Table 7‑2. ESXi 5.5.x Upgrade Methods
Upgrade Method
Upgrade from
ESX or ESXi 4.x
to ESXi 5.5.x
Upgrade from
ESXi 5.0.x to
ESXi 5.5.x
Upgrade from ESXi
5.1.x to ESXi 5.5.x
Upgrade from ESXi 5.5.0
to ESXi 5.5.x
vSphere Update
Manager
yes yes yes yes
Interactive upgrade
from CD, DVD, or
USB drive
yes yes yes yes
Scripted upgrade yes yes yes yes
vSphere Auto
Deploy
no yes, if the ESXi
5.0.x host was
deployed using
Auto Deploy
yes, if the ESXi 5.1.x host
was deployed using Auto
Deploy
yes, if the ESXi 5.5.0 host
was deployed using Auto
Deploy
esxcli no yes yes yes
Upgrading Hosts That Have Third-Party Custom VIBs
When you upgrade a host that contains custom VIBs, the upgrade displays an error message unless the
same VIBs are included in the upgrade ISO file.
A host can have custom VIBs installed, for example, for third-party drivers or management agents. For
example, ESX/ESXi 4.x hosts can contain Cisco Nexus 1000V VEMs or EMC PowerPath modules. The ESXi
5.x architecture differs from ESX/ESXi 4.x so that customized third-party software packages (VIBs) cannot be
migrated when you upgrade from ESX/ESXi 4.x to ESXi 5.x. When you upgrade a 4.x host with custom VIBs
that are not in the upgrade ISO, the ESXi installer displays an error message that lists the missing VIBs.
To migrate the third-party customizations as part of the host upgrade, use ESXi Image Builder to create a
custom ESXi ISO image that includes the missing VIBs. For information about using Image Builder to make
a custom ISO, see the information about Using ESXi Image Builder in the vSphere Installation and Setup
documentation.
To upgrade a version 4.x ESX/ESXi host, without including the third-party software, you can take one of the
following actions.
n
Remove the third-party software. If you are using vSphere Update Manager, select the option to
remove third-party software modules during the remediation process. For information about
upgrading with vSphere Update Manager, see Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update
Manager.
n
Override the error message during the host upgrade by selecting the Force Migrate option.
CAUTION Using either of these two options might cause the upgraded host to not boot properly, to exhibit
system instability, or to lose functionality. Ensure that your system does not have any critical dependence
on third-party VIBs that requires resolution on first boot and cannot be resolved later. For example, your
system might require custom drivers for NICs that you are booting from.
If you are upgrading a 5.0.x host, supported custom VIBs on the host that are not included in the ESXi
installer ISO are migrated. If the host or the installer .ISO contains a VIB that creates a conflict and prevents
the upgrade, an error message identifies the offending VIB. You can remove the VIB and retry the upgrade,
or use ESXI Image Builder CLI to create a custom installer .ISO that resolves the conflict. The forcemigrate
option is not available.
If you are upgrading a host running ESX/ESXi 4.1 Upgrade 1 or ESX/ESXi 4.0 Upgrade 3, you will see the
error message for the VIBs listed in Table 7-3, even if you have never installed any custom VIBs. If you are
sure that the proper functioning or your system does not depend on those VIBs, you can choose to ignore
the warnings and continue with the upgrade.
Chapter 7 Upgrading and Migrating Your Hosts
VMware, Inc. 151