ESXupdate how to re-install patches ?

[jeroenslotman]

we would like to reinstall or remove and install the following patches

root@coesx03 /]# esxupdate query
----Bulletin ID---- -----Installed----- ----------------Summary----------------

ESX400-201103401-SG 2011-04-01T08:55:00 Updates VMkernel, CIM, Apps, VMX
ESX400-201103403-SG 2011-04-01T08:55:00 Updates VMware-webCenter-esx RPM
ESX400-201103404-SG 2011-04-01T08:55:00 Updates pam RPM
ESX400-201103405-SG 2011-04-01T08:55:00 Updates bzip2 and bzip2-libs RPMs
ESX400-201103406-SG 2011-04-01T08:55:00 Updates Python component
ESX400-201103407-SG 2011-04-01T08:55:00 Updates bind-libs and bind-utils RPMs

More information:

Original we were in the condition that during the installation of the 6 patches reported the ESX host didn't restart reporting that the file INITRD was missing . Analizyng the situation we discover that the /boot directory was full and the installation of the patches failed because no space . But the situation that we have found was that the VMkernel was the new one , and only this file was present ,  instead for the INITRD file we had two version the previous one and the original one .

We would like to recover that situation without rescue or reinstall over . After copied the correct VMkernel aligned with the INITRD file and recreate the logical link the machine is able to boot but it is sure not in a consistency situation  . From this situation we would like to re-install the latest patches again

The other way is to re-install the ESX host from the CD  , but we have some VM's on the local /vmfs and don't want to lose them.

If we can't recover the patches, what will be the easiest way to recover the ESX partition with the /vmfs preserved.

Any suggestions are welcome

With Kind Regards,

J

[vmroyale]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

You can't remove the patches, so a re-install might be the best option at this point.  You can use a scripted install to preserve the local VMFS partition, but I would make certain that I had backups before trying this approach.

There is some good information in these discussions:

http://communities.vmware.com/message/1636011

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/284586

Good Luck!

[nkrishnan]

clean the old intrd and once you get some space on the /boot, install the latest latest patches of vmkernel. this will absolute the old patches that are installed on the system and new patches will give latest fix on yor system , also will regenerate the initrd.

Thanks

Nithin

[bulletprooffool]

If you reboot your Host and hit Shift-R (might be CTRL-R) - it should attempt to revert to your previous version of firmware.

After this, you can upgrade as usual

as a matter of interest, how were you processing the upgrade?

[nkrishnan]

roll back is not support on ESX, it is supported only on Embedded system.

According to Patch nameID, it shows it is ESX