As an IT professional, I am always looking for ways to keep my technology up-to-date and running smoothly. Recently, I decided to update my ESXi environment from version 8.0 Update 2 build 22380479 to the latest version 8.0 Update 2b build 23305546. In this blog post, I will share the steps I took to complete this update and provide guidance for those who may be considering a similar update in their own environments.
Before we begin, please keep in mind that this guide is based on my personal home lab environment and should be used with caution. It is essential to take appropriate steps, including documentation, to ensure a successful update. Additionally, as I am not an official VMware representative, any information provided here should not be considered an official VMware support statement.
To start the update process, I first enabled SSH on my ESXi host interface. This is a crucial step, as the ESXCLI commands we will use to update the software require SSH access. To enable SSH, follow these steps:
1. Log into your ESXi host interface.
2. Right-click the ESXi Host and select Services.
3. Select Enable Secure Shell (SSH).
Once you have enabled SSH, you can proceed with logging in using your Root credentials. I use Putty as my SSH client.
Next, we will apply the necessary updates using the ESXCLI commands provided by Paul Braren in his blog post found here. The command we will use is:
esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-8.0U2b-23305546-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml –no-hardware-warning
Please note that my Dell PowerEdge R720 server is not found on the VMware Compatibility List, so we need to append -no-hardware-warning to the command.
As I applied each of the lines (8 total) below one at a time, they successfully applied the workaround for the Memory Error:
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VisorFS/VisorFSPristineTardisk -i 0
cp /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software.bak
sed -i ‘s/mem=300/mem=500/g’ /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software.bak
mv /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software.bak /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli-software -f
esxcli system settings advanced set -o /VisorFS/VisorFSPristineTardisk -i 1
Once the commands were successfully applied, the update process began, and I was prompted to reboot my ESXi host. To keep track of the reboot process, I used my idrac session:
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Thank you for reading, and happy updating!