Hello
we have a location where no support engineer is able to update the ESXi Host onsite. The only way
to perform this is via remote. In this location is only one ESXi host running 6.0.0 (6765062), neither
vCenter available nor a licence for it. I tried it via ILO, but this gives no response, so
last way is to use ESXCLI. A direct way to update from 6.0 to 6.7 is not possible, regarding
KB.
First step was, I identified the current running version of ESXi and the model of the host (HP Gen 9).
Next step I downloaded an customized ESXi 6.0U3 image. It was an zip archive (offline package) and was
transfered to datastore.
Final step is doing the update. All virtual machines were shutting down, maintenance mode was activated.
I begun the update process with was succesfully. After a reboot the new build (13635687) is running.
esxcli software sources profile list -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore_00/INSTALL/Upgrade/VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-Update3-13635687-HPE-Gen9plus-600.10.4.5.15-Sep2019-depot.zip
esxcli software profile update -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore_00/INSTALL/Upgrade/VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-Update3-13635687-HPE-Gen9plus-600.10.4.5.15-Sep2019-depot.zip -p HPE-ESXi-6.0.0-Update3-Gen9plus-600.10.4.5.15
reboot -f
Additionatly via VMWare repository I did an update to last build of 6.0.0.
esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep ESXi-6.0.0-202000
esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.0.0-20200204001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
reboot -f
I tried with an customized HPE ESXi 6.7U3 image to upgrade and got the following error, same with another customized ESXi 6.5 image or VMWare repository.
DependencyError: VIB HPE_bootbank_ssacli_3.47.6.0-6.0.0.2768847 requires esx-version = 6.0.0, but the requirementcannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
I looked at the esxiupdate.log file:
38222: imageprofile: DEBUG: VIB HPE_bootbank_bootcfg_6.0.0.02-05.00.10.2494585 is being removed from ImageProfile HPE-ESXi-6.7.0-Update3-18828794-Gen9plus-670.U3.10.8.1.2?
38222: imageprofile: INFO: Adding VIB VMW_bootbank_scsi-mptsas_4.23.01.00-10vmw.670.0.0.8169922 to ImageProfile HPE-ESXi-6.7.0-Update3-18828794-Gen9plus-670.U3.10.8.1.2?
38222: imageprofile: DEBUG: VIBs set(['VMware_bootbank_scsi-mptsas_4.23.01.00-9vmw.600.0.0.2494585']) are replaced by VIB VMW_bootbank_scsi-mptsas_4.23.01.00-10vmw.670.0.0.8169922, removing them from ImageProfile HPE-ESXi-6.7.0-Update3-18828794-Gen9plus-670.U3.10.8.1.2?
38222: imageprofile: DEBUG: VIB VMware_bootbank_scsi-mptsas_4.23.01.00-9vmw.600.0.0.2494585 is being removed from ImageProfile HPE-ESXi-6.7.0-Update3-18828794-Gen9plus-670.U3.10.8.1.2?
38222: imageprofile: INFO: Adding VIB VMware_bootbank_lsu-lsi-drivers-plugin_1.0.0-1vmw.670.2.48.13006603 to ImageProfile HPE-ESXi-6.7.0-Update3-18828794-Gen9plus-670.U3.10.8.1.2?
38222: root: ERROR: Traceback (most recent call last):?
38222: root: ERROR: File "/usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software", line 462, in <module>?
38222: root: ERROR: main()?
38222: root: ERROR: File "/usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software", line 453, in main?
38222: root: ERROR: ret = CMDTABLE[command](options)?
38222: root: ERROR: File "/usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software", line 219, in ProfileUpdateCmd?
38222: root: ERROR: allowDowngrades=opts.downgrade)?
38222: root: ERROR: File "/build/mts/release/bora-13635687/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys-boot/lib/python2.7/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 625, in InstallVibsFromProfile?
38222: root: ERROR: File "/build/mts/release/bora-13635687/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys-boot/lib/python2.7/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 356, in _installVibs?
38222: root: ERROR: File "/build/mts/release/bora-13635687/bora/build/esx/release/vmvisor/sys-boot/lib/python2.7/site-packages/vmware/esximage/Transaction.py", line 393, in _validateAndInstallProfile?
Maybe this refers to KB(https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/56145), but I dont know how to solve it.
Assuming that no additional drivers are required, the upgrade should be possible using s.th. like:
esxcli software profile install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore_00/INSTALL/Upgrade/<Offline-Bundle> -p <Profile-Name> --ok-to-remove --dry-run
Consider to test the command first using --dry-run, and remove this option to run the upgrade.
André
Assuming that no additional drivers are required, the upgrade should be possible using s.th. like:
esxcli software profile install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore_00/INSTALL/Upgrade/<Offline-Bundle> -p <Profile-Name> --ok-to-remove --dry-run
Consider to test the command first using --dry-run, and remove this option to run the upgrade.
André
Thank you for this command, i tried it and it works well in my case.