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Upgrading VMware ESXi from 6.5 to 6.7U3 without vSphere Client

This is a quick step by step guide on how to upgrade a VMware ESXi Hypervisor from 6.5 to 6.7U3 without having a vSphere server and client by using esxcli

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vmware esxi
note This post is 2358 days old and may contain outdated information.

First up, the full upgrade to the (as of the time of writing) latest ESXi 6.x release which is 6.7U3 is a two step process.

Download the VMware vSphere Hypervisor v6.7.0 Offline Bundle from my.vmware.com.

Next, download the v6.7.0U3 Offline Bundle by selecting it from the drop-down on the same page.

Upload both images to a storage device by opening up your ESXi UI (https://<vmware-host-ip>/ui) and selecting Storage -> Datastore Browser and pressing Upload. Select an appropriate volume.

Next, enable SSH access by selecting the host from the left hand menu, Actions -> Enable SSH access.

Suspend all VM's and set the host in maintenance mode.

Then log into your host:

ssh <host-ip>

List the available profiles in the 6.7.0 image by running the following command:

esxcli software sources profile list -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/folder/offline-bundle-name.zip

Do a dry-run install to see that everything looks fine with the standard profile (i.e ESXi-6.7.0-8169922-standard):

esxcli software profile install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/folder/offline-bundle-name.zip -p <profilename> --ok-to-remove --dry-run

If everything looks good, perform the update:

esxcli software profile install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/folder/offline-bundle-name.zip -p <profilename> --ok-to-remove

Reboot the system

reboot

After the system is back up, if any VM's self-started, suspend them and put the host back into maintenance mode.

Perform the same steps as above, but now using the 6.7.0U3 image:

List the available profiles in the 6.7.0U3 image by running the following command:

esxcli software sources profile list -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/folder/offline-bundle-name-for-update-3.zip

Do a dry-run install to see that everything looks fine with the standard profile:

esxcli software profile install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/folder/offline-bundle-name-for-update-3.zip -p <profilename> --ok-to-remove --dry-run

If everything looks good, perform the update:

esxcli software profile install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/folder/offline-bundle-name-for-update-3.zip -p <profilename> --ok-to-remove

Reboot the system:

reboot