update

VMware ESXi Dependency Error when trying to update

When trying to update a VMware ESXi 6.7 build 9484548 host to the latest ESXi 6.7 Update 1 build I’ve got the following error:

[DependencyError]
VIB VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.7.0-1.28.10302608 requires esx-update << 6.7.0-1.29, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
VIB VMware_bootbank_esx-base_6.7.0-1.28.10302608 requires esx-update >= 6.7.0-1.28, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
Please refer to the log file for more details.

When searching around it looks like there are more people who experiencing this problem (link) when trying to update to 6.7U1. Using these steps I was able to update the ESXi 6.7 host from build 9484548 to the latest version (10764712) :

  • SSH to the ESXi host
  • Put the ESXi host in Maintenance Mode
esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true
  • Open the ESXi firewall for HTTP traffic. The ESXi host must have internet access.
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
  • Find the latest ESXi release name in the VMware build numbers overview, link. When writing this blog post the latest release name/patch is “ESXi670-201811001” which has build number 10764712.

  • The VMware patch depot contains a huge list of builds, to make it easier filter and find the right profile using the following command:
esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep ESXi-6.7.0-201811
  • This results in two profiles:
ESXi-6.7.0-20181104001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-08T08:39:18 2018-11-08T08:39:18
ESXi-6.7.0-20181104001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2018-11-08T08:39:18 2018-11-08T08:39:18
  • Update the host by adding the “ESXi-6.7.0-20181104001-standard” profile and point to to the VMware patch depot using this command:
esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.7.0-20181104001-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
  • Check if the update completed successfully

  • Disable the HTTP client in the ESXi firewall
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient
  • Reboot the ESXi hosts
reboot
  • When the ESXi hosts is rebooted exit maintenance mode by using SSH
vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit
  • Check the update completed successfully
vmware -v

When all the steps are successfully the build version of VMware ESXi 6.7.0 is 10764712.

The new way to patch the vCenter Server Appliance 6

The patching process in vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) version 6 is changed from previous versions. It is not possible anymore to use the Virtual Appliance Management Interface (VAMI) and update the appliance using the User Interface. The new way to patch the vCenter Server Appliance involves the following steps:

  • Download the patch from the VMware Patch Download Center, link.
  • Choose vc and select version 6.x
  • Download the latest patch ISO

1_patch

  • Attach the *.ISO to the vCenter Server Appliance.
  • Open a console session or SSH (SSH must be enabled) to the appliance. In the console session press ALT + F1 and login.

vcsa

  • Stage the ISO using the following command
software-packages stage --iso  --acceptEulas
  • See the staged content
software-packages list --staged
  • Install the staged content
software-packages install --staged
  • Reboot the appliance
shutdown reboot -r
  • After the reboot check the new vCenter Server Appliance build version

vcsa version

The easy updating process that was used in the vCenter Server Appliance 5.x is gone. The new update process involves more manually steps. We hoping that the easy updating will return in further releases of the vCenter Server Appliance.

 

Installing Update Rollup (UR) 3 for System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager

Update rollup (UR) 3 for System Center 2012 R2 Virtual Machine Manager is released this week. This update includes a Linux guest agent upgrade to support the following new operating systems:

  • Ubuntu Linux 14.04 (32-bit)
  • Ubuntu Linux 14.04 (64-bit)

This update also includes the following:

  • Host DHCP extension driver upgrade
  • Several performance improvements??????
  • Several Management Pack package improvements

And a huge list of issues that are fixed. More information can be found in the Microsoft KB article found here, link.

The update can be installed by using Windows Update, WSUS or manual downloading the files and execute them. After the installation of Update rollup 3 execute the SQL Script against the SCVMM database. The SQL script is listed in the Microsoft KB. Don’t forget to update the VMM agents on all the infrastructure server.

2014-08-01_14h21_25

The update of the VMM agents doesn’t require a reboot. The Update Rollup 3 agent version is 3.2.7672.0.

Host DHCP extension driver upgrade

Update Rollup 3 includes an VMM DHCP server extension update for the Hyper-V host.  When using Hyper-V Network Virtualization networks with dynamic IP address allocation, the VM may not get an IP address for a few minutes after the reboot. The new DHCP extension fix this problem. To check the DHCP Extension driver version use the following PowerShell command on the Hyper-V host:

Get-WmiObject -Class win32_product -Filter ‘Name = “Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager DHCP Server(x64)”‘

The new Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager DHCP Server (x64) version is 3.2.7672.0. More information about the installation can be found here.

For more tips see my earlier blog post “Tips for deploying SCVMM 2012 R2 Rollup 2”, Link.