ESXi host upgrade fails with HostUpgrade.MissingDependencyVibs

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Upgrading ESXi host from 7.x to 8.x fails with ESXi host upgrade fails with "Software or system configuration of host HOST.EXAMPLE.COM is incompatible. Check scan results for details".

in, /var/log/vmware/vmware-updatemgr/vum-server/vmware-vum-server.log reports similar error messages:

• 505Z error vmware-vum-server[1755688] [Originator@6876 sub=VciClusterRemediateCheckTask. VciClusterRemediateCheckTask{2077}] [vciClusterRemediateCheckTask 166] Found incompatible software config on host:
  ESXi.EXAMPLE.COM, host Id: host-######, error: Fault cause: integrity. fault. HostUpgradeIncompatibleSoftwareConfig 

Manually Upgrading the Host via Command line reports below error:

• MISSING_DEPENDENCY_VIBS_ERROR

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

The vib in the error stack is not present in the target upgrade. Either it will have to be removed from the host or manually added to the upgrade plan. 

Resolution

A custom install image may contain the vib in its ISO, where you can use the custom ISO instead (Engage Custom OS Vendor to validate the Dependency VIB's)

Before removing the conflicting VIB, make sure that the VIB is not being used by the Network and Storage adapters by running the below commands:

1. Network List
   

   esxcli network nic list

2. Storage Adaptor List
   

   esxcli storage core adapter list

Compare and validate the output of the above commands with the corresponding Dependency VIB driver name to determine whether the VIB is currently in use  OR can it be safely removed and before removing any VIB. It's important to consult the OEM vendors to verify if the VIB can be safely removed, especially if a custom ESXi image is being used.

Remove the Conflicting VIB:

1: SSH to the esxi host with root account.

esxcli software vib list | grep <driver>

2: If the VIB is not in use, remove the vib from ESXi (SSH/CLI), with the command: 

esxcli software vib remove -n <name of the vib>

Manually add VIB into life cycle manager

From your desktop, drag and drop the Vib file into the life cycle manager window or create a manual software vib to build with the existing upgrade to use. 

Please reference VMware documentation, for more details about that process:

• Managing Host and Cluster Lifecycle