Updating ESX 4.x to a newer released update

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps that may be useful when updating from ESX 4.x to a newer released update.

This article does not include steps for upgrading from ESX 3.5 and previous versions. If you are upgrading from ESX 3.x, see Upgrading to ESX 4.0 and vCenter 4.0 best practices (1009039).

Note: This article assumes that you have read the appropriate documentation for the update you are applying:

Note: These guides contain definitive information. If there is a discrepancy between the guide and this article, you should assume that the guide is correct.

Symptoms:

Environment

VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable

Resolution

vSphere 4.x currently offers these applications for updating from ESX 4.x to a newer version:

vihostupdate Command-Line Utility—The vihostupdate command applies software updates to ESX 4.x/ESXi 4.x hosts and installs and updates ESX/ESXi extensions such as VMkernel modules, drivers, and CIM providers. For more information, see the vSphere Upgrade Guide. For more information about vihostupdate Command-Line Utility refer vSphere Command-Line Interface Documentation

Note: You cannot use the vSphere Host Update utility to upgrade ESX 4.x hosts. This utility is only for standalone ESX 3.x and ESXi hosts. A standalone host is an ESX host that is not managed by vCenter Server. For more information, see Cannot patch or upgrade ESX 4.0 hosts with vSphere Host Update Utility (1012467) and the vSphere Upgrade Guide.

esxupdate Command-Line Utility—The esxupdate command applies software updates to ESX 4.x hosts. For more information, see About the esxupdate Utility in the ESX 4 Patch Management Guide.

Download the appropriate Update Package for your ESX Server 4.x and unzip the file to an ESX host directory that has sufficient space. Make sure you have enough room to store the update package, as well as the amount of space required. You can verify the amount of space needed by looking at the update package with a third party archive utility.

To install using esxupdate:

Log in to the ESX host service console as root using an SSH Client, or directly from the Service Console.
Create a local depot directory on the ESX host, such as /tmp/upgrade or under a VMFS datastore.

For example:

# mkdir -p /tmp/upgrade
# mkdir -p/vmfs/volumes/<Name of the datastore>/upgrade

Note: Ensure that you have enough free space.

Download the update ZIP file from the VMware Download Center.
Copy the upgrade package to the directory you created using a program such as WinSCP or use the upload file option in browse datastore and then copy it to the directory.
Change your working directory to directory you created in Step 2.
Place the host in the maintenance mode and run this command:

esxupdate --bundle <upgrade.zip> update

Alternatively,you can download the bundle to a datastore and run the command:

esxupdate --bundle=/vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/<update folder if created>/<filename>.zip update

VMware vCenter Update Manager—For ESX/ESXi hosts that are managed by vCenter Server

To upgrade a host using Update Manager, you must first create a baseline to use for host remediation. The procedures required to create this baseline vary depending on the currently deployed revision of ESX/ESXi in your environment. For more information, see the VMware vCenter Update Manager Administration Guide and find the guide corresponding to the version currently in use. In addition, read the release notes for the ESX version you are attempting to deploy. For more information, see the VMware vSphere 4 Documentation.

Additional Information

To get a listing of installed packages, run the command:

esxupdate --vib-view query | less

Unable to upgrade host using esxupdate or import an ESX 4.1 upgrade bundle into Update Manager 4.1
Atualizar o ESX 4.x para uma versão mais recente
Actualizar ESX 4.x a una versión más reciente
将 ESX 4.x 升级到更近发布的更新
新しいリリースへの ESX 4.x のアップデート