VMware-ESXi-update - English Community

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Posts: 6
Registered: 2020-04-07 17:21:37
Location: United States of America
Views: 20

2020-04-07 17:32:34

VMware ESXi update

I've never been VMware trained and neither has anyone else in our small company. So we are fumbling and have been for years. I could grumble all day about that, but, in the end, it's ownership's loss of revenue by paying someone to figure it out with lots of time, trial and error instead of training them. I'd call VMware support, but it's express edition with no support.

ESXi 6.7U2 was installed with a Generic VMware image instead of the custom Lenovo image. The server is now in production. It's a small, single host environment. Is there a way to install the Lenovo driver recipe or some such with the VUM command? Will this take the server down when done? Linux can update files in place unlike Windows, so it should work and then restart to the newest.

Have another site with a single server and want to update to Lenovo's latest 6.7U3 image from 6.0. Is there a way to do this without going onsite with a USB stick and upgrading. The COVID has us stuck working remotely.

I know there is a trove of information out there, but nothing is really comprehensive and easy. It's reading documents linked to documents, linked to documents and they are hundreds of pages long. If there was some good documentation for deploying and managing VMware in tiny environments, that would be awesome. I just haven't found it yet.

Thanks.

Solution

Da5idSalinWhat's DOS?

12
Posts: 6
Registered: 2020-04-07 17:21:37
Location: United States of America
Views: 20

2022-08-10 18:29:04

Re:VMware ESXi update

I figured this out...

Download Lenovo custom image for the release you want to install over what's in place. Settings will be preserved.

Upload to the server's datastore. I generally create a folder called Software for all uploaded files. In this one I created a folder just for the ESXi image called esxi7.

SSH to the server

Change directory to your folder where the file was uploaded.

[root@test-esxi02:/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/Software/esxi7]
(datastore1 can vary)

Running this command exposes the profile name:

esxcli software sources  profile list -d /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867 351-LNV-20210528.zip

 Name                    Vendor        Acceptance Level  Creation Time        Modification Time
----------------------  ------------  ----------------  -------------------  -------------------
LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5  Lenovo, Inc.  PartnerSupported  2021-05-27T14:11:07  2021-05-27T14:11:07

We know the profile we wish to use is named LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5

Take note of the zip filename.

[root@test-esxi02:~] ls /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/
VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867351-LNV-20210528.zip

Run the upgrade with a dry run

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software profile update -p LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5 -d /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484
b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867351-LNV-20210528.zip --dry-run

[DependencyError]
VIB QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
Please refer to the log file for more details.
[root@test-esxi02:~]

Well, shoot! QLC driver is a problem. Let us look at https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/78389

Looks like we need to download or remove qedentv prior to upgrading to 7.0U2 (I've ran into this with older releases of ESXi as well).

Let us see if any QLogic drivers are in use.

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli storage core adapter list | grep qedentv
[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli network nic list | grep qedentv

null is returned for both. Let's take a deeper look just to make sure.

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli network nic list
Name    PCI Device    Driver  Admin Status  Link Status  Speed  Duplex  MAC Address         MTU  Description
------  ------------  ------  ------------  -----------  -----  ------  -----------------  ----  -------------------------------------------------
vmnic0  0000:5a:00.0  i40en   Up            Up            1000  Full    98:29:a6:fb:04:a0  1500  Intel(R) Ethernet Connection X722 for 1GbE
vmnic1  0000:5a:00.1  i40en   Up            Up            1000  Full    98:29:a6:fb:04:a1  1500  Intel(R) Ethernet Connection X722 for 1GbE
vmnic2  0000:2f:00.0  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:61:46:8a  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic3  0000:2f:00.1  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:61:46:8b  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic4  0000:5c:00.0  igbn    Up            Down             0  Half    b4:96:91:5d:28:e8  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic5  0000:5c:00.1  igbn    Up            Down             0  Half    b4:96:91:5d:28:e9  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic6  0000:5c:00.2  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:5d:28:ea  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic7  0000:5c:00.3  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:5d:28:eb  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vusb0   Pseudo        cdce    Up            Up             100  Full    9a:29:a6:fb:04:a5  1500  IBM XClarity Controller

