Updating VMware tools on the hosts/clusters using VMware Lifecycle Manager

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• Upgrade only the VMTools package on hosts without going to a newer version of ESXi manually as the tools are not currently included in any of our standard baselines/images we apply to our ESXi hosts to address the vulnerabilities

Environment

• VMware vCenter Server 7.0.x
• VMware vCenter Server 8.0.x

Resolution

1. From the ‘Hosts & Clusters’ view in vSphere, navigate to the following section so that you can ‘Edit’ an Image
   
   Example:
   
   
   
   Note: It can be any version of VMTools
2. Under ‘Components’ Click ‘Show Details’ and it will display Components, toggle the Show to ‘All Components'
3. You can then filter by the name tool, and the package should appear
   
   
   
   If vCenter has connectivity to the internet, vSphere Lifecycle Manager should be going out and syncing updates from VMware-hosted repositories, you should then see newer versions of Tools to select.
   
   
   
   Once selected, you may click ‘Validate’ and then click ‘Save'
   
   
4. Notice that a component now appears, along with a warning message regarding the override, including the version that will be removed and the new version that will be included.
   
   
   
   
   

   The Image Compliance will also report what exists and what is on the image.
   
   

5. Next step would be to begin the Remediation of your hosts in the cluster. VMware Tools package installations generally do not require any reboots for changes; however, please always communicate with your teams and follow change control procedures.
   
   
   
   
6. Click ‘State Remediation’
   
   
   
7. The hosts completed successfully, and the Image is fully compliant. Sometimes VMs may not reflect a new version of Tools available on the hosts.
8. From the Cluster level, you can go to Updates >> VMware Tools and click ‘Check Status’
   
   
   
9. We now have VM's ready for the VMTools update.