Using ESXCLI throws MemoryError or Got no data from process.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

When running "esxcli software ..." command, it fails with below errors.

[MemoryError]
Please refer to the log file for more details.

Or

Got no data from process.
Command "LANG=en_US.UTF-8 /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software sources.profile.list -d "https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml" "
еxited with error code: 1

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0.2

Cause

ESXCLI runs with a fixed amount of memory. With the VMware patch repository growing with every release, the memory consumption grew, which led to the failure.

Resolution

VMware is aware of this issue and working to resolve this in a future release.

Workaround:

Updating/upgrading can be done via vCenter Server, or you can point ESXCLI directly to the local ESXi Offline bundle ZIP file instead of using the VMware online patch repository.