Specifications

If you are migrating a 4.x host that contains custom VIBs that are not included in the ESXi installer ISO,
the option Upgrade ESXi, preserve VMFS datastore is replaced with Force Migrate ESXi, preserve
VMFS datastore.
CAUTION Using the Force Migrate option might cause the upgraded host to not boot properly, to
exhibit system instability, or to lose functionality. If you are upgrading a 5.0.x or 5.1.x host, supported
custom VIBs that are not included in the ESXi installer ISO are migrated. You do not need to to select
the Force Migrate option. See “Upgrading Hosts That Have Third-Party Custom VIBs,” on page 151.
5 Press F11 to confirm and start the upgrade.
6 When the upgrade is complete, remove the installation CD/DVD or USB flash drive.
7 Press Enter to reboot the host.
8 Set the first boot device to be the drive on which you upgraded ESXi in Step 3.
If an existing VMFS datastore cannot be preserved, you can choose only to install ESXi and overwrite
the existing VMFS datastore, or to cancel the installation. If you choose to overwrite the existing VMFS
datastore, back up the datastore first.
See your hardware vendor documentation for information on changing boot order.
Installing, Upgrading, or Migrating Hosts Using a Script
You can quickly deploy ESXi hosts using scripted, unattended installations or upgrades. Scripted
installations, upgrades, or migrations provide an efficient way to deploy multiple hosts.
The installation or upgrade script contains the installation settings for ESXi. You can apply the script to all
hosts that you want to have a similar configuration.
For a scripted installation, upgrade, or migration, you must use the supported commands to create a script.
and edit the script to change settings that are unique for each host.
The installation or upgrade script can reside in one of the following locations:
n
FTP
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HTTP/HTTPS
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NFS
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USB flash drive
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CDROM
Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script
You can start an installation or upgrade script by typing boot command-line options at the ESXi installer
boot command line.
At boot time you might need to specify options to access the kickstart file. You can enter boot options by
pressing Shift+O in the boot loader. For a PXE boot installation, you can pass options through the
kernelopts line of the boot.cfg file. See “About the boot.cfg File,” on page 193 and “PXE Booting the ESXi
Installer,” on page 158.
A ks=... option must be given, to specify the location of the installation script. Otherwise, a scripted
installation or upgrade will not start. If ks=... is omitted, the text installer will proceed.
Supported boot options are listed in “Boot Options,” on page 183.
IMPORTANT After you upgrade or migrate your host to ESXi 5.x, you cannot roll back to your version 4.x
ESX or ESXi software. Back up your host before you perform an upgrade or migration, so that, if the
upgrade or migration fails, you can restore your 4.x host.
vSphere Upgrade
182 VMware, Inc.