Upgrade ESXi 6.0 to 6.5 via command line

By | February 26, 2018

I have neglected my home lab over the last couple of months.  So today I decided it was time to upgrade.  There will be a second post that will follow.  This post will show you how to upgrade the host via command line.

Note: Make sure that your vCenter is at or above the current version of ESXi that you are upgrading. 

Prerequisites

  • ensured your ESXi 6.X host has a working internet connection
  • reviewed the release notes
  • backed up the ESXi 6.X install/configuration

 

The ESXCLI upgrade method is that is very convenient, and you don’t have to worry about downloading the ESXi image from the VMware website:

Name: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0.4564106.x86_64.iso
Release Date: 2016-11-15
Build Number: 4564106

The Upgrade process

  • Open an SSH session to the host.  If the connection fails, make sure the SSH service is enabled on the ESXi host,
  • Put the host maintenance mode
  • Copy the command below into the ssh window, this could take some time depending on your internet connection:
       esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-4564106-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
  • Exit Maintenance Mode
  • Once the command completes, reboot the updated ESXi server.
  • After the host has rebooted, open a browser to the IP address of the update ESXi host.

All done, enjoy the ease of this update.