6.7
Table Of Contents
- VMware ESXi Upgrade
- Contents
- About VMware ESXi Upgrade
- Introduction to vSphere Upgrade
- Upgrading ESXi Hosts
- ESXi Requirements
- Before Upgrading ESXi Hosts
- Upgrading Hosts That Have Third-Party Custom VIBs
- Media Options for Booting the ESXi Installer
- Download and Burn the ESXi Installer ISO Image to a CD or DVD
- Format a USB Flash Drive to Boot the ESXi Installation or Upgrade
- Create a USB Flash Drive to Store the ESXi Installation Script or Upgrade Script
- Create an Installer ISO Image with a Custom Installation or Upgrade Script
- PXE Booting the ESXi Installer
- Installing and Booting ESXi with Software FCoE
- Using Remote Management Applications
- Download the ESXi Installer
- Upgrade Hosts Interactively
- Installing or Upgrading Hosts by Using a Script
- Enter Boot Options to Start an Installation or Upgrade Script
- Boot Options
- About Installation and Upgrade Scripts
- Install or Upgrade ESXi from a CD or DVD by Using a Script
- Install or Upgrade ESXi from a USB Flash Drive by Using a Script
- Performing a Scripted Installation or Upgrade of ESXi by Using PXE to Boot the Installer
- PXE Booting the ESXi Installer
- Upgrading Hosts by Using esxcli Commands
- VIBs, Image Profiles, and Software Depots
- Understanding Acceptance Levels for VIBS and Hosts
- Determine Whether an Update Requires the Host to Be in Maintenance Mode or to Be Rebooted
- Place a Host in Maintenance Mode
- Update a Host with Individual VIBs
- Upgrade or Update a Host with Image Profiles
- Update ESXi Hosts by Using Zip Files
- Remove VIBs from a Host
- Adding Third-Party Extensions to Hosts with an esxcli Command
- Perform a Dry Run of an esxcli Installation or Upgrade
- Display the Installed VIBs and Profiles That Will Be Active After the Next Host Reboot
- Display the Image Profile and Acceptance Level of the Host
- After You Upgrade ESXi Hosts
- Using vSphere Auto Deploy to Reprovision Hosts
- Collect Logs to Troubleshoot ESXi Hosts
To determine whether an upgrade operation requires the host to be in maintenance mode, see Determine
Whether an Update Requires the Host to Be in Maintenance Mode or to Be Rebooted
Note If the host is a member of a vSAN cluster, and any virtual machine object on the host uses the
"Number of failures to tolerate=0" setting in its storage policy, the host might experience unusual delays
when entering maintenance mode. The delay occurs because vSAN has to evacuate this object from the
host for the maintenance operation to complete successfully.
When you specify a target server by using --server=server_name, the server prompts you for a user
name and password. Other connection options, such as a configuration file or session file, are supported.
For a list of connection options, see Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces, or run
esxcli --help at the vCLI command prompt.
Prerequisites
Install vCLI or deploy the vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) virtual machine. See Getting Started with
vSphere Command-Line Interfaces. For troubleshooting, run esxcli commands in the ESXi Shell.
Procedure
1 Check whether the host is in maintenance mode.
vicfg-hostops --server=server_name --operation info
2 Power off each virtual machine running on the ESXi host.
Option Command
To shut down the guest operating
system and then power off the virtual
machine
vmware-cmd --server=server_name path_to_vm stop soft
To force the power off operation
vmware-cmd --server=server_name path_to_vm stop hard
Alternatively, to avoid powering off virtual machines, you can migrate them to another host. See the
topic Migrating Virtual Machines in the vCenter Server and Host Management documentation.
3 Place the host in maintenance mode.
vicfg-hostops --server=server_name --operation enter
4 Verify that the host is in maintenance mode.
vicfg-hostops --server=server_name --operation info
Update a Host with Individual VIBs
You can update a host with VIBs stored in a software depot that is accessible through a URL or in an
offline ZIP depot.
Important If you are updating ESXi from a zip bundle in a VMware-supplied depot, either online from
the VMware Web site or downloaded locally, VMware supports only the update method specified for
VMware-supplied depots in the topic Upgrade or Update a Host with Image Profiles.
VMware ESXi Upgrade
VMware, Inc. 61