Staging ESXi 6.5U1 to ESXi 6.7U1?

[vadm168]

Hi,

Environment:

vCenter 6.7U1b

ESXi 6.5U1

I've uploaded Dell custom ESXi 6.7U1 ISO to the vCenter, created a baseline and attached the baseline to my Dell R430 ESXi hosts. I notice when the ESXi 6.7U1 baseline is selected, the "Stage" option is dimmed in both vSphere Client and vSphere Web Client. Is this expected?

I want to upgrade multiple ESXi hosts over WAN links and don't want to transfer the ISO files right before the upgrade. If the ISO can be uploaded to the ESXi hosts ahead of time and upgrade via command line, why can't upgrade be staged like patching?

Thanks,

[ThompsG]

Hi vadm168​,

Check the compliance status. If the host is considered compliant then the "Stage Patches..." option is greyed out. I'm sure you have already done this but run a "Scan for Updates..." task and then see if the option becomes available.

Kind regards.

[vadm168]

Thanks, ThompsG. However, I am pretty sure it has to do with patches and upgrades are treated differently. The host is not compliant. Under the host's Updates tab, if I select a patch (even it's already compliant), Stage options is available. If I select an upgrade (even if it's not compliant), Stage option is not available. I suspect it has to do how upgrade and patching work differently? Considering remote upgrade is common, it'll be nice if staging is available.

[ThompsG]

Hi vadm168​,

Sorry about that. Not sure what was going on with my Update Manager but you are right.

A Host Upgrade doesn't appear to allow for the staging to happen and the option for Staging is greyed out if this is the only baseline attached to the host. However if you upload the "Offline Bundle" to do the host upgrade (though this is considered a Host Patch) then you can stage this. Guess it makes sense as the button is "Stage Patches" not "Stage Patches and Updates"

I'm just testing whether you can have another Host Patch associated to the host whether this would stage the Host Update as well. The option is not greyed out but this doesn't mean that clicking it would also stage the Host Update. Will report back here with findings.

Kind regards.

[ThompsG · Accepted solution]

Okay - didn't have to go far to be told "vCenter says NO":

But with the Offline Host Patches:

Hope this helps?

[vadm168]

Hi ThompsG​

Thanks for looking into this. I guess there is a technical reason behind it that version upgrade is treated differently from patching. From my point of view, it's always nice to be able to stage regardless the actions to reduce the maintenance window especially for global deployment of ESXi hosts. Appreciate your confirmation and help on this.