What should I use to upgrade vSphere? (iso ? zip ?)

[MICDROP]

Hi, all.

I'm planning to upgrade from vSphere 6.5 to 6.7.

1.

When I go to the VMware download page, ESXi has an Install CD (iso) and an Offline bundle (zip).

Is it correct to use zip for upgrading through the CLI and iso for upgrading through Update Manager or USB?

What is the difference between these two?

2. 

The VCSA download page contains 6.7 VCSA (iso) and Update Bundle (zip).

What is the difference between these two?!

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Best regards.

[Lalegre · Accepted solution]

Hey @MICDROP,

There is no difference in the first one, it just changes which tool you can use for doing the upgrade. The ISO can be used with Update Manager, a USB or even mounted directly as an ISO on some server IPMI. The .zip is used when you want to perform the upgrade from the ESXi.

However the VCSA is different as the bundle is only used for patching minor versions, for example 6.7 U1 to 6.7 U2, but when you want to do a major upgrade, for example 6.5 to 6.7, you need to mount the ISO on a Windows and follow the wizard to do the uprade.