Patching ESXi 8.0.x fails with "An error occurred during host configuration: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 32."

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• 
  When trying to patch an ESXI with custom vendor VIBs (for example drivers) installed, the task fails with an error message:

"An error occurred during host configuration: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 32."

• The same error can be seen in the Update manager server log (/var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server*.log):

..
2024-06-12T11:50:49.729Z info vmware-vum-server[13701] [Originator@6876 sub=VciRemediateTask.RemediateTask{39}] [vciTaskBase 1496] SerializeToVimFault fault:
--> (integrity.fault.VcIntegrityFault) {
-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->    faultMessage = <unset>
-->    msg = "Install error on host: <host_fqdn>, error details: Platform Configuration Error: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 32"
--> }
--> Converted fault:
--> (vim.fault.ExtendedFault) {
-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null,
-->    faultMessage = <unset>,
-->    faultTypeId = "com.vmware.vcIntegrity.VcIntegrityFault",
-->    data = (vim.KeyValue) [
-->       (vim.KeyValue) {
-->          key = "faultCause",
-->          value = ""
-->       },
-->       (vim.KeyValue) {
-->          key = "faultMessage",
-->          value = ""
-->       }
-->    ]
-->    msg = "Install error on host: <host_fqdn>, error details: Platform Configuration Error: /usr/sbin/esxupdate returned with exit status: 32"
--> }
..

• When reviewing the corresponding log for the esxupdate agent on the reported ESXi (var/run/log/esxupdate*), you see the following error happening a couple of seconds earlier:

..
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: An esxupdate error exception was caught:
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: Traceback (most recent call last):
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: File "/usr/sbin/esxupdate", line 378, in main
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: cmd.Run()
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esx5update/Cmdline.py", line 161, in Run
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: res = t.InstallVibsFromSources(viburls, metaurls, None,
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 882, in InstallVibsFromSources
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: inst, removed, exitstate = self._installVibs(curprofile,
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 1155, in _installVibs
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: stagedPath, exitstate = self._validateAndInstallProfile(
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 1377, in _validateAndInstallProfile
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: raise e
2024-06-12T11:49:53Z Er(11) esxupdate[2109423]: esximage.Errors.ProfileValidationError: File path of '/<path>/<filename>' is claimed by multiple non-overlay VIBs for embeddedEsx: {'<VIB_name_and_version>', '<another_VIB_name_and_version>'}
..

Environment

vCenter Server 8.0

ESXi 8.0

Cause

This issue occurs when a vendor has published a new version of a VIB that shares one or more files with the older one.

Resolution

To prevent this issue, please remove the older version of the VIB before attempting to install the newer one as part of a patch remediation. To verify if the old VIB can be removed without breaking vital functions of the ESXi (as it would be the case for NIC- or HBA drivers) please reach out to the vendor who provided the VIB.
Once this has been confirmed, you can use the following command to uninstall the VIB:

# esxcli software vib remove --vibname=<vib_name>

If the patch still fails afterwards, review the esxupdate logs on the host again, as there might be multiple of these conflicts.