ESXi update fails with "VIB xxx requires esx-version << xxx, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within ImageProfile"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• When trying to patch your ESXi hosts, the process is failing to complete the updates for one or more of them
• vSphere Client is showing an error message that reads:

Precheck remediation passes with no issues however update fails with error: failed to install at remediation stage.

• when looking in the esxupdate logs on one of the affected hosts, which can be found under /var/run/log, you find messages saying:

VIB HPE_bootbank_conrep_6.7.0.03-xx.xx.xx.xxxxxxx requires esx-version << 7.0.0 the requirement cannot be satisfied within ImageProfile

• When trying to disable the provider using "esxclisoftware vib remove -n smx-provider" similar errors are logged

Environment

ESXi 7.x

 

Cause

This issue occurs when there are legacy VIBs (6.7) installed on the host that are marked as only compatible with ESXi versions lower than ESXi 7.0, thus blocking upgrade.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, please remove the VIBs mentioned as incompatible in the esxupdate logs. When in doubt, please involve hardware vendor to get newer versions, and/or which VIBs can be safely removed (for any OEM packages).