HOW TO: Use VMware vCenter Update Manager to Upgrade VMware ESXi hosts

I recently upgraded VMware environment from vSphere 5.0 to vSphere 5.5 and thought I should document the host upgrade process.

For detailed instructions please refer to the “Upgrading and Migrating Your Hosts” topic of the vSphere Upgrade Guide.

1. Connect the vSphere Client to a vCenter Server with which Update Manager is registered;
2. Open Update Manager, Admin View;
3. On the ESXi Image tab click on Import ESXi Image:
   
4. Browse and Select the ISO image that you want to upload.
   This can either be:
   • a base VMware vSphere ESXi image that you can download from my.VMware.com (please select correct version);
   • an ISO image that was customised by the hardware vendor. Customised images include vendor specific NIC, HBA and other device drivers, management utilities etc:
     • