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Wabun
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

ESXI v5.1 free - question about updating

Hi, I would like to update my free esxi 5.1 server, but am a bit unsure, could anyone please confirm this is correct way to do this?

Also is the patch 2001 including the patch 1001??

I have downloaded both patches, but not sure if I do need to apply both or just the latest one?

Procedure:

- Download the patch[es] you want directly from the VMware Patch Portal
- Ensure that you enable SSH for remote support on the ESXi Host
- Upload the patch[es] to your local datastore.
- Make sure your host is in Maintenance Mode, this is a requirement since you will need to reboot.
- esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/5556999d-2affd31a-9336-999999999abcde/ESXi510-201212001.zip

- When update is succesful you can delete the patch from your datastore.

Now my bigest worry is will I lose my NIC when applying the patches?

The NIC is installed manually with a vib see my other thread when I had problems that VMware did not detect the NIC.

see thread: http://communities.vmware.com/thread/417175

Any help is much appreciated.

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sparrowangelste
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

patch 2001 should contain the updates for 1001 since they are cumulative

also if the vib is not being updated in the patch , then you shoudlnt loose anything.

http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/02/understanding-esxi-patches-finding-patches.html

--------------------- Sparrowangelstechnology : Vmware lover http://sparrowangelstechnology.blogspot.com
Wabun
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Thanks very helpful, but I am still confused by the fact that there are general and security-only images, sometimes previous patches are not included! I think they are only included when there is a base-image, the author of the article you refrered too is mentioning this as well, in particluar for drivers, hence my concern.

[EDIT] ok, reading again, the esx-base is updated in the first patch, then the second update is doing again the esx-base and therefor it superseeds the patch1, right?

Now regards my NIC driver I understand the switch is very important as Kyle is mentioning in his thread: When you run “esxcli software profile install …” it installs the image  in the depot overwriting the existing image.  In your case you have a  VIB on your host that provides drivers needed for you NICs.  This VIB is  not included as part of the 5.0 U1 update (probably came from Dell?).   So when you “installed” the update you lost this driver and hence the  drivers were gone.  After restoring from the alternate bootbank the VIB  was restored.  Then, when you repeated the install using the UPDATE  switch instead of overwriting the image, it updated any VIBs on the host  for which an updated version was available in the depot and added any  VIBs that were missing, but it did not remove any VIBs.

“esxcli software profile install“:  Installs or  applies an image profile from a depot to this host. This command  completely replaces the installed image with the image defined by the  new image profile, and may result in the loss of installed VIBs. To  preserve installed VIBs, use profile update instead.

“esxcli software profile update“:  Updates the host  with VIBs from an image profile in a depot. Installed VIBs may be  upgraded (or downgraded if –allow-downgrades is specified), but they  will not be removed. Any VIBs in the image profile which are not related  to any installed VIBs will be added to the host.

So I need to adjust one parameter; make it update instead of install to prevent my NIC driver [vib] from being overwritten.

- esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/5056099d-2af1d31a-9336-0025907cb294/ESXi510-201210001.zip

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TomHowarth
Leadership
Leadership

That is correct yes. update only touches those files that relate to the actual update, it will install anything new. but will leave others things untouched

Tom Howarth VCP / VCAP / vExpert
VMware Communities User Moderator
Blog: http://www.planetvm.net
Contributing author on VMware vSphere and Virtual Infrastructure Security: Securing ESX and the Virtual Environment
Contributing author on VCP VMware Certified Professional on VSphere 4 Study Guide: Exam VCP-410
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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

According to the documentation there's a major difference between "esxcli software profile update" and "esxcli software vib update". The first command updates existing vibs and also adds new vibs, whereas the second command only updates already existing vibs, but does not install new ones!

What I would probably do is to use the "esxcli software vib install" command and make sure the installation bundle for the additional NIC drivers is accessible on the host as a precaution, in case it is required to reinstall it.

André

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Wabun
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Would you mind to point me to that piece of ducumentation? thanks.

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

You can find the different commands and descriptions at esxcli software in the vSphere Documentationcenter.

André

Wabun
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Ok, I tried both parameters and had no difference in the output.

Still not convinced what the best way forward is when doing a manual update 🙂

Thanks every one for their suggestions and help.

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peetz
Leadership
Leadership

Please read my blog post on this frequently asked question:

Are ESXi 5.x patches cumulative?

Twitter: @VFrontDe, @ESXiPatches | https://esxi-patches.v-front.de | https://vibsdepot.v-front.de
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