Updating HP ESXi Servers - VMware repos only, or VMware + HP??

[handsy]

We have added HP vibsdepot XMLs to our Update Manager sources, but I'm a little concerned to Remediate at the moment.

The reason why is that both VMware and HP both have updates that need to be remediated....my concern is that one will overwrite the other or downgrade something and break the server.

Should I be concerned?

Should I bother with HP repos?

Many thanks

[mcrape]

I would say it depends on the updates; are there actually conflicting updates (e.g. updates from both location for a NIC or something)? If HP is only offering driver updates, then you might be able to just bundle them into a new image. Take a look at this (Workaround 2) for an idea of what I am talking about: VMware KB: Upgrading to ESXi 5.x using Update Manager 5.x fails with the error: software or system c...

[john23]

Its better to use vmware image with hp customize driver integrate with image

[unsichtbare]

Using HP servers, I believe it is imperative to use the hp download sources with supported (https://www.vmware.com/go/hcl) HP Servers. There have been numerous instances in the last 18 months where I am certain that having current updates to HP hardware (particularly Emulux deivers) has saved my bacon!

I have talked with a few admins with 10Gb Emulux NICs who went purple (purple screen) without the updates!

You can add the repository to VUM  as indicated here: http://www.jonmunday.net/2013/03/19/update-manager-online-depot-for-hp-and-dell-extensions/

And then create a baseline for HP patches:

Or you can follow the command-line instructions I created here: Patch your ESXi Hosts from the command line easily and quickly - JohnBorhek.com

[handsy]

Thanks to everyone for their replies.

It seems that I don't need to worry, there *should* be intelligence in ESXi to only update drivers if they're newer, therefore duplicate packages should be a non-issue.