Updating ESX 3.5.0server first time in 1 year

[chetankp]

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Hi

We have two esx 3.5.0 hosts and have never been updated since

last year, Haing update manager up and running, we are about to update our ESX

hosts.

In Update repository we have downloaded all update since last year to till

today, Is there any best approach to go with updating the ESX hosts? I am bit concerned

because of the applying so many updates at once (eg ESX update 3, ESX update 4

etc).

So when we will scan the ESX host against the Base line would it try

to install all upates or just latest updates which superseded the older update

?

Once one ESX host updated, how long we can hold the second ESX without

updating or we need to update second ESX host followed by first one, because it

may be possible that it would create issue if we run both ESXs with different

update.

Thanks

[karavinds1]

Hello,

It is not a bad idea to take a look at the best practices guide

http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/esx_patching_best_practices.pdf

Regards,

Aravind K

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[AndreTheGiant]

Do you have ESX or ESXi? Is not clear, cause this is the ESXi section, but you are talking about ESX.

If you have vCenter Server you can simple use VUM to manage the ESX patches.

Or you can download the ESX 3.5U5 zip file for to a upgrade to the latest version of ESX.

Or also you can use the ESX 3.5U5 CD to do the upgrade.

Andre

[chetankp]

Hi ,I have just noticed that I did select ESXi instead of ESX into forum section, Thanks for pointing this out.

We are using two ESX 3.5.0 hosts not ESXi and already have Update manger ready to remediate the host. I have read through the Best Practices for Patching Vmware ESX and decided to go with following plan;

1) Install esxupdate utility (reboot) (ESX350-200805502-BG)

2) Install ESX server 3.5.0 update 5(reboot) (If I am not wrong upgrading to update 5 will includes all previous patches and bug fixes)

Are there any pre-caution needs to be taken before upgrading to update 5? Or it just simply remediate after putting ESX into maintenance mode through Update manger?

Thanks

[AndreTheGiant]

Are there any pre-caution needs to be taken before upgrading to update 5? Or it just simply remediate after putting ESX into maintenance mode through Update manger?

I suppose that you have already update your VC and VUM to latest version (cause 2.5U5 was available months ago...)

So you have simple to scan and remediate your hosts.

Andre

[chetankp]

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+Hi +

<span style="font-style: normal">We are using VirtualCenter 2.5</span> +Update

3 (build+ +119598) with two ESX3.5.0 servers attached to SAN.+ Do I need to update the

VirtualCenter2.5 with update 5 and then proceed to ESX 3.5.0 update 5? Or It

doesn’t matter if we use VirtualCenter2.5 +update

3+ to update host with update 5 ?

Thanks

[AndreTheGiant]

Do I need to update the VirtualCenter2.5 with update 5 and then proceed to ESX 3.5.0 update 5?

I suggest to first update vCenter Server and his plugin.

Then you can use VUM to patch ESX.

Andre

[chetankp]

Found this matrix table on VMware site, It looks like there should be no problem updating ESX3.5.0 to Update 5 with Virtualcenter server 2.5.0 update 3

Thanks for help Andre.. I will go ahed with updating and keep posting.

[msemon1]

I would suggest as previously suggest to update Virtual Center first and then upgrade your hosts through VUM. Be prepared for a long upgrade of your ESX hosts. We let ours run one time without upgrading for about six months. Each host took about 1 1/2 hrs to update. Grab a comfy chair and be prepared for a long night if you have lots of hosts.

Mike