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matrix00007
Contributor
Contributor

failed to upgrade Esxi to 6.5 U1

Esxi is installed on a 8GB USB stick, and when I try to upgrade it o 6.5 U1, the progress failed with some errors messages.

vmware -vl

VMware ESXi 6.5.0 build-5310538

VMware ESXi 6.5.0 GA

md5sum update-from-esxi6.5-6.5_update01.zip

12ffcaa19b62adf528471047c33748b5  update-from-esxi6.5-6.5_update01.zip

esxcli software vib update -d "/vmfs/volumes/5615fc0a-3d59bb11-05c2-001a64b2a728/update-from-esxi6.5-6.5_update01.zip"

[InstallationError]

Failed updating the bootloader: Execution of command /usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader failed: non-zero code returned

return code: 1

output: ERROR: ld.so: object '/lib/libMallocArenaFix.so' from LD_PRELOAD cannot be preloaded: ignored.

Traceback (most recent call last):

   File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 238, in <module>

     main()

   File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 223, in main

     partType, diskGeom, parts = getDiskInfo(diskPath)

   File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 151, in getDiskInfo

     rc, out, err = execCommand(command)

   File "/usr/lib/vmware/bootloader-installer/install-bootloader", line 94, in execCommand

     raise Exception("%s failed to execute: status(%d)" % (command, process.returncode))

Exception: /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.200049454505080f failed to execute: status(255)

       vibs = VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.5.0-1.26.5969303

Please refer to the log file for more details.

and there is a red line taking up in syslog:

2017-09-01T06:52:01.571Z cpu2:68085)ALERT: Failed to execute bootloader update script, bootloader might be out of date: /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.200049454505080f failed to execute: status(255)

when i execute /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.200049454505080f, i get this error:

Error: The device /dev/disks/naa.200049454505080f is so small that it cannot possibly store a file system or partition table.  Perhaps you selected the wrong device?

Unable to get device /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.200049454505080f

it complains the size of my USB STICK is too small, but when I check the size from device list, it is another story.

naa.200049454505080f is the USB Stick.

esxcli storage core device list

......

naa.200049454505080f

   Display Name: Local USB Direct-Access (naa.200049454505080f)

   Has Settable Display Name: false

   Size: 15393160691712

   Device Type: Direct-Access

   Multipath Plugin: NMP

   Devfs Path: /vmfs/devices/disks/naa.200049454505080f

   Vendor: Generic

   Model: Mass Storage

   Revision: 0102

   SCSI Level: 2

   Is Pseudo: false

   Status: on

   Is RDM Capable: false

   Is Local: true

   Is Removable: true

   Is SSD: false

   Is VVOL PE: false

   Is Offline: false

   Is Perennially Reserved: false

   Queue Full Sample Size: 0

   Queue Full Threshold: 0

   Thin Provisioning Status: unknown

   Attached Filters:

   VAAI Status: unsupported

   Other UIDs: vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053

   Is Shared Clusterwide: false

   Is Local SAS Device: false

   Is SAS: false

   Is USB: true

   Is Boot USB Device: true

   Is Boot Device: true

   Device Max Queue Depth: 1

   No of outstanding IOs with competing worlds: 32

   Drive Type: unknown

   RAID Level: unknown

   Number of Physical Drives: unknown

   Protection Enabled: false

   PI Activated: false

   PI Type: 0

   PI Protection Mask: NO PROTECTION

   Supported Guard Types: NO GUARD SUPPORT

   DIX Enabled: false

   DIX Guard Type: NO GUARD SUPPORT

   Emulated DIX/DIF Enabled: false

the strange thing is the size, which is too big in my opinion.

ls -l /vmfs/devices/disks

total 33776997014859609

-rw-------    1 root     root     16140898865472602624 Sep  1 07:00 naa.200049454505080f

-rw-------    1 root     root       4161536 Sep  1 07:00 naa.200049454505080f:1

-rw-------    1 root     root     262127616 Sep  1 07:00 naa.200049454505080f:5

-rw-------    1 root     root     262127616 Sep  1 07:00 naa.200049454505080f:6

-rw-------    1 root     root     115326976 Sep  1 07:00 naa.200049454505080f:7

-rw-------    1 root     root     299876352 Sep  1 07:00 naa.200049454505080f:8

-rw-------    1 root     root     2684354560 Sep  1 07:00 naa.200049454505080f:9

-rw-------    1 root     root     1000204886016 Sep  1 07:00 naa.5000cca35dca27b4

