Category: vmware

I kept getting disk full issues when upgrading esx, this is such a silly error, and I really had no way around it outside of loading esx from a full iso and ilo in to boot. But I found a somewhat easier way to do it now via SSH and the upgrade update file.

1. download the zip file from: https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch#search
2. upload it to a datastore
3. Renamed it to update.zip – not required, but makes it easier
4. esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes//update.zip
5. reboot
6. If complete, go ahead and delete the file if you want to reclaim the space.

I had ran this command:
esxcli software profile install -p ESXi-6.5.0-20171004001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODU
to upgrade to the latest version of 6.5 vmware ESXi and I got this message:

[Exception]
You attempted to install an image profile which would have resulted in the removal of VIBs [‘HPE_bootbank_hpe-cru_650.6.5.8.24-1.4240417’, ‘HPE_bootbank_hponcfg_6.0.0.4.4-2.4.2494585’, ‘HPE_bootbank_scsi-hpvsa_5.5.0.102-1OEM.550.0.0.1331820’, ‘HPE_bootbank_hpe-esxi-fc-enablement_650.2.6.10-4240417’, ‘HPE_bootbank_hptestevent_6.0.0.01-01.00.5.2494585’, ‘HPE_bootbank_hpe-ilo_650.10.0.1-24.4240417’, ‘HPE_bootbank_ssacli_2.65.7.0-6.5.0.4240417’, ‘HPE_bootbank_hpbootcfg_6.0.0.02-02.00.6.2494585’, ‘HPE_bootbank_hpe-smx-provider_650.03.11.00.17-4240417’, ‘HPE_bootbank_amshelper_650.10.6.0-24.4240417’, ‘HPE_bootbank_conrep_6.0.0.01-02.00.1.2494585’]. If this is not what you intended, you may use the esxcli software profile update command to preserve the VIBs above. If this is what you intended, please use the –ok-to-remove option to explicitly allow the removal.
Please refer to the log file for more details.

I wanted to keep those VIBs because I know there were no upgrades for HP on them, so I ran an update command instead:

esxcli software profile install -p ESXi-6.5.0-20171004001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODU

I was running the upgrade on my HP microserver Gen 8 ESXi host, and it threw an error:

[root@esx1:~] esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-20171004001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODU
CTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
[InstallationError]
[Errno 28] No space left on device
vibs = VMware_locker_tools-light_6.5.0-0.23.5969300
Please refer to the log file for more details.
[root@esx1:~]

I ended up having to install the locker tool first:

cd /tmp
wget http://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/esx/vmw/vib20/tools-light/VMware_locker_tools-light_6.5.0-0.23.5969300.vib
esxcli software vib install -f -v /tmp/VMware_locker_tools-light_6.5.0-0.23.5969300.vib

Then I ran the update, and it worked perfect!

With Mike’s excellent post, I was able to update my esxi install from Update 1 to Update 2 via the command line.

Summary:

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
esxcli software profile update -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-5.5.0-20140902001-standard
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient
reboot

To get the list of updates:

esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml