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mathafukker
Contributor
Contributor

Issues with updating (esxcli) on my esxi 5.0 host

Hej gott folk/Hi good people!

I been having som issues trying to update my esxi 5.0 to the latest patch. But when I try running the command i get several errors that doesn´t look all to good. Thought that one of you clever guys in here could help me out!

So I uploaded the file to the datastore and when i try to run it, this happends:


/vmfs/volumes/4ed5dd40-15d814e3-e944-001e67260a22 # esxcli software vib update --depot=/vmfs/volumes/Datastore/update-from-esxi5.0-5.0_update01.zip   
[InstallationError]
The transaction is not supported: VIB VMware_bootbank_net-e1000e_1.1.2-3vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_net-nx-nic_4.0.557-3vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_net-e1000_8.0.3.1-2vmw.500.0.7.515841 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_scsi-megaraid-sas_5.34-1vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_scsi-aacraid_1.1.5.1-9vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_esx-base_5.0.0-1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_sata-ata-piix_2.12-4vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_misc-drivers_5.0.0-1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_net-be2net_4.0.88.0-1vmw.500.0.7.515841 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_scsi-mpt2sas_06.00.00.00-6vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_ehci-ehci-hcd_1.0-3vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_sata-ahci_3.0-6vmw.500.1.11.623860 cannot be live installed. VIB VMware_bootbank_net-e1000_8.0.3.1-2vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_ehci-ehci-hcd_1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_net-nx-nic_4.0.557-3vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_sata-ahci_3.0-6vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_scsi-aacraid_1.1.5.1-9vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_scsi-mpt2sas_06.00.00.00-5vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_net-e1000e_1.1.2-3vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_misc-drivers_5.0.0-0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_sata-ata-piix_2.12-4vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_scsi-megaraid-sas_4.32-1vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_net-be2net_4.0.88.0-1vmw.500.0.0.469512 cannot be removed live. VIB VMware_bootbank_esx-base_5.0.0-0.0.469512 cannot be removed live.
Please refer to the log file for more details.

---------------------------------------------

And then i thought I would check my log files, which looked like this:

/var/log # ls
auth.log              hostd.log             syslog.log            vmkwarning.log
boot.gz               hostprofiletrace.log  usb.log               vmware
configRP.log          ipmi                  vmauthd.log           vobd.log
dhclient.log          shell.log             vmkdevmgr.log         vprobed.log
esxcli.log            smbios.bin            vmkernel.log          vpxa.log
esxupdate.log         storagerm.log         vmkeventd.log
fdm.log               sysboot.log           vmksummary.log
/var/log # esxcli.log
sh: esxcli.log: not found

-------------------------------------------------

I´m getting a feeling that something is seriously wrong with my machine... I been searching the world wide web (haha) but only found one discussion about esxcli failing and with other error messages.. I can´t surely be the first one..? Help is much appreciated as I need to patch to the latest version.. :confused_face:

Have a good day!

24 Replies
nielse
Expert
Expert

Did you put the host in maintenance mode?

@nielsengelen - http://foonet.be - VCP4/5
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mathafukker
Contributor
Contributor

Hi, wow you´r fast to reply! Smiley Happy  thank you.

And yes I set the machine in maintenance mode from VpxClient, forgot to mention that.

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iw123
Commander
Commander

I've seen something similar when not in maintenance mode. 

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers
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iw123
Commander
Commander

ah, just seen your update. Have you had a look in your esxupdate.log ? 

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers
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nielse
Expert
Expert

Can you attach the esxcli and esxupdate log in a post?

@nielsengelen - http://foonet.be - VCP4/5
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mathafukker
Contributor
Contributor

Sry, I´m at work so have to switch vpns and stuff to get to home. Here they come! Smiley Happy

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nielse
Expert
Expert

Could you try to scp the logs from your host? These files look incomplete :slightly_smiling_face:

@nielsengelen - http://foonet.be - VCP4/5
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mathafukker
Contributor
Contributor

Not sure what you mean whit scp, care to explain? Smiley Happy

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a_p_
Leadership
Leadership

I don't have a test system at the moment, so this is more a guess. Can you try to run the update command from the root directory ("cd /") rather than from the datastore to see whether this makes a difference. What I mean is not the .zip file location, but the current working directory.

André

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nielse
Expert
Expert

First download WinSCP or Veeam FastSCP and install these.

Then configure these to connect towards your ESXi host and navigate to /var/log. Then download the logs to your desktop and attach them here.

@nielsengelen - http://foonet.be - VCP4/5
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mathafukker
Contributor
Contributor

Ok, will do in about 25 min. Quite busy at work at the moment. C ya soon

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mathafukker
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks but already tried that! no luck Smiley Sad

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mathafukker
Contributor
Contributor

Just compared the log files and the files that I pulled trough SCP have more info. Strange.. (sidenote, anyone who can explain that btw?)

Back to the topic.

Attached the logs to the post again Smiley Happy

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nielse
Expert
Expert

vi is a text editor; you only see a part when you open it. SCP transfers the whole file.

I notice some weird errors in your logs:

2012-04-12T07:56:10Z esxupdate: HostImage: INFO: Installer <class 'vmware.esximage.Installer.BootBankInstaller.BootBankInstaller'> was not initiated - reason: altbootbank is invalid: Error in loading boot.cfg from bootbank /bootbank: Error parsing bootbank boot.cfg file /bootbank/boot.cfg: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: '/bootbank/boot.cfg'

This means you have no boot.cfg file and thus the rest of the errors occur.

I would suggest opening a support case with VMware itself as this sounds like a major problem/issue.

@nielsengelen - http://foonet.be - VCP4/5
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iw123
Commander
Commander

could you try it with the maintenance mode switch....

for example:


esxcli software vib update --maintenance-mode --depot /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/ESXi500-201109001.zip

Make sure there are no VMs on that host first though of course!

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers
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mooreka777
Contributor
Contributor

Yes, the server has to be in maintenance mode plus I think you need to tail the file.  Default permissions for linux is to NOT have PWD in the PATH variable.  So, if you do anything in the PWD you need to specify it with dot-slash.  IE, cd /var/log ; tail ./esxcli.log

tail -f /var/log/esxcli.log

or

cat /var/log/esxcli.log

-----------------

/var/log # ls
auth.log              hostd.log             syslog.log            vmkwarning.log
boot.gz               hostprofiletrace.log  usb.log               vmware
configRP.log          ipmi                  vmauthd.log           vobd.log
dhclient.log          shell.log             vmkdevmgr.log         vprobed.log
esxcli.log            smbios.bin            vmkernel.log          vpxa.log
esxupdate.log         storagerm.log         vmkeventd.log
fdm.log               sysboot.log           vmksummary.log
/var/log # esxcli.log
sh: esxcli.log: not found

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Jerooen_Oud
Contributor
Contributor

Had the same issue on my home system.

My fix was

Put system in maintenance mode, REBOOT and when back online use esxcli to update the system.

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realdreams
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Do you happen to use auto deploy? I am having the same problem with a host using auto deploy. I am not sure if I have to build a custom image to use the new driver.

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vm11a22b
Contributor
Contributor

Please,

Has anyone found an answer for this problem?

I have been unable to apply any patches after update 01 was successfully applied months ago.

and yes, the machine is in maintenance mode

and yes, I've tried both "update" and "install"

and yes, I've tried suppling the --maintenance-mode option

and yes, I've specified the full path for the -d option.

and yes, I"m running the command from the root directory

and no, I don't have the option to use vCenter, this has to work from the command line.

and yes, I've searched...

How can this problem go on existing for months without an answer?

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