"Failed to copy files from /tmp/stagebootbank to /altbootbank" while upgrading ESXi host

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host upgrade fails with error "Failed to copy files from /tmp/stagebootbank to /altbootbank".

• Entries in the /var/log/esxupdate.log file are observed:

2019-12-04T17:22:37Z esxupdate: 73835: root: ERROR: vmware.esximage.Errors.InstallationError: (None, "Failed to copy files from /tmp/stagebootbank to /altbootbank: Output from command 'rm -rf /altbootbank/*' is too large and exceeds 1048576 bytes")^@

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

Resolution

To resolve this issue, format the altbootbank partition using below steps:

1. Find the altbootbank partition number using the following command:

    vmkfstools -P /altbootbank

    The output should look similar to this:
    mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5


2. Format the altbootbank using the following command:

vmkfstools -C vfat /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5

Resulting in the following:

create fs deviceName:'/vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5', fsShortName:'vfat', fsName:'(null)'
deviceFullPath:/dev/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5 deviceFile:mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5
Checking if remote hosts are using this device as a valid file system. This may take a few seconds...
Creating vfat file system on "mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5" with blockSize 1048576 and volume label "none".
Filesystem was created but mount failed on device "mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5".: Not found.
    
Successfully created new volume: ########-########-####-############

Where "########-########-####-############" is the proper volume ID.

3. Once the new volume is created run the below command to remove the files under altbootbank:

rm -rf altbootbank

4. Create the symlink for the newly created volume to altbootbank using below command, use the UUID from the step 2 output command:

ln -s /vmfs/volumes/########-########-####-############/altbootbank

5. Check if the symlink to altbootbank is created properly.

6. Re-try the ESXi upgrade.