Failed to Import Data.the Uploaded Upgrade Package Cannot Be Used With Vmware Vsphere Update Manage

How to Patch ESXi with VMware Update Manager: Complete Walkthrough

ESXi hosts can be patched in the control line interface past using ESXCLI, though this method is nearly advantageous when the number of ESXi hosts you demand to patch is non high. If the number of ESXi hosts required is high, patching each host in ESXCLI tin take a lot of time and attempt, especially if y'all have hosts of different versions. Fortunately, VMware provides vSphere Update Manager that can be used to update ESXi hosts from the unmarried interface. Today's blog post covers VMware vSphere Update Manager and explains how to upgrade and update ESXi hosts centrally.

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What Is VMware Update Manager?

VMware vSphere Update Director is a vCenter plug-in (extension) that must be installed manually on vCenter Server versions older than vCenter six.5. If vCenter Server vi.v is installed on Windows, you should install vSphere Update Manager (VUM) manually. VMware Update Managing director can be installed on the machine with vCenter or on some other Windows machine and must take network connectivity with vCenter since VUM is tightly integrated with vCenter Server. If you lot have installed vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) version half-dozen.5 or later, then vSphere Update Managing director has been pre-installed in vCenter by default and starts automatically. It is recommended that you install vCenter 6.seven equally VCSA – in this case, vCenter is running as a virtual machine (VM) on an ESXi server. VMware vCenter is a centralized direction arrangement for vSphere, and vSphere Update Manager is a centralized tool for updating/upgrading ESXi hosts, VMs, virtual appliances, and virtual applications (VMware vApps). Y'all can also install and update software such as drivers on ESXi hosts, upgrade VM hardware, install and update VMware Tools. This mode, you can update or upgrade multiple entities at in one case.

Advantages of VMware Update Managing director

The advantages of using VMware Update Manager include flexibility and the possibility to install VMware patches on multiple hosts at once. Such an arroyo besides allows yous to manage VMware patches centrally by using vCenter with VMware vSphere Client and helps you save time spent on vSphere administration. You can likewise automate the ESXi patch installation. VMware Update Manager is universal and allows you to install VMware patches and tertiary-political party patches such equally Cisco distributed virtual switch, updated drivers for Hewlett-Packard servers, etc.

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Compatibility

Before starting the upgrading/updating process, be sure to check the compatibility of your electric current vCenter version with the new ESXi version, compatibility of your current ESXi version with the upgrade version, and compatibility of your fill-in software with new ESXi and vCenter versions that you will employ after the upgrade/update. You tin can use VMware interoperability matrices on the VMware'due south spider web site. Also, exist sure to cheque the compatibility of your hardware with ESXi patches before you install these patches.

How ESXi Patching Works

Basically, the workflow of ESXi patching consists of the following:

• Uploading the needed installation file to Update Director
• Creating a custom baseline
• Attaching the baseline to the required entity (ESXi host, datacenter, cluster etc.)
• Compliance check (optional)
• Remediation pre-check
• Remediation

Think that in the near cases virtual machines must be shut down or migrated from ESXi hosts before starting remediation when yous seek to update or upgrade these hosts. ESXi hosts enter the maintenance fashion automatically when remediating. When remediation is done, ESXi hosts leave the maintenance mode, and a host reboot may be required. If you have chosen to remediate multiple ESXi hosts, the process of remediating the second host begins once the procedure of remediating the first ESXi host is finished.

Hence, the update and upgrade process for ESXi hosts can be divided into the following steps:

• An ESXi host is entered in the maintenance way.
• A patch is installed.
• The ESXi host is rebooted.
• The ESXi host is reconnected to vCenter.
• The ESXi host exits the maintenance way.
• The procedure of ESXi patching starts for the next ESXi host.

How to Use vSphere Update Manager to Patch ESXi Hosts

Let'southward explain what'south involved in using VMware Update Director for upgrading ESXi 6.5 to ESXi 6.vii. In the electric current example, vCenter six.7 is used for managing iii ESXi hosts. VMware vSphere Update Manager is pre-installed in VCSA six.vii (vCenter Server Appliance).

Open VMware vSphere Customer, go to Hosts and Clusters, and select the ESXi hosts which you would like to upgrade/update. Y'all tin select a VM folder, cluster or the unabridged datacenter if necessary. In this example, the ESXi host whose IP address is 192.168.101.205 volition be upgraded.

Note: Upgrade refers to changing a version of ESXi host, vCenter Server, etc. from a modest version to a major version, for example, v.half-dozen.0 to v.half dozen.5, v.6.v to five.6.vii, etc.