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli storage core adapter list
HBA Name  Driver    Link State  UID                   Capabilities  Description
--------  --------  ----------  --------------------  ------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
vmhba0    vmw_ahci  link-n/a    sata.vmhba0                         (0000:00:17.0) Intel Corporation Lewisburg SATA AHCI Controller
vmhba1    vmw_ahci  link-n/a    sata.vmhba1                         (0000:00:11.5) Intel Corporation Lewisburg SATA AHCI Controller
vmhba2    lsi_mr3   link-n/a    sas.500062b203260280                (0000:5e:00.0) Broadcom ThinkSystem RAID 930-8i 2GB Flash PCIe 12Gb Adapter

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv
 [DependencyError]
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedi_2.19.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedrntv_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

So, lets try to remove one of these things listed above

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
 [NoMatchError]
 No VIB matching VIB search specification 'QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922'.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

Cannot because nothing matches that name. Let's see what we have installed for drivers

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib list | grep QLC
qcnic                          1.0.26.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedentv-ens                    3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922        QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedentv                        3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922        QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedf                           2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922          QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedi                           2.19.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedrntv                        3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922        QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qfle3                          1.0.84.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qfle3f                         1.0.68.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qfle3i                         1.0.23.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14

Note the names of some of these match names above.

Lets try to remove one of those unused QLogic drivers.

Looking at the list above, there are 4 drivers listed. Lets target those:
qedi, qedentv-ens, qedrntv, qedf

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedf
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedi
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedi_2.19.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedrntv
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedrntv_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv
 [DependencyError]
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv-ens
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedentv_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

Those removed - just had to remove qedentv-ens before qedrntv.

Now that the driver causing all the trouble is gone, let's try the update again in dry-run

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software profile update -p LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5 -d /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484
b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867351-LNV-20210528.zip --dry-run
Update Result
   Message: Dryrun only, host not changed. The following installers will be applied: [BootBankInstaller, LockerInstaller]
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed: BCM_bootbank_bnxtnet_218.0.38.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, BCM_bootbank_bnxtroce_218.0.16.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, EMU_bootbank_brcmnvmefc_12.8.329.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, EMU_bootbank_lpfc_12.8.329.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, INT_bootbank_i40en_1.10.9.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15525992, INT_bootbank_icen_1.4.2.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, INT_bootbank_ixg...

Looks good. Run the command without the dry-run. You don't need to be in Maintenance mode to complete this, however the server will need an after-hours restart after shutting down all the guest servers gracefully.

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Replies

RyanTsaiAdministrator

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Posts: 1956
Registered: 2017-03-07 02:53:33
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Views: 53472

Message2of3

2020-04-08 02:09:32

Re:VMware ESXi update

Hi Da5idSalin

Below are some instruction pages for VMware ESXi 6.x on Lenovo ThinkSystem servers. Hope these can help.

Installation Instructions for VMware ESXi 6.x on Lenovo ThinkSystem servers

Lenovo VMware Updates Repository

OS Support Center - VMware

For remote operations, if the management port of your system can be connected to the internet, you can use the remote console through BMC. This may also help you.

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Solution

Da5idSalinWhat's DOS?

12
Posts: 6
Registered: 2020-04-07 17:21:37
Location: United States of America
Views: 20

Message3of3

2022-08-10 18:29:04

Re:VMware ESXi update

I figured this out...

Download Lenovo custom image for the release you want to install over what's in place. Settings will be preserved.

Upload to the server's datastore. I generally create a folder called Software for all uploaded files. In this one I created a folder just for the ESXi image called esxi7.

SSH to the server

Change directory to your folder where the file was uploaded.

[root@test-esxi02:/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/Software/esxi7]
(datastore1 can vary)

Running this command exposes the profile name:

esxcli software sources  profile list -d /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867 351-LNV-20210528.zip

 Name                    Vendor        Acceptance Level  Creation Time        Modification Time
----------------------  ------------  ----------------  -------------------  -------------------
LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5  Lenovo, Inc.  PartnerSupported  2021-05-27T14:11:07  2021-05-27T14:11:07

We know the profile we wish to use is named LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5

Take note of the zip filename.

[root@test-esxi02:~] ls /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/
VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867351-LNV-20210528.zip

Run the upgrade with a dry run

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software profile update -p LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5 -d /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484
b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867351-LNV-20210528.zip --dry-run

[DependencyError]
VIB QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
Please refer to the log file for more details.
[root@test-esxi02:~]

Well, shoot! QLC driver is a problem. Let us look at https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/78389

Looks like we need to download or remove qedentv prior to upgrading to 7.0U2 (I've ran into this with older releases of ESXi as well).

Let us see if any QLogic drivers are in use.

