I have a stand alone host running ESXi 4.0 U2 and cannot seem to upgrade to 4.1 successfully,

this whole upgrade expereince is very frustrating!  The error messages I get are worthless and I can't seem to find a reference to them anywhere in VMWare's documentation, online, etc.

I am following the instructions shown here: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_upgrade_guide.pdf

A brief summary of the steps I have performed:

1. Downloaded and installed vCLI 4.1 (VMware-vSphere-CLI-4.1.0-254719.exe)

2. Downloaded the upgrade package (upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip)

3. Download and start a simple HTTP File Server (http://www.rejetto.com/hfs/), make the file shown in step #2 available for HTTP download

4. Turn off all Windows 7 firewalls, just in case.

5. Open vCLI from start menu, go to bin directory and follow instructions on Page 63 of the guide referenced above

6. Type the command:

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vihostupdate.pl --server ESXiServerIPaddress -i -b http://myworkstationsIPaddress/upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip -B ESXi410-GA
Enter username: root
Enter password:
Please wait patch installation is in progress ...
Failed to download offline bundle .zip.[Errno 14] HTTP Error 503: Service Unavailable

• I can see the ESXi server make a HTTP GET request to the web server but then it fails immediately (I am able to paste the same HTTP path into a browser and download the file just fine)

• I have tried with quotes around the URL, no luck

• I have uploaded the upgrade package to a datastore and used various ways of referring to the file's full path "local" to the ESXi server, no luck

• I have used other parameters such as --bundle instead of -b

I have tried a few other things but I think you get the idea... I'm a fairly capable guy but this rediculous how VMWare has made the upgrade process HARDER with the removal of the Host Update Utility. 

What other troublehsooting steps can I do to make this work?  What am I doing wrong?

Why so difficult? The exact instructions are in de upgrade pdf.

1. You need vSphere CLI - Download Here       
   
              Download the tool -
             For Windows or Linux and install on your workstation.

2. Download the Upgrade Package for 4.0 to 4.1 or the Upgrade Package from 3.5 to 4.1

3. Power
             off your VM's and put the host into maintenance mode

4. From the vSphere CLI prompt

vihostupdate.pl --server hostname or IP -i -b c:\temp\upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip -B ESXi410-GA

vihostupdate.pl --server hostname or IP -i -b c:\temp\upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip  -B ESXi410-GA-esxupdate

A reboot is necessary thereafter.

The thing is, I know I performed the steps shown in your last message.  Specifying the local upgrade file is one of the variants I didn't list... I used the full path like your example with and without quotes and it still didn't work (I got a similar error message to the one shown in this post's title, i don't remember if it was identical).

In any case, I stand by my earlier comments regarding the quality/completeness of VMWare's documentation and the error messages the software produces.  Would it kill them to include real examples and a link to a error message repository or KB entry?

Hopefully someone at VMWare will see this message and improve the upgrading and patch process for those of us without a vCenter.

Are you in the BIN directory when you run the command from the CLI?  I had to go to bin and it worked for me on a windows 7 laptop.

C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vihostupdate.pl --server xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx -i -b c:\esxi41\upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip -B ESXi410-GA-esxupdate

FYI, I have performed both procedures mentioned above in different machines and have successfully upgraded hosts to 4.1.

Unfortunately I have another host where the upgrade procedure is not successful and I can not find a reference to the error or how to investigate and resolve it.  The error I get is:

There was an error resolving dependencies.

•   Requested VIB deb_vmware-esx-firmware_4.1.0-0.0.260247 conflicts with the host*

This is a simple ESXi 4.0 U2 installed on a USB flash drive on a Dell PE2900.   There is no additional software installed.  When I use vihostupdate to query the installed modules, here is what it says:

--

VEM400-200906002-BG           2009-07-26T14:52:22 Cisco Nexus 1000V VEM

ESXi400-200906401-BG          2009-07-26T14:52:22 Updates Firmware

ESXi400-201006203-UG          2010-06-19T02:24:45 VI Client update for 4.0 U2 release

ESXi400-201006202-UG          2010-06-19T02:24:45 Tools update for 4.0 U2 release

I'm a little confused by the reference to the nexus 1000v, since i don't have that license on this free install of ESXi. 

The only thing "special" to this host is that I originally installed ESXi 3.5 and then upgraded to 4.0.  Back in the 3.5 days, you had to use a (well-known) custom hack to install ESXi to a USB flash drive because it wasn't a supported option yet.  Nowadays USB flash installation is a supported option so I don't expect that would be an issue.

I may just do a fresh reinstall on this host, but I thought I would ask the message board just in case.  Anyone have tips on how to resolve this error message?

I successfully upgraded ESXi 4.0U1 to 4.1 by using the esxupdate CLI command:

First enable ssh access to the ESXi4.0 box. At the ESXi console:

1. alt-f1

2. Type unsupported (You will not see your typing)

3. root pw

4. vi /etc/inetd.conf

5. uncomment the 2 ssh lines, i.e delete the “#” preceding the ssh config lines (esc x to delete a character in vi)

6. :wq to save the changes in vi and quit the vi editor

7. services.sh restart (if necessary reboot the ESXi box if ssh still does not work)

Place the file upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip at the root directory of your web server.

I used Apache Tomcat 7.0 on Windows XP to host the file upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip

Ensure the Windows Firewall allows access from external hosts to your web server (In the case of Apache Tomcat, I had to open port 8080)

SSH to your ESXi4.0 box and at the CLI type:

esxupdate --bundle http://ipaddress:8080/upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip   update

The zip file will be downloaded from your web server and installed. Reboot the ESXi4.0 server when prompted. Check if the new version is ESXi4.1.

N:B: The upgrade applied for an upgrade from ESXi,4.0.0,208167 (I believe this is ESXi 4.0U1) to ESXi, 4.1.0, 260247