Patching ESXi custom images (HPE) with Update Manager - can I use the default repository?

[Support_MDM]

Hi all,

we are using ESXi 6.5 on HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen8/Gen9 servers and installed them with the corresponding ESXi custom images from HPE. Regarding patching: Can we use the VMware default repository in VMware Update Manager or do we have to use a different repository (i.e. from HPE) in order to install regular ESXi patches?

In the past we did the following:

- For clean installations and upgrades (i.e. from 5.5 to 6.0) we used the custom images

- For normal patches within the same major version we used the VMware repository

However, since it's been a while that we patched ESXi I'm not sure this is still the right procedure. I would appreciate if someone could clarify this.

Thanks
Michael

[homerzzz]

Yes you can. The VMware repository for ESXi specific updates/patches and the HPE repository for HP specific driver and management agents updates.

[Support_MDM]

Hi,

thanks for your reply. I've also asked VMware support about this and they told me that I should use custom images for updating hosts that were installed with custom images. They said this is because if we update using the VMware standard repository it is possible that custom drivers are replaced by default ones.

However, I'm not sure whether this is correct. The document Deploying and updating VMware vSphere on HPE ProLiant servers from HP states the following:

https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/V2/GetPDF.aspx/4AA4-7994ENW.pdf

In addition to that, the HPE VMware ESXi and vSphere 5.x, 6.x and Updates Getting Started Guide also states that patches to VMware are provided by VMware and patches for HP components are provided by HP:

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c05063275

I usually would say:

1. Within a major version, we update ESXi with ESXi patches from the VMware repository and HP patches from the HP repository

2. For major upgrades, i.e. 6.0 to 6.5, we use custom images

But now I'm not sure about what VMware support has stated about driver replacements. Has anyone experienced this yet?

Thanks
Michael

[kieron85]

Hi

Did you ever get anymore clarification on this issue?