Patching ESXi or VIB installation fails with the Error "Upgrade VIB(s) "loadesx" is required for the transaction."

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• An ESXi update, upgrade, or vib installation fails on ESXi version 7.x with the error "Upgrade VIB(s) "loadesx" is required for the transaction"
• In the /var/run/log/esxupdate.log file, the following entries may be observed:
  
  YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR: An esxupdate error exception was caught:
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR: Traceback (most recent call last) :
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:  File "/usr/sbin/esxupdate", line 222, in main
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:   cmd. Run ()
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:  File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esx5update/Cmdline.py", line 148, in Run
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:  File "/lib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 2213, in InitVibInstall
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:   curPatcherComp, curPatcherVibs - findPatcher (curProfile)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:  File "/1ib64/python3.8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 2500, in findPatcher
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:   return findPatcherFromCompsVibs(imageProfile. components, imageProfile. vibs,
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:  File "/1ib64/python3. 8/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 2560, in findPatcherFromCompaVibs
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR:   raise Errors.InstallationError(None, None, mag)
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ esxupdate: 5619614: esxupdate: ERROR: vmware.esximage.Errors.InstallationError: Upgrade VIB(s) "loadesx" is required for the transaction. Please use a depot with a complete set of ESXi VIBs.

Environment

ESXi 7.0.x

Cause

This issue occurs when an ESXi host is upgraded from 6.x to 7.x using esxcli software vib update (which is an unsupported method for major upgrades), causing the loadesx VIB to be skipped and results in the vib to be missing from the host.

Resolution

Depending on the version of ESXi being used, please follow the relevant steps:

ESXi 7.0 U3g or below:

• Place the ESXi host in Maintenance mode
• Run the upgrade again using the command below to install the missing vib(s):
  
  esxcli software profile update -d <location of Zip file> -p <profile name> -f
  
  Example:

esxcli software profile update -d /vmfs/volumes/<DatastoreName>/VMware-ESXi-7.0U3s-24585291-depot.zip -p ESXi-7.0U3s-24585291-standard -f

Note: To get a list of all available image profiles in the zip file, use the command: esxcli software sources profile list -d <location of ZIP file>

• Reboot the ESXi host to proceed with the patching

ESXi 7.0 U3i or above:

• For ESXi hosts running version 7.0 U3i (build 20842708) or higher, should this issue persist, please engage Broadcom Technical Support.