Applying ESX4.0-4.0_update03 directly to an ESX host

Upload the update-from-esx4.0-4.0_update03.zip file to a datastore using the vSphere Client.

Logon to the ESX host via SSH and sudo to root.

Verify hard drive capacity by entering

vdf –h

Example output:

Filesystem            Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdc5             4.9G  1.6G  3.0G  35% /
/dev/sda1             1.1G   75M  952M   8% /boot
/dev/sdc1             2.0G   69M  1.8G   4% /var/log
/vmfs/devices          67G     0   67G   0% /vmfs/devices
/vmfs/volumes/4e81683d-9a462e18-9811-0011258d5d14
                      546G   90G  456G  16% /vmfs/volumes/Storage1
/vmfs/volumes/4e82a282-b06c1d10-f221-0011258d5d15
                       49G   10G   39G  20% /vmfs/volumes/ISO

Change to /var/updates directory. If it does not exist create it via

mkdir /var/updates

Navigate to the location you uploaded ESX-4.0.0-update01a.zip to and move it to /var/updates

mv update-from-esx4.0-4.0_update03.zip /var/updates

Change back to the /var/updates directory confirm the patch and its contents via

esxupdate --bundle file:///var/updates/update-from-esx4.0-4.0_update03.zip scan

Expected output;

update-from-esx4.0-4.0_updat.. ######################################## [100%]
Applicable bulletins with updates are listed.
----Bulletin ID---- ---Date--- ----------------Summary-----------------
ESX400-201105201-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 Core and CIM components
ESX400-201105202-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 remove-rpms
ESX400-201105203-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 EHCI HCD device driver
ESX400-201105204-UG 2011-05-05 Updates the ESX 4.0 USB core component
ESX400-201105205-UG 2011-05-05 Updates the ESX 4.0 SCSI qla4xxx driver
ESX400-201105206-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 USB storage component
ESX400-201105207-UG 2011-05-05 Updates the ESX 4.0 SCSI qla2xxx driver
ESX400-201105209-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 e1000e drivers
ESX400-201105210-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 mptsas, mptspi drivers
ESX400-201105212-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 nx-nic device driver
ESX400-201105213-UG 2011-05-05 3w-9xxx: scsi driver for VMware ESX
ESX400-201105215-UG 2011-05-05 Updates ESX 4.0 scsi hpsa device driver
ESX400-201105216-UG 2011-05-05 Updates the ESX 4.0 bnx2x device driver
ESX400-201105217-UG 2011-05-05 Updates the ESX 4.0 Megaraid SAS driver
ESX400-201105218-UG 2011-05-05 Updates the ESX 4.0 bnx2 device driver
ESX400-201105219-UG 2011-05-05 Updates the ESX 4.0 scsi-aic79xx driver
ESX400-Update03     2011-05-05 VMware ESX 4.0 Complete Update 3
Esxupdate local cache states:
 Location: /tmp/updatecache
 Available space: XXXX [MB]

Verify that the patch isn’t already installed via

esxupdate query

Expected output;

--Bulletin ID-- -----Installed----- ------------Summary-------------
ESX400-Update01a    2012-01-18T09:16:43 VMware ESX 4.0 Complete Update 1
ESX400-201006202-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 mpt2sas device driver
ESX400-201006203-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 mptsas, mptspi device drivers
ESX400-201006204-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 fnic device driver
ESX400-201006205-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the ESX 4.0 SCSI/iSCSI driver
ESX400-201006206-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 ixgbe device driver
ESX400-201006207-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the ESX 4.0 Intel igb driver
ESX400-201006208-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the ESX 4.0 USB storage component
ESX400-201006209-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the ESX 4.0 qlogic SCSI driver
ESX400-201006211-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 nx-nic device driver
ESX400-201006212-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 bnx2x device driver
ESX400-201006214-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 cciss device driver
ESX400-201006215-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates Driver for VMware ESX 4.0 HP SAS Controllers
ESX400-201006218-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0  SCSI lpfc820 device driver
ESX400-201006219-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0  ATA libata device driver
ESX400-201006220-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the ESX 4.0 Megaraid SAS device driver
ESX400-201006226-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 EHCI HCD device driver

Note that update03 patches are not present in the list. If they are present the patch has already been installed.

Shutdown or Migrate all the guests behind hosted by the server.

Place the host into Maintenance Mode via

vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

Perform a simulated update via

esxupdate --bundle file:///var/updates/update-from-esx4.0-4.0_update03.zip stage

Expected output;

update-from--esx4.0-4.0_updat.. ######################################## [100%]
Unpacking vmware-webcenter-es.. ######################################## [100%]
Unpacking vmware-esx-drivers-.. ######################################## [100%]
Unpacking vmware-esx-drivers-.. ######################################## [100%]
…
…
Unpacking vmware-esx-drivers-.. ######################################## [100%]
Unpacking bzip2-libs-1.0.3-6... ######################################## [100%]

Note there may several “skipping” entries and there will be numerous unpacking entries.

If there are reported errors return the server from maintenance mode via

vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit

and start / migrate the guests back online.

If there are no reported errors, run the update via

esxupdate --bundle file:///var/updates/update-from-esx4.0-4.0_update03.zip update

Expected output similar to above, with

Installing glibc-common         ######################################## [100%]

per installed patch, ending with;

The update completed successfully, but the system needs
to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.

When prompted, reboot the server via

shutdown –r 0

Once the server has restarted logon to the ESX host via SSH and sudo to root.

Confirm the patch has been applied via

esxupdate query

Expected output;

----Bulletin ID---- -----Installed----- ------------------------Summary-------------------------
ESX400-Update01     2011-09-27T15:49:05 VMware ESX 4.0 Complete Update 1
ESX400-Update01a    2012-01-18T09:16:43 VMware ESX 4.0 Complete Update 1
ESX400-201006202-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 mpt2sas device driver
ESX400-201006205-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the ESX 4.0 SCSI/iSCSI driver
ESX400-201006206-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 ixgbe device driver
ESX400-201006207-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the ESX 4.0 Intel igb driver
ESX400-201006214-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0 cciss device driver
ESX400-201006218-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0  SCSI lpfc820 device driver
ESX400-201006219-UG 2012-01-18T10:26:07 Updates the VMware ESX 4.0  ATA libata device driver
ESX400-201105201-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 Core and CIM components
ESX400-201105202-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 remove-rpms
ESX400-201105203-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 EHCI HCD device driver
ESX400-201105204-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates the ESX 4.0 USB core component
ESX400-201105205-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates the ESX 4.0 SCSI qla4xxx driver
ESX400-201105206-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 USB storage component
ESX400-201105207-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates the ESX 4.0 SCSI qla2xxx driver
ESX400-201105209-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 e1000e drivers
ESX400-201105210-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 mptsas, mptspi drivers
ESX400-201105212-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 nx-nic device driver
ESX400-201105213-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 3w-9xxx: scsi driver for VMware ESX
ESX400-201105215-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates ESX 4.0 scsi hpsa device driver
ESX400-201105216-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates the ESX 4.0 bnx2x device driver
ESX400-201105217-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates the ESX 4.0 Megaraid SAS driver
ESX400-201105218-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates the ESX 4.0 bnx2 device driver
ESX400-201105219-UG 2012-01-18T11:04:08 Updates the ESX 4.0 scsi-aic79xx driver

Note the update03 patches now appear in the list.

Return the server from Maintenance Mode via

vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit

Delete the patch download via

rm /var/updates/*.zip

Start / migrate the guests back online.

Perform an automatic upgrade of VMTools on the guests (this may cause a guest reboot).

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