A general system error occurred: Internal error when trying to manually update ESXi 6.7 via esxcli

[bmercer]

I am attempting to manually update a 6.7 host by following the instructions here: VMware Knowledge Base

I shutdown all the VMs and put the host into maintenance mode.

I uploaded the zip archive to the host, and typed this command:

esxcli software vib update -d "/vmfs/volumes/5c12a113-d25e07fa-2b94-d094661cea6e/update/ESXi670-201901001.zip"

When I type this command I immediately get this error message:

Error: A general system error occurred: Internal error.

This error is, of course, completely useless.

I've done a lot of searching, but have found nothing even remotely close to my situation.

I don't have two hosts yet, so I have no other options for updating my host.

[a_p_]

Welcome to the Community,

as a first step, please verify that the downloaded patch bundle's checksum matches that from the download site. Such errors may be caused by corrupted, or incomplete downloads.

Also note that depending on which build you are currently running, you may want to use the esxcli software profile update ... command (rather than vib), especially if you are updating from a pre Update 1 build.

Last but not least , be careful if you have a vendor customized image installed. In this case you may want to update/patch the host using the latest vendor customized build to ensure that you are running a supported configuration.

André

[bmercer]

I redownloaded the bundle and verified the checksum, but still had the same problem.

I tried using the profile update option, but that gave me the same error.

I then rebooted the host and tried using the software profile update option again, and this time it worked.

Not sure what the cause was, but restarting the host resolved it.