Upgrading free ESXI 7.0b to ESXI 7.0U3g

[ceantuco]

Hi, 

I am currently using a free version of ESXI 7.0b for a home lab. Due to ESXIArg vulnerability, I downloaded ESXI 7.0U3g and I would like to upgrade it. 

Do I have to get a new free license to upgrade? Or will my current license suffice?

Your help is greatly appreciated. 

[s_wieland]

Hi,

7.0 and 7.0U3 have the same license key. So no problem.

But if you‘re already upgrading, go to the latest 7.0 release, which is 7.0U3j

[ceantuco]

Thanks! The latest ESXI hypervisor version available for download is 7.0u3g. (see attachment). Version 7.0u3j is available for Vcenter downloads. 

[s_wieland]

Hi,

VMware isn't providing an ISO for every version on their normal download portal.

But there is a second portal, the VMware patch portal (Product Patches - VMware Customer Connect). There you can download the update file for ESXi 7.0U3j and copy it directly to your ESXi. The update can be started using "esxcli software vib update". The upgrade is possible directly from 7.0 to 7.0U3j

Release notes: VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 3j Release Notes

Download Link: https://download2.vmware.com/patch/software/VUM/OFFLINE/release-958-20230126-406537/VMware-ESXi-7.0U...

[ceantuco]

Thanks for the info! 

[ceantuco]

one more question... I have never upgraded using CLI thus, I did some research and found two guides on how to do it.

One uses the (esxcli software sources profile update -d "pathTOfile" -p "profilename") command and the other one uses ("esxcli software vib update -d "pathTOfile") command. 

Which one should I use? what is the difference between those two commands? 

Thanks! 

[s_wieland]

HI,

image profiles are normally used together with Auto Deploy in case you have custom VIBs that need to bundled with the ESXi image. But in most cases it's not used, especially withthe free version.

But VMware provides to profiles within it's update bundle, because in same use cases customers don't want to update the VMware Tools to the latests version. For this customers, there is a profile without VMware Tools. But default is with VMware Tools.

To list these two profiles, you can run " esxcli software sources profile list -d FullPathToFile"

The output will look like:

Name Vendor Acceptance Level Creation Time Modification Time
----------------------------- ------------ ---------------- ------------------- -----------------
ESXi-7.0U3j-21053776-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2023-01-31T00:00:00 2023-01-31T00:00:00
ESXi-7.0U3j-21053776-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported 2023-01-31T00:00:00 2023-01-02T12:08:15

So, if you want to upgrade your ESXi without VMware Tools you need to run "esxcli software sources profile update -d FullPathToFile -p ESXi-7.0U3j-21053776-no-tools"

But normally you install the complete update and for this you only run "esxcli software vib update -d FullPathToFile"

This command will take some time, but the output will look similar like:

Installation Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true
   VIBs Installed: VMware_bootbank_bmcal_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_cpu-microcode_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_crx_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_esx-dvfilter-generic-fastpath_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_esx-update_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_esx-xserver_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_esxio-combiner_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_gc_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_loadesx_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_native-misc-drivers_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_trx_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_vdfs_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_vsan_7.0.3-0.70.21053776, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_7.0.3-0.70.21053776
   VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_bmcal_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_cpu-microcode_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_crx_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_esx-base_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_esx-dvfilter-generic-fastpath_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_esx-update_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_esx-xserver_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_esxio-combiner_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_gc_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_loadesx_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_native-misc-drivers_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_trx_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_vdfs_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_vsan_7.0.3-0.65.20842708, VMware_bootbank_vsanhealth_7.0.3-0.65.20842708
   VIBs Skipped: VMW_bootbank_atlantic_1.0.3.0-8vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_bnxtnet_216.0.50.0-44vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_bnxtroce_216.0.58.0-23vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_brcmfcoe_12.0.1500.2-3vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_elxiscsi_12.0.1200.0-9vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_elxnet_12.0.1250.0-5vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_i40en_1.11.1.31-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_iavmd_2.7.0.1157-2vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_icen_1.4.1.20-1vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_igbn_1.4.11.2-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_ionic-en_16.0.0-16vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_irdman_1.3.1.22-1vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_iser_1.1.0.1-1vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_ixgben_1.7.1.35-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_lpfc_14.0.169.26-5vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_lpnic_11.4.62.0-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_lsi-mr3_7.718.02.00-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt2_20.00.06.00-4vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt35_19.00.02.00-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_lsi-msgpt3_17.00.12.00-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_mtip32xx-native_3.9.8-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_ne1000_0.9.0-1vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_nenic_1.0.33.0-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nfnic_4.0.0.70-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nhpsa_70.0051.0.100-4vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-core_3.19.16.8-2vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-en_3.19.16.8-2vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nmlx4-rdma_3.19.16.8-2vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nmlx5-core_4.19.16.11-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nmlx5-rdma_4.19.16.11-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_ntg3_4.1.8.0-4vmw.703.0.65.20842708, VMW_bootbank_nvme-pcie_1.2.3.16-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nvmerdma_1.0.3.5-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nvmetcp_1.0.0.1-1vmw.703.0.35.19482537, VMW_bootbank_nvmxnet3-ens_2.0.0.22-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_nvmxnet3_2.0.0.30-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_pvscsi_0.1-4vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_qcnic_1.0.15.0-14vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_qedentv_3.40.5.53-22vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_qedrntv_3.40.5.53-18vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_qfle3_1.0.67.0-22vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_qfle3f_1.0.51.0-22vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_qfle3i_1.0.15.0-15vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_qflge_1.1.0.11-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_rste_2.0.2.0088-7vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_sfvmk_2.4.0.2010-6vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_smartpqi_70.4149.0.5000-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_vmkata_0.1-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_vmkfcoe_1.0.0.2-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMW_bootbank_vmkusb_0.1-7vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMW_bootbank_vmw-ahci_2.0.11-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_elx-esx-libelxima.so_12.0.1200.0-4vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_esx-ui_2.1.1-20188605, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-hpv2-hpsa-plugin_1.0.0-3vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-intelv2-nvme-vmd-plugin_2.7.2173-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-lsiv2-drivers-plugin_1.0.0-12vmw.703.0.50.20036589, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-nvme-pcie-plugin_1.0.0-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-oem-dell-plugin_1.0.0-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-oem-hp-plugin_1.0.0-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-oem-lenovo-plugin_1.0.0-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_lsuv2-smartpqiv2-plugin_1.0.0-8vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_qlnativefc_4.1.14.0-26vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_bootbank_vmware-esx-esxcli-nvme-plugin_1.2.0.44-1vmw.703.0.20.19193900, VMware_locker_tools-light_12.1.0.20219665-20841705

Now, the only thing to have to do is a reboot of your ESXi and it's on the latests version.

[ceantuco]

Thank you so much for the detail explanation.