Where do I copy the U1 files to, now?

[pufferdude]

Ok, I'm up to speed on the HP management agents issue (and we run them here, and know how to stop them before upgrading). I'm aware that U1 has been pulled from the UM and if you want to upgrade you now have to manually download the U1 zip and "copy it to your depot", according to the KB article I read.

But I have no idea exactly WHERE to copy the downloaded U1 zip. I know where my repository is, of course, but I don't see a directory structure there that exactly mirrors the one in the U1 zip. In the ZIP I see a ESX directory and a metadata.zip file. WHERE exactly in my repository do I copy these? To the root? Somewhere within? My repository has two directories at the root: hostupdate and metadata. I have no idea exactly where to place the U1 files I've manually downloaded.

[ben_jardine]

1) Copy the zip to /var/update on the host

2) Unzip that

3) Put the host in maintenance mode

4) Check the disk space on "/" partition. If little, delete the zip file (dont need after expanding).

5) Run check first by : esxupdate -m /var/update/metadata.zip check

6) Stop the HP stuffs (3 services)

7) Install by : 5) Run check first by : esxupdate -m /var/update/metadata.zip update

😎 When finished, reboot the host to boot with new build

[sydsunman]

Or,

copy the zip to anyway (like /tmp) and run this command :

esxupdate --bundle=ESX-4.0.0-update01.zip update

[Sreejesh_D]

Hope the bundle /package you downloaded is the offline bundle for

4.0 to U1 upgrade, "ESX-4.0.0-update01.zip". If so, you dont need to

extract it for upgrading to U1.

There are multiple methods or approaches for ESX server 4.0 to U1 upgrades using offline bundle.

1. using the command line interface (CLI) - esxupdate. this command is available in service console.

2. using vSphere Command line interface (vCLI) - vihostupdate.pl. This script is avaialble in vSphere CLI.

If

you want to do a single host upgrade, you can go with the option said by sydsunman.

If mulitple upgrades have to be perforemed, better keep the offline bundle in a common repository (http, ftp, nfs, etc) and perform the upgrade using vihostupdate.pl. The chapter "Update an ESX/ESXi Host Using Offline Bundles with the vihostupdate Utility" in vSphere Upgrade guide (http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vsphere4/r40/vsp_40_upgrade_guide.pdf) has the detailed steps to do upgrade using vihostupdate.pl.

:+: VCP,RHCE,EMCPA.

[kautium]

Is there any reason why hosts should not be upgraded by creating a new upgrade baseline to VUM, adding downloaded ISO or ZIP -file manually to it and then performing upgrade through VUM? I haven't tried this myself but it looks like it is the easiest way to upgrade 4.0 to 4.0 U1.

I have four hosts (+ vCenter server) on HP hardware waiting to be upgraded. I'm not sure should I wait for a new release of update 1 from VMware, or just simply apply upgrade to hosts when HP SIM agents are shut down temporarily.

I guess I could upgrade vCenter anyway, but i was thinking that I'll probably have to do that again after VMware releases a patched version of update for ESX hosts, so why upgrade even vCenter now if I'm not going to upgrade hosts with the same version.

Btw. It is weird how little information VMware has given us about this problem and about the release date of the patched version and most of all, how crappy and confusing all of the upgrade instructions are.

[Sreejesh_D]

Is there any reason why hosts should not be upgraded by creating a new upgrade baseline to VUM, adding downloaded ISO or ZIP -file manually to it and then performing upgrade through VUM? I haven't tried this myself but it looks like it is the easiest way to upgrade 4.0 to 4.0 U1.

There's a correction, 4.0 to U1 upgrade we have to use Patch baesline since the background operation is patching. Upgrade baselines are only applicable for 3.x to U1 upgrades.

I am agreeing that, upgrade through VUM is the easiest way.The issue mentioned in http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1016070 is the reason for not suggesting VUM based upgrade. Of course, you can go with upgrade using VUM, if you have the flexibility to stop the HP management agents.

I have four hosts (+ vCenter server) on HP hardware waiting to be upgraded. I'm not sure should I wait for a new release of update 1 from VMware, or just simply apply upgrade to hosts when HP SIM agents are shut down temporarily.

Go ahead and upgrade the host after stopping HP management agents. Upgrade worked successfully in my environment.

I guess I could upgrade vCenter anyway, but i was thinking that I'll probably have to do that again after VMware releases a patched version of update for ESX hosts, so why upgrade even vCenter now if I'm not going to upgrade hosts with the same version.

Hope VMware wont re-release vCenter, since the issue is only with ESX and no changes are required in VC side.

[pufferdude]

Thanks everyone for the good info, but this brings me back to the original question: If I can easily stop the HP agents and do want to use VUM to manually upgrade to U1, where do I place the downloaded files from the ESX-4.0.0-update01.zip?

The instructions in the KB say "copy the files to your depot", but I don't know exactly where they mean. When I originally installed VUM, I pointed the repository to c:\VUM_REPOSITORY, and under there I now have two directories: \hostupdate and \metadata. Within the U1 zip there is a \esx directory and a metadata.zip file. I have no idea where the zip contents are to be placed within my depot so that VUM can see them and apply them to the host.

[sydsunman]

This upgrade (esx4 to 4U1) is bit buggy. From esx3.x it goes well with 4U1, but not from 4.

May be due to the HP Insight manager issue, vmware disabled VUM updates for this.

Look at : http://communities.vmware.com/thread/243658?start=15&tstart=0

I also couldnt get this working, so ended up manual mode (of one by one).