Update refers to installing patches that fix bugs on the current version. The build number is increased, but the version remains the aforementioned after applying an update. For example, updating ESXi 6.seven to ESXi vi.vii U1, ESXi6.7 U2 or ESXi6.vii U3 preserves version 6.7.

Upgrading ESXi 6.5 to ESXi 6.vii

Select the required ESXi host and check the version and build number in the Summary tab. Pay attention to the Updates tab that is present when VMware Update Manager is installed in vCenter. Yous can also open the Updates tab to cheque the ESXi version and build. As you can see on the screenshot, ESXi half dozen.5 build 8294253 is used in the example (the IP accost of the ESXi host is 192.168.101.205 and the IP address of vCenter is 192.168.101.103). In the Updates tab, you can see a link to the VMware Update Manager folio of vCenter.

You should take all required packages before you can upgrade ESXi. Find, that you lot should download the ESXi 6.seven ISO installer manually before updating ESX 6.five in vSphere Update Manager.

Uploading the image for upgrade

Go to VMware Update Manager (Home > Update Managing director), select the ESXi images tab, and click Import to import the ESXi six.7 installation ISO file to the repository of vSphere Update Manager.

Click Browse and select the ESXi six.seven installer ISO file. Click Import to import the image to a repository.

Expect until the ISO image has been copied.

Once your ESXi 6.7 installation image has been copied to the Update Manager repository, yous should create a new baseline. A baseline is similar a preset that tin be practical to multiple entities, such every bit ESXi hosts, at once. Baselines are divided to host baselines, VM (virtual machine) baselines, VA (virtual appliance) baselines. VM baselines and VA baselines cannot be created manually, as they are predefined. Yous tin likewise create baseline groups. In the current example, a baseline includes one ESXi epitome for upgrade. Nevertheless, y'all tin select multiple patches (updates), upgrades or extensions to add to a baseline. Then you tin can use one baseline to install multiple patches on ESXi hosts simultaneously.

Creating a baseline

In the ESXi images tab, hit New Baseline.

The Create Baseline wizard that is now opened contains iii steps.

i. Enter a name and clarification for a new baseline. In the current example, the proper name is ESXi6-7upgrade. Hit Next to go on.

2. Select an ESXi release image. The ESXi 6.7 Update1 ISO image is selected in this example. Hitting Next.

3. Bank check the summary and click End.

The baseline has now been created, and you tin run into the created baseline in the Baselines tab of VMware Update Manager. You can besides see two predefined baselines (Non-Disquisitional Host Patches and Disquisitional Host Patches).

Attaching a baseline

Become to Hosts and Clusters, select your host (ESXi 6.5), and select the Updates tab. In the Overview section, select Host Updates, then in the Fastened Baselines section, hitting Attach.

Note : You can select the entire datacenter, VM folder, or cluster if you wish to upgrade multiple ESXi hosts.

Select your custom upgrade baseline (ESXi6-7upgrade in this case) and click Attach.

Checking compliance

Become dorsum to Hosts and Clusters, select your ESXi host (datacenter, VM folder or cluster), then select the Updates tab.

In the Updates tab, select Overview, then choose Host Compliance, and click Check Compliance.

The compliance check allows you to verify the state of updates added to baselines and notify whether or not there are conflicts. If update or upgrade is unsupported, VMware Update Manager will notify you when performing the check compliance.

In our example, the host compliance status is non-compliant, but upgrade tin can exist technically done for selected hosts.

Pre-cheque remediation

Pre-check remediation should be performed to verify conditions and identify possible bug that may occur after remediating. If there are possible issues, the list of recommended actions is displayed. For instance, if you lot are going to upgrade or update ESXi hosts and VMs are running in a cluster, you may need to disable DPM, HA access control, and enable DRS, EVC etc. As for VMs, y'all may need to disconnect a virtual DVD drive, disable Fault Tolerance for the VM in a cluster, etc. Pre-check remediation allows y'all to avert terminating the update/upgrade process subsequently starting.

Go to Hosts and Clusters, select your ESXi host (hosts), right-click the host, and select Update Manager > Pre-check Remediation in the context carte du jour.

Wait for a while until the checking process is finished. If there are warnings later finishing the pre-check remediation process, perform the recommended deportment to gear up the issues.

If everything is right and no actions must be performed to begin remediation, go to Hosts and Clusters, select your ESXi host, select the Updates tab, and open up the Host Updates category in the Overview section. Select the required baseline (ESXi6-7upgrade in this case) and click Remediate.

