Unable to upgrade an ESX/ESXi host using the Host Update Utility

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• You cannot upgrade your ESX or ESXi host using the Host Update Utility
• Upgrading your ESX or ESXi host using the Host Update Utility fails
• You see an error similar to:

Unsupported ESX version: esx-4.0.0 X.X-XXXXXX-release

• In the Host Update Utility log file viu-x.log (located at C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\VMware\VIU\logs), you see errors similar to:
  
  Note: For Windows 2008 the viu-x.log log is located at C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\VMware\VIU\logs
  

VIU :QuickInf] 2010-07-19 15:53:12.801 EULA file does not exist: C:\Programme\VMware\Infrastructure\VIUpdate 4.0\EULA-de.rtf Falling back to default file.
[ :ShowErr ] 2010-07-19 15:53:47.356 Upgrade package validation failed: Unsupported ESX version: 4.0.0-2.19
Stack Trace:

Note: For German customers, the error is:

[VIU :QuickInf] 2010-07-19 15:53:12.801 EULA file does not exist: C:\Programme\VMware\Infrastructure\VIUpdate 4.0\EULA-de.rtf Falling back to default file.
[ :ShowErr ] 2010-07-19 15:53:47.356 Validierung des Upgrade-Pakets fehlgeschlagen: Nicht unterstützte ESX-Version: 4.0.0-2.19
Stack Trace:

Environment

VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable

Resolution

This issue can occur if you are using a version of the Host Update Utility that is not compatible with the upgrade package that you are using to upgrade your ESX host.

To prevent this issue, download the latest version of the vSphere Host Update Utility and ensure you are using versions of vCenter Server and vSphere Client that are compatible with your ESX host.

You can download the latest version of the vSphere Host Update Utility from the VMware Download Center.

Additional Information

For further information on the vSphere Host Update Utility, please see the below links.

• Install the vSphere Host Update Utility
• Upgrade ESX Hosts