-rw-------    1 root     root     1000201224704 Sep  1 07:00 naa.5000cca35dca27b4:1

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            20 Sep  1 07:00 vml.01000000002020202020204a503239323148513052414a4a41486974616368 -> naa.5000cca35dca27b4

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep  1 07:00 vml.01000000002020202020204a503239323148513052414a4a41486974616368:1 -> naa.5000cca35dca27b4:1

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            20 Sep  1 07:00 vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053 -> naa.200049454505080f

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep  1 07:00 vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053:1 -> naa.200049454505080f:1

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep  1 07:00 vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053:5 -> naa.200049454505080f:5

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep  1 07:00 vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053:6 -> naa.200049454505080f:6

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep  1 07:00 vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053:7 -> naa.200049454505080f:7

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep  1 07:00 vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053:8 -> naa.200049454505080f:8

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep  1 07:00 vml.0200000000200049454505080f4d6173732053:9 -> naa.200049454505080f:9

the size of the first line is too big.

is this the cause?

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9 Replies
RajeevVCP4
Expert
Expert

what are you seeing by command

df-h

Rajeev Chauhan
VCIX-DCV6.5/VSAN/VXRAIL
Please mark help full or correct if my answer is use full for you
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RAJ_RAJ
Expert
Expert

Hi ,

Required 16 GB Flash Drive , please refer below .

ESXi Hardware Requirements

RAJESH RADHAKRISHNAN VCA -DCV/WM/Cloud,VCP 5 - DCV/DT/CLOUD, ,VCP6-DCV, EMCISA,EMCSA,MCTS,MCPS,BCFA https://ae.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-radhakrishnan-76269335 Mark my post as "helpful" or "correct" if I've helped resolve or answered your query!
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matrix00007
Contributor
Contributor

df -h

Filesystem   Size   Used Available Use% Mounted on

VMFS-5     931.2G 610.9G    320.4G  66% /vmfs/volumes/1T

vfat       285.8M 205.9M     79.9M  72% /vmfs/volumes/5615d6ec-ec7eca05-f657-001a64b2a728

vfat       249.7M 146.7M    103.1M  59% /vmfs/volumes/d45f52e7-bcf9f5a6-ff7d-9e512918b1b3

vfat       249.7M 147.9M    101.8M  59% /vmfs/volumes/dfdf92e3-1f2bf164-c342-fe747603b85b

except the 8GB usb stick, there is a 1TB HDD to store vms, no vms on usb stick.

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matrix00007
Contributor
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I don't think the 16GB is the cause.

esxi is installed on this 8GB usb stick, no vms on this usb stick. There is a 1TB hdd, where all vms are stored.

and there is another setup:

esxi is installed on a 2GB CF CARD, and a 1TB hdd to store vm.

this setup is successfully upgraded to 6.5 U1

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

For me it looks like an issue with the USB stick and/or the partition table. I'd actually consider to replace the stick, and reinstall ESXi (you may backup and restore the ESXi configuration, in case it's a complex configuration).


André

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RAJ_RAJ
Expert
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Hi,

ESXi Hardware Requirements  , please refer

Storage Requirements for ESXi 6.5 Installation or Upgrade

Installing ESXi 6.5 or upgrading to ESXi 6.5 requires a boot device that is a minimum of 1 GB. When booting from a local disk, SAN or iSCSI LUN, a 5.2-GB disk is required to allow for the creation of the VMFS volume and a 4-GB scratch partition on the boot device. If a smaller disk or LUN is used, the installer attempts to allocate a scratch region on a separate local disk. If a local disk cannot be found the scratch partition, /scratch, is on the ESXi host ramdisk, linked to /tmp/scratch. You can reconfigure /scratch to use a separate disk or LUN. For best performance and memory optimization, do not leave /scratch on the ESXi host ramdisk.

