4.0 to 4.1 host upgrade quesiton

[ashleymilne]

I have a host running 4.0 that I wish to upgrade to 4.1 I have upgraded my Vcenter to 4.1 and wish to push the 4.1 upgrade out to my host, however there is the upgrade package that can not be installed via Vcenter. Is the upgrade package mandatory regardless of what 4.1 upgrade package you use (iso or zip)? I am not familiar with the command line tools require to install the upgrade package, admitedly my command line experience is rather limited.

Thanks

AM

[AndreTheGiant]

Move the thread to the upgrade area...

You can use different way to upgrade your hosts:

• use the VUM functionality (with vCenter Server)

• use esxupdate and the right upgrade zip file

In the upgrade from 3.x to 4.0 the second way was not possible cause there was also the change from 32 to 64 bit.

Now, is more simple.

Andre

[asyntax]

I have the same issue. Updated to VC 4.1 and Update Manager 4.1. When I point at the ISO for "Import upgrade Release" it only show it is able to upgrade ESX 3.x not 4.x. If you find a resolution please post it.

[PuliSukumar]

Hi all,

Please use the below bundles for different upgrades irrespective of upgrade approach.

ESX 3.5 to ESX 4.1 -- esx-DVD-4.1.0-260247.iso

ESXi 35 to ESXi 4.1 -- upgrade-from-ESXi3.5-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip

ESX 4.0 to ESX 4.1 -- upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip

ESXi 4.0 to ESXi 4.1 -- upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip

Thanks,

Sukumar.

[AntonVZhbankov]

>When I point at the ISO for "Import upgrade Release" it only show it is able to upgrade ESX 3.x not 4.x.

Because ISO was intended for upgrading from 3.5 only. You have to download .zip upgrade package and import it to UM to be able to upgrade from 4.0.

upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip to be more specific.

---

MCSA, MCTS Hyper-V, VCP 3/4, VMware vExpert

http://blog.vadmin.ru

[ashleymilne]

It's actually impossible, perhaps just for me, to import this file into UM.

pre-upgrade-from-ESX4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release

[ReedMikel2]

I too have a free copy of ESXi 4.0 (Update 1) on a single box and

would like to upgrade it to 4.1. I have spent hours on the VM website,

but it's so bloated with info that I can't even find the 2 patch files

needed when using VIHostUpdate approach.

Can anybody point me to

links for the 2 .zip files that are needed? Any simple set of

instructions on how to perform the update? I looked at pg 63 in the

official document, but it's far from clear IMO.

I'm in IT for

over 25 years and find this to be one of the most difficult upgrades to

get a handle on. I know it can't be that hard, but VMware has done a

great job of overloading their website with too much info.

TIA,

-Mike

[PuliSukumar]

You don't need to import the pre-upgrade bundle to Update Manaer. you just need to import the upgrade bundle. Pre-upgrade bundle is meant only for the customers who are using comman dline tools to upgrade from ESX 4.0 to ESX 4.1.

[PuliSukumar]

Please use the "upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip" bundle to upgrade from ESXi 4.0/Ux to ESX 4.1. Please find the steps in page 63 in http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r41/vsp_41_upgrade_guide.pdf. vihostupdate command will come along with the RCLI package. Please install that first then use the commands available in document.

Thanks,

Sukumar.

[ReedMikel2]

Thanks for the info Puli! But isn't VIHostUpdate a command line tool?

You mention Update Manager. I have "Host Update Utility 4.0", but I read that it cannot be used to go from 4.0 to 4.1. Is Update Manager a tool I can use instead of VIHostUpdate tool? Is Update Manager command line or GUI based?

I already have VIHostUpdate and vSphere CLI (which I think is also called RCLI) from when I installed ESXi 4.0. Do I need to update vSphere CLI to a newer version or will the 4.0 version work?

I finally figured out the where to download upgrade zip file. It sure is a confusing mess on their web site. Then again, I was a bit brain dead yesterday after troubleshooting client stuff all day

[PuliSukumar]

Update Manager GUI based tool. It is a plug-in to vCenter Server and it is paid product.

You need to upgrade to latest vSpehere CLI to upgrade ESXi 4.0/Ux to ESXi 4.1.

[ReedMikel2]

Ok, I got it updated. One omission on pg 63 of the official guide: in steps 3 & 4 it says to run vihostupdate --server... It should read vihostupdate.pl --server... You'll notice in step 5, the verification step, that the author did use vihostupdate.pl. So much for testing their actual instructions

I wonder why they can't just handle the update totally within the vSphere Client utility? Let it download what is needed and just plain do it. Lets not go back a century with command line stuff. I've done too much of that over the years:) Or, make the vSphere Host Update Utility do what its name implies - updating the ESXi host.

End of rant

[ReedMikel2]

I found that the vSphere CLI that was installed with version 4.0 worked just fine in handling the update to 4.1. So thetre apparently is no need to download a newer version of it...

[leeroyrichardso]

If you have already upgraded vc to 4.1 why not just do a clean install of your hosts to 4.1?

Lee Richardson

[ReedMikel2]

I only have one FREE ESXi host. I do not have any of the paid tools, like VCenter Server. I assume that's what you meant by VC?

[leeroyrichardso]

Not done a great deal of work with esxi we have a box for testing with and a live esx infrastructure, but Im sure that when I upgraded the esxi box I did a clean install of esxi and republished the vms that where on our storage, of course this was a test environment so there was no issues of down time etc etc.

Lee Richardson

[ReedMikel2]

Once I sorted out exactly what i needed to download from the maze-like website, the upgrade from ESXi4.0 to 4.1 took all of 5-10 minutes. But I spent hours trying to figure out exactly what to do. They have grossly overcomplicated things with their terrible website design IMO.

[ashleymilne]

If I do a clean install of my host, what happens to the VM's already on it, will they not be overwritten and lost? I assume by clean install, you mean booting off the CD for 4.1? Remember, I am running ESX, NOT ESXi and I am using local storage on the box for my VM's.

AM

[ashleymilne]

So you are saying that to upgrade from ESX 4.0 to 4.1 I DONT need to apply the pre upgrade bundle from ESX4.0 to - 4.1.0-0.0.260247 release, and I can simply use the 4.1 upgrade ISO?

[leeroyrichardso]

Ah, I am fortunate in that I have some shared storage for my VMs, that how I managed to re-register them back to my esxi host.

A clean install would indeed wipe your disks and lose your vms.

Lee Richardson