VMware Cloud Community
Woozle
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Upgrade ESXi 3.5 to 4.1

I have a few ESXi hosts running ESXi 3.5 which I want to upgrade to 4.1. I have downloaded the upgrade zip file and copied it to the local data store. I then put the server in maintenance mode, SSH'd to it and cd'd to thedirectory with the file. I then typed esxupdate update which did not error but immedi9ately droped me back to the command line. using the --bundle=filename option made no difference. Any ideas what is wrong here?

Regards

Reply
0 Kudos
1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
f10
Expert
Expert
Jump to solution

Hi,

According to the upgrade guide the minimum version required for ESX is 3.0.1, Yes, you may try upgrading to ESX 4.0 using the host update utility since it very easy to use.

I would recommend that you check the HCL first to ensure that the server you are trying to upgrade is supported by ESX 4.1.

All the best Smiley Happy

If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".

Regards, Arun Pandey VCP 3,4,5 | VCAP-DCA | NCDA | HPUX-CSA | http://highoncloud.blogspot.in/ If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".

View solution in original post

Reply
0 Kudos
11 Replies
f10
Expert
Expert
Jump to solution

Hi,

Can you confirm if you have followed all the steps mentioned on page 64 in the Upgrade Guide http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_upgrade_guide.pdf

If the upgrade still fails provide a screenshot or some errors and we will look into this further Smiley Happy

If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".

Regards, Arun Pandey VCP 3,4,5 | VCAP-DCA | NCDA | HPUX-CSA | http://highoncloud.blogspot.in/ If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".
Reply
0 Kudos
admin
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

You cannot use esxupdate to upgrade from 3.5 to 4.1

You will have to use Update Manager for that.

Reply
0 Kudos
sanderdaems1987
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

For intstalling patches or upgrading your host, you can use Host Update Utility

Maybe this wil help: http://blog.vmpros.nl/2010/07/14/vmware-patching-your-esxi-host-without-vcenter/






VCP/VSP/VTSP/vExpert 2010

| VCP/VSP/VTSP/vExpert 2010/2011 |
Reply
0 Kudos
Woozle
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Thanks for your answers

VM Client for ESXi 4.1 does not have the Host Update Utility and the version from V4.0 will not update to 4.1. Does a version for 4.1 exist and if so does anyone have a link.

Reply
0 Kudos
Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

To upgrade to ESXi 4.1 you can use vihostupdate from the vCLI or Update Manager if you have vCenter Server deployed. esxupdate in tech support mode is not a supported method to update. The VI HostUpdate utility that came with the vSphere client is no longer included with version 4.1 of the client.




Dave

VMware Communities User Moderator

Now available - vSphere Quick Start Guide

Do you have a system or PCI card working with VMDirectPath? Submit your specs to the Unofficial VMDirectPath HCL.

Woozle
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

Dave - Thanks for your answer. I do not have the V Centre so whay option does that leave me?

Regards

Reply
0 Kudos
f10
Expert
Expert
Jump to solution

Hi,

vihostupdate.pl & esxupdate commands are the two options available if vCenter is not available.

How to use vihostupdate.pl

To vSphere CLI 4.1 launch Start -> Programs -> VMware ->VMware vSphere CLI -> Command Prompt

Change to c:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin\ to be able to run the common commands.

Copy the upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.233827-release.zip to a directory in C: drive lets say C:\Upgrade

Put the ESXi host into Maintenance Mode

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vicfg-hostops.pl --server 192.168.x.x --username root --password xxxxx --operation enter

Install the Update using the command below:

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vihostupdate.pl --server 192.168.x.x --username root --password xxxxx --install --bundle c:\Upgrade\upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.233827-release.zip

Reboot the ESXi host

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vicfg-hostops.pl --server 192.168.x.x --username root --password xxxxx --operation reboot

Remove the host from Maintenance Mode

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vicfg-hostops.pl --server 192.168.x.x --username root --password xxxxx --operation exit

Run a query to confirm that ESXi host is not updated to ESXi 4.1

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vihostupdate.pl --server 192.168.x.x --username root --password xxxxx –query

-


Bulletin ID--


-
Installed- -
Summary
--


ESXi-4.1.0-233827-upgrade 2010-03-30T17:16:01 ESXi upgrade Bulletin

If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".

Regards, Arun Pandey VCP 3,4,5 | VCAP-DCA | NCDA | HPUX-CSA | http://highoncloud.blogspot.in/ If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".
Woozle
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

F10 Hi,

Thanks for your suggestion but trying to go from 3.5 to 4.1 I get an error saying "This operation is NOT supported on 3.5.0 platform" Do I have to upgrade from 3.5 to 4.0 (presumably using HostUpdate) and then upgrade to 4.1 as you suggested?

Reply
0 Kudos
f10
Expert
Expert
Jump to solution

Hi,

According to the upgrade guide the minimum version required for ESX is 3.0.1, Yes, you may try upgrading to ESX 4.0 using the host update utility since it very easy to use.

I would recommend that you check the HCL first to ensure that the server you are trying to upgrade is supported by ESX 4.1.

All the best Smiley Happy

If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".

Regards, Arun Pandey VCP 3,4,5 | VCAP-DCA | NCDA | HPUX-CSA | http://highoncloud.blogspot.in/ If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".
Reply
0 Kudos
PuliSukumar
VMware Employee
VMware Employee
Jump to solution

Hi,

To upgrade ESXi35 to ESX 4.1 you need to use "upgrade-from-ESXi3.5-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip" bundle and vSphere Update Manager. You can not upgrade using esxupdate or vihostupdate.

esxupdate - Upgrade ESX 4.0 to ESX 4.1

vihostupdate - Upgrade from ESX/ESXi 4.0 to ESX/ESXi 4.1

Update Manager - ESX/ESXi 3.5/4.0 to ESX/ESXi 4.0/4.1

Thanks,

Sukumar.

Reply
0 Kudos
Woozle
Contributor
Contributor
Jump to solution

The upgrade is now underway using the two stage process:

Update Manager from 3.5 to 4.0

vihostupdate from 4.0 to 4.1

It's a bit of a pain doing it in two stages as it means the server is unavailable for longer but at least it works.

Thanks to you all for your helpful comments

Reply
0 Kudos