RAJESH RADHAKRISHNAN VCA -DCV/WM/Cloud,VCP 5 - DCV/DT/CLOUD, ,VCP6-DCV, EMCISA,EMCSA,MCTS,MCPS,BCFA https://ae.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-radhakrishnan-76269335 Mark my post as "helpful" or "correct" if I've helped resolve or answered your query!
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randall857
Contributor
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i'm having the exact same issue.  I was able to use online upgrade process using vfont-d all the way up to ESXi 6.5 Update 1 (Security only) build 5969300 with out a problem.

I'm just 1 version update behind the full 6.5 U1 update. 


  When you look at the error output, it complains about a non zero exit status on one of the command executions.

Exception: /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0 failed to execute: status(255)

Troubleshooting 101 says, attempt to run that execution myself and see what's going on.

[root@VMhost:/dev/disks] /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0

Error: The device /dev/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0 is so small that it cannot possibly store a file system or partition table.  Perhaps you selected the wrong device?

Unable to get device /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0

Okay so this is where it choked for sure.

The ESXI installer formats and makes multiple partitions on my USB drive where ESXi is running from which is typical.

Here's the lay out of my USB which is running build 5969300 just fine.

[root@VMhost:/dev/disks] ls -l | grep mpx.vmhba32

-rw-------    1 root     root     18302628885633696256 Sep 10 20:11 mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0

-rw-------    1 root     root       4161536 Sep 10 20:11 mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:1

-rw-------    1 root     root     262127616 Sep 10 20:11 mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5

-rw-------    1 root     root     262127616 Sep 10 20:11 mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:6

-rw-------    1 root     root     115326976 Sep 10 20:11 mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:7

-rw-------    1 root     root     299876352 Sep 10 20:11 mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:8

-rw-------    1 root     root     2684354560 Sep 10 20:11 mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:9

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            20 Sep 10 20:11 vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30 -> mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep 10 20:11 vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:1 -> mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:1

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep 10 20:11 vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:5 -> mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep 10 20:11 vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:6 -> mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:6

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep 10 20:11 vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:7 -> mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:7

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep 10 20:11 vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:8 -> mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:8

lrwxrwxrwx    1 root     root            22 Sep 10 20:11 vml.0000000000766d68626133323a303a30:9 -> mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:9

When it calls the drive with out a specific partition number, it returns no size and an error code as shown above.   The individual partitions do however return a result just fine.

[root@VMhost:/dev/disks] /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:5

unknown

31 255 63 511968

[root@VMhost:/dev/disks] /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:6

unknown

31 255 63 511968

[root@VMhost:/dev/disks] /sbin/partedUtil getptbl /vmfs/devices/disks/mpx.vmhba32:C0:T0:L0:1

unknown

0 255 63 8128

This looks like a definitive logic bug to me that needs to be resolved by VMware.  Either the version partedUtil getptbl is out of date and doesn't know how to deal with reading the disk with out a partition number or the installation script should be reading the individual partitions and not the disk identifier to get the size.  A USB stick being 3GB or 300 GB will have no effect on an error like this so this is not a hardware requirement issue.  It could be the USB stick and drive formatting is at fault but I don't think so.  I decided to take a USB stick with a different ESXi installation on it and run the same partedUI command against the USB stick with out using the partition number and got the same error.  I also got this error before upgrading to build 5969300 and the upgrade installer was able to read and upgrade to my USB stick just fine so i'm nearly positive this is a bug on the VMware side

If anyone knows a workaround to this or where else this should be posted to get the proper attention, I'm all ears.

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hproleit
Contributor
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I had the same issue.

My ESXi installation was on a USB drive.

Couldn't even select the drive upgrading with a DVD/USB directly on the machine.

disabling the new USB drivers helped to upgrade via ssh

esxcli system module set -m=vmkusb -e=FALSE

source: Important information about the new ESXi 6.5 USB driver vmkusb, and the legacy USB drivers (2147650)...

if you want to upgrade with a dvd or usb drive this helped me

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2017/02/no-suitable-disk-was-found-when-upgrading-to-esxi-6-5-on-usb....

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EricNeudorfer
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Contributor

For anyone finding this like I did. Enabling swap on the datastore worked for me

https://martinsblog.dk/vmware-cannot-update-host-with-esxcli-due-to-error-oserror-errno-28-no-space-...

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