Damian Karlson

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Upgrade VMware ESXi 4.1 (free) to U1

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One of my visitors posed a question in another post of mine on how to upgrade the free VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESX 4.1 to U1. To prepare for this post, I downloaded ESXi 4.1 from VMware and installed it in VMware Workstation. I also have the 4.1 version of the vSphere client. And without further ado, here’s the process.

  • Download and install the 4.1 U1 version of the vSphere client.
  • Enable Remote Tech Support mode and Local Tech Support mode. You can do this via the vSphere client by selecting the host > Configuration tab > Security Profile > Properties > Remote Tech Support  (SSH) > Options > Start. Repeat for Local Tech Support mode. Alternatively, it can be enabled from the DCUI (Direct Console User Interface) of the hypervisor. F2 to customize system > enter user name and password > Troubleshooting Options > Enable Remote Tech Support (SSH), Enable Local Tech Support.
  • Over SSH, create a directory to hold the upgrade zip file, such as /tmp/upgrade, or /vmfs/volumes/<datastore>/upgrade
  • Using a program such as WinSCP, connect to the host using the SCP protocol, and upload the ESXi 4.1 U1 upgrade zip file to the directory you created.
  • Shut down or power off all virtual machines on the host, and put the host into maintenance mode.
  • From the command line of the host, execute the command: esxupdate –bundle <upgrade.zip> update
  • Reboot the host when done. Once that’s complete, take the host back out of maintenance mode, and power on the virtual machines. Don’t forget to upgrade VMware Tools on the virtual machines as well! 🙂

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  1. Just an FYI, I used WinSCP for a long time. Long, long time. Works great, does what it says on the tin. Now, with that said, I just wanted to mention and recommend another product. I know, sorry, but it’s awesome (no affiliation to anyone on my part; just as an aside). Veeam FastSCP also does what it says on the tin. FAST SCP, smokin’ fast as a matter of fact, like 10x faster. It also allows you to schedule “copy” functions, i.e. free backup for your home lab, and, AND (this is the bit that makes it just stupid) Veeam has a PowerShell extension toolkit. BOOYA! I know, right. Didn’t that just blow your mind? Add a little DropBox in the recipe for your script repository and things really start to shape up nicely.
    Holla atcha boy,
    @dboftlp

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