Can't install any VIB after ESXi update from 6.7 to 7.0U3 - Host does not have a base image installe

[jacotec]

I have a strange issue after upgrding my homelab servers from ESXi 6.7 to ESXi 7.0U3 (Dell customized image).

I can't install any VIB on any of my servers. Each time I'm getting the error:

 [InstallationError]
 Upgrade VIB(s) "loadesx" is required for the transaction. Please use a depot with a complete set of ESXi VIBs.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

I found this KB article https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/90393 and tried the solution, but ...

[root@VMServer1:/vmfs/volumes/93af55e3-fb529e07-0000-000000000000] esxcli software profile update -d /vmfs/volumes/Datastore_VMS1/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0.update03-20328353.x86_64-Dell_Customized-A09.zip -p DEL-ESXi-703_20328353-A09 --no-hardware-warning

 [InstallationError]
 Failed to finish bootbank stage: ('/tmp/stagebootbank/imgdb.tgz', 'Error writing tar database: Should have base image when an addon exists.')
      cause = ('/tmp/stagebootbank/imgdb.tgz', 'Error writing tar database: Should have base image when an addon exists.')
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

And:

 esxcli software baseimage get
 [Exception]
 Host does not have a Base Image installed.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

... which led me to this KB article: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/87751

Ahm, really? No solution, no workaround? How do people install VIB's in ESXi 7.0U3? I'd like to have Dell OMSA working 😞

Any idea how to fix this is highly appreciated.

[maksym007]

The general patch provided by vmware could applied by the following commands

Select one desired ImageProfile from the available ImageProfile list:

esxcli software sources profile list -d vmfs/volumes/Datastore_VMS1/VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0.update03-20328353.x86_64-Dell_Customized-A09.zip

Apply the ImageProfile with the profile parameter -p:

esxcli software profile update -d vmfs/......

[jacotec]

... which I already did, see my 2nd code snippet in the oopening post. The result of the command is:

Error writing tar database: Should have base image when an addon exists

[Kinnison]

Hi,

Probably obvious question, but have you already tried to update using the ISO image?

Regards,
Ferdinando

[peetz]

Greetings,

so, do you use Autodeploy to boot your hosts? If yes then this behaviour is by design and you need to build a customized image (including all VIBs that you require) and use that for booting the hosts.

If you are not using Autodeploy then your installation is seriously screwed up. Try to upgrade again by booting from the Dell Custom ISO, or re-install if that doesn't help either.

Andreas

[jacotec]

Hi @peetz @Kinnison 

thanks for your replies.

I've updated the hosts with

esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/.../VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0.update03-20328353.x86_64-Dell_Customized-A09.zip

The issus is all the same on all hosts.

So I'll try to update again via the ISO installer. Will this work with the same version which is already installed?

[peetz]

So you are not using AutoDeploy (PXE boot), but have installed ESXi on a local disk, right?

If I remember correctly the ISO Installer lets you perform an Upgrade even if the same version is already installed.

You can also do a fresh install with the option "[x] Preserve existing VMFS datastores". After that you need to re-configure the host's settings and re-register any VMs that it was running from available datastores.

[jacotec]

Yes, I've installed ESXi on a local disk ... on a boot USB drive. That gives me some flexibility to have it running independent from the RAID array(s) with the datastore(s).

Upgarding via ISO did solve the issue! Thanks for the hints! 🙂

So I've 4 hosts more to do ...

Just to be safe in future: Is it *always* recommended to do any upgrade via ISO, or can I do updates within the same main release with "esxcli software vib update -d" and only do "big" updates like ESXi 6.7 -> 7.0 via ISO boot?

[Kinnison]

Hi,

Well, we would have to say that booting from USB may be "flexible" but for many it has only caused a lot of trouble and the trend of the moment is to stay away from it.

In my very personal way of seeing there is no fixed rule to apply updates, depends, between "major relase" I prefer to use the ISO (my choice) and for all the rest (minor relase) when I have hosts not managed by a vCenter object I use the CLI the same way you do. Instead, other times when circumstances permit and I want to be sure I don't carry around "skeletons hidden in a closet", I reinstall without thinking too much.

Regards,
Ferdinando

[a_p_]

Since going from 6.7 to 7.0 is an upgrade rather than an update, consider using the following command

esxcli software profile install -d <offline-bundle.zip> -p <profile-name> --ok-to-remove [--dry-run]

Note that the install option (rather than update) should only be used in cases, where the offline bundle contains all required drivers. This command will not just install new components, but remove components/vibs which are not defined in the profile.

André

[RiSc2017]

We had an issue on HPE hosts which were upgraded from 6.7 to 7.0.

Some VIBS were missing including loadesx but the loadesx service was listed in /etc/init.d.

After a vCenter update to 7.0 U3j the HA agent could not be updated on those hosts and HA didn't work anymore.

First we followed the workaround to update the host by booting the HPE Custom iso. The missing VIBS were installed, but this was time consuming and we found another workaround. 

By copying the three loadesx.xml files from another 7.0 host with the same version that was working correctly (HA agent working and no VIBS missing) to the host in /var/db/esximg/vibs two problems were solved:

- HA agent could be installed again

- The offline bundle (depot.zip) could be installed again via esxcli software vib install -d <path to zip>

So it should be possible to do an update or upgrade of ESXi.