After performing ESXi host upgrades using patch zip the host is missing custom VIBs.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

You performed ESXi hosts upgrades out of band from LCM and used an ESXi patch zip file and ran the upgrade from the command line and now your custom VIBs, such as hbr-agent, are missing. 

Environment

vSphere 7.x

vSphere 8.x

Cause

Performing the upgrade by this method can remove 3rd party VIBs. 

Resolution

Per best practice configure and used the image based cluster feature in lifecycle manager to upgrade and patch hosts while retaining any 3rd party VIBs that are required for your environment. 

Additional Information

https://techdocs.broadcom.com/us/en/vmware-cis/vsphere/vsphere/8-0/managing-host-and-cluster-lifecycle/using-images-to-install-and-update-esxi-hosts-and-clusters/working-with-images.html