VIB stage operation causes VIB installation or configuration change to be lost in reboot

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The stage operation is used to download VIBs and prepare the ESXi host for VIB installation. Staging constructs a new ESXi image in /altbootbank but does not enable the image for booting. When the stage operation is complete, you cannot revert to the previous contents of /altbootbank, and the state of /altbootbank boot.cfg is updated to staged. In a reboot, the ESXi bootloader does not boot into /altbootbank.

The stage operation might cause the following problems:

• An installed VIB or configuration change after the last reboot might be lost in the next reboot.

  When some VIBs are installed on the system, esxupdate constructs a new image in /altbootbank and changes the /altbootbank boot.cfg bootstate to updated. When a liveinstallable VIB is installed, the system saves the configuration change to /altbootbank. The stage operation deletes the contents of /altbootbank unless you perform a remediate operation after the stage operation. If the system is rebooted after a stage operation without performing the remediate operation, the VIB installation is lost.

• vibDownloadErr during multiple stage operations.

  When multiple staging and remediation operations are performed, esxupdate reconstructs /altbootbank from /bootbank and the VIB URLs provided by the staging and remediation operation. Since the VIBs installed after the last reboot are not in /bootbank and the VIB URLs are provided by the staging and remediation operation, esxupdate produces an exception.

  This issue affects VIBs that require reboot after installation.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5

Resolution

After you install VIBs, reboot the system before you perform a stage operation. Alternatively, after each stage operation, perform a remediation before you reboot the system.