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli storage core adapter list | grep qedentv
[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli network nic list | grep qedentv

null is returned for both. Let's take a deeper look just to make sure.

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli network nic list
Name    PCI Device    Driver  Admin Status  Link Status  Speed  Duplex  MAC Address         MTU  Description
------  ------------  ------  ------------  -----------  -----  ------  -----------------  ----  -------------------------------------------------
vmnic0  0000:5a:00.0  i40en   Up            Up            1000  Full    98:29:a6:fb:04:a0  1500  Intel(R) Ethernet Connection X722 for 1GbE
vmnic1  0000:5a:00.1  i40en   Up            Up            1000  Full    98:29:a6:fb:04:a1  1500  Intel(R) Ethernet Connection X722 for 1GbE
vmnic2  0000:2f:00.0  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:61:46:8a  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic3  0000:2f:00.1  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:61:46:8b  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic4  0000:5c:00.0  igbn    Up            Down             0  Half    b4:96:91:5d:28:e8  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic5  0000:5c:00.1  igbn    Up            Down             0  Half    b4:96:91:5d:28:e9  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic6  0000:5c:00.2  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:5d:28:ea  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vmnic7  0000:5c:00.3  igbn    Up            Up            1000  Full    b4:96:91:5d:28:eb  1500  Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection
vusb0   Pseudo        cdce    Up            Up             100  Full    9a:29:a6:fb:04:a5  1500  IBM XClarity Controller

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli storage core adapter list
HBA Name  Driver    Link State  UID                   Capabilities  Description
--------  --------  ----------  --------------------  ------------  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
vmhba0    vmw_ahci  link-n/a    sata.vmhba0                         (0000:00:17.0) Intel Corporation Lewisburg SATA AHCI Controller
vmhba1    vmw_ahci  link-n/a    sata.vmhba1                         (0000:00:11.5) Intel Corporation Lewisburg SATA AHCI Controller
vmhba2    lsi_mr3   link-n/a    sas.500062b203260280                (0000:5e:00.0) Broadcom ThinkSystem RAID 930-8i 2GB Flash PCIe 12Gb Adapter

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv
 [DependencyError]
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedi_2.19.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedrntv_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

So, lets try to remove one of these things listed above

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
 [NoMatchError]
 No VIB matching VIB search specification 'QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922'.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

Cannot because nothing matches that name. Let's see what we have installed for drivers

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib list | grep QLC
qcnic                          1.0.26.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedentv-ens                    3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922        QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedentv                        3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922        QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedf                           2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922          QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedi                           2.19.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qedrntv                        3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922        QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qfle3                          1.0.84.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qfle3f                         1.0.68.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14
qfle3i                         1.0.23.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922         QLC     VMwareCertified   2021-04-14

Note the names of some of these match names above.

Lets try to remove one of those unused QLogic drivers.

Looking at the list above, there are 4 drivers listed. Lets target those:
qedi, qedentv-ens, qedrntv, qedf

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedf
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedf_2.2.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedi
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedi_2.19.9.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedrntv
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedrntv_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv
 [DependencyError]
 VIB QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922 requires qedentv_ver = X.40.17.0, but the requirement cannot be satisfied within the ImageProfile.
 Please refer to the log file for more details.

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv-ens
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedentv-ens_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software vib remove -n qedentv
Removal Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed:
   VIBs Removed: QLC_bootbank_qedentv_3.11.24.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922
   VIBs Skipped:

Those removed - just had to remove qedentv-ens before qedrntv.

Now that the driver causing all the trouble is gone, let's try the update again in dry-run

[root@test-esxi02:~] esxcli software profile update -p LVO_7.0.2-LVO.702.10.5 -d /vmfs/volumes/5bcf54ad-484
b6ea8-c37e-9829a6fb04a0/Software/esxi7/VMware-ESXi-7.0.2.-17867351-LNV-20210528.zip --dry-run
Update Result
   Message: Dryrun only, host not changed. The following installers will be applied: [BootBankInstaller, LockerInstaller]
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed: BCM_bootbank_bnxtnet_218.0.38.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, BCM_bootbank_bnxtroce_218.0.16.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, EMU_bootbank_brcmnvmefc_12.8.329.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, EMU_bootbank_lpfc_12.8.329.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, INT_bootbank_i40en_1.10.9.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15525992, INT_bootbank_icen_1.4.2.0-1OEM.700.1.0.15843807, INT_bootbank_ixg...