ESXi 5 latest build

[pcam]

I just loaded two new ESXi hosts and wanted to make sure I had the latest build.  Right now it says I'm running 5.0.0 504890.  Is this the latest and greatest?

[a_p_ · Accepted solution]

The current build is 702118. You can always check for the latest patches at http://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/download.portal

André

[DanDotson]

I'm trying to figure out the whole upgrade/patching deal with VMware.

How does this relate to 5.0.1 U1?  I've got hosts on 5.0.0 702118 and 515841.  There are alot of numbers, etc flying around and I'm having trouble makig sense of it.

I was hoping Update Manager would just have a 5.0.0 to 5.0.1 upgrade path.  It's not clear how to get to the latest. 

Any ideas?

[a_p_]

To start with (just to clarify), there's no 5.0.1 version, only 5.0.0 with updates/patches.

The build numbers of the different update/patches are ascending and can be found at the site I mentioned before. Unless you run Update Manager you have to apply the updates/patches manually. "Update xx" patches are cumulative, which means you don't have to apply any previous patches in order to be able to successfully apply the update package. Please take a look at e.g. vmroyale's (author of VCP5 VMware Certified Professional on vSphere 5 Study Guide: Exam VCP-510) blog post Updating ESXi 5 - Single use esxcli How To for a step-by-step guide about how to patch a single host manually.

With Update Manager in place, you just need to create a "Patch" baseline (don't mix this up with a host "upgrade" baseline), select the patches you want to apply and remediate the hosts.

André

[JSillasen]

a.p. thanks for your expertise on this - I'm a little confused still on updating the free ESXi 5.0 manually - specifically the order to install the patches.

Example:  I'm running my ESXi servers on build 515841 from 12/15/2011.   I see that there is now:

update-from-esxi5.0-5.0_update01 (build 623860) released 3/15/2012 (size: 590MB)

ESXi500-201204001 (build 653509) released 4/12/2012 (size: 297MB)

ESXi500-201205001 (build 702118) released 5/03/2012 (size: 297MB)

Do I need to apply those updates in order - or is the most recent build 702118 all-inclusive of all the other updates?   The reason I'm concerned is that the U1 update is 590MB so the 702118 can't include it at 297MB, can it?

Thanks!

- Jim

[golddiggie]

You'll need to update to 5u1 first (623860) then you can apply the patch to build 702118 since it will include the updates/patches from U1 to that point. So no need to apply build 653509, but you still have two updates to apply.

Basically build 702118 requires update 1 to be present first.

This is MUCH easier if you're using Update Manager...

[JSillasen]

Thanks for your response gold.  Since I'm using the free version, there is no update manager for it that I'm aware of.

My next question - do I need to restart the server after U1 install before installing the next patch 702118 - or can I simply install one right after the other, then restart?

Thanks!

[golddiggie]

Updates of this level normally require a reboot of the host. IME, it's best to do so and not try and push the other update after it. Doing that way could cause more issues by trying to shave a few minutes off the total update time.