Read and accept the Stop Use License Agreement (EULA), tick the advisable bank check box, and striking OK.

Select the ESXi hosts that need to be remediated, edit settings if needed (scheduling settings, remediation options), and click Remediate.

All VMs must be shut down or migrated from the host earlier remediating. The host volition enter the maintenance way automatically. You tin can come across the progress of the remediation process in the Recent Tasks tab. Wait until the process is finished. Later upgrading an ESXi host, the host must reboot and exit the maintenance mode automatically.

Once the ESXi upgrade procedure is finished and your ESXi host is rebooted, select this host in the Host/Cluster folio, and verify the version and build number. As you can see on the screenshot beneath, our ESXi host has been upgraded from v6.5 build 8294253 to version vi.7 build 10302608 (Update 1). You tin compare your build number with the build number in the table and identify the version, release proper name, and release date.

The ESXi host has been upgraded successfully, yous can run VMs on this host again.

Updating ESXi 6.7 to ESXi 6.7 Update two

If you employ ESXi 6.seven hosts, yous cannot upgrade these hosts until a new version of vSphere has been released. At the moment of writing this blog post, vSphere 6.seven is the latest version. However, updates that contain security patches and other patches have been released by VMware. ESXi 6.7 hosts tin exist updated to ESXi 6.7 Update 1, Update 2 and Update 3 at this moment. Let'south consider how to update ESXi host version vi.7 Update 1 to version half dozen.vii Update 2 equally an example. You can use this process to update your ESXi 6.7 Update 2 to ESXi 6.seven Update three by using VMware Update Manager also as installing custom VMware patches. Every bit you lot may retrieve, the electric current version of ESXi host considered in our example is version 6.7 Update 1 build 10302608.

Open up vSphere Update Manager (in vSphere Client go to Domicile > Update Manager) and select the Updates tab. You lot can meet a list of available updates and patches, their severity, blazon, and category. The required VMware ESXi 6.vii Complete Update 2 is present in this list, hence, we tin can go along.

Creating a baseline

Every bit seen in the previous case, first y'all have to create a new baseline. In VMware Update Manager, open the Baselines tab, click New > Baseline.

The Create Baseline wizard is opened.

1. Proper name and Description. Enter a name, for example ESXi6-7upd2, enter description (optional), and select the baseline type. In this instance, the content type is Patch. Hit Next to keep.

2. Select Patches Automatically. As we would like to install the necessary update manually, the "Automatically update this baseline with patches that match the following criteria" checkbox must be unchecked. Otherwise, all available VMware patches will exist suggested for installation.

3. Select Patches Manually. Select the required VMware patches. VMware ESXi 6.seven Complete Update 2 has been selected in this example.

4. Summary. Check your baseline settings and if everything is correct, striking End.

Now that a baseline has been created, you can see the new baseline in the Baselines tab of VMware Update Managing director.

Attaching the baseline to the host

At present, become back to Hosts and Clusters, select the ESXi host that you lot would like to patch, and select the Updates tab. Click Host Updates and in the Attached Baselines section, click Attach.

In the popup window, select the required baseline (ESXi6-7upd2 in this example) and hit Attach.

Remediating the ESXi host

Now that the baseline has been attached to the ESXi host, you can select this baseline. You should prepare your ESXi host for remediation and close down or migrate VMs from the hosts which must be patched. Go on in mind that the ESXi host needs to enter the maintenance manner in order to install ESXi patches. Side by side, click Remediate to start updating the ESXi host.

In the new opened window, ostend the host you would similar to patch, and select this host past ticking the checkbox (the checkbox is checked past default). Configure additional options if need be, and hitting Remediate to start patching the ESXi host.

Wait until the remediation process is finished. After that, select your ESXi host and, in the Summary tab, check the version and build number to ensure that the host has been patched successfully. At present our ESXi host has been updated to version half-dozen.7.0 Update 2 Build 13006603.

Discover, that you lot tin can configure global settings of VMware Update Managing director if needed by going to Update Manager > Settings.

Conclusion

VMware Update Manager is a useful module intended for managing and installing updates in VMware vSphere environments. VMware vSphere Update Manager (VUM) is tightly integrated with vCenter and is included with VCSA 6.v and VCSA half dozen.7. It is peculiarly recommended that you employ VUM to update or upgrade components of large vSphere environments. Today'south weblog mail service has explained how to use this VMware patch tool to upgrade an ESXi host and install VMware ESXi patches on examples. Don't forget to check the compatibility before installing patches and be aware of migrating or shutting down virtual machines running on ESXi hosts scheduled to be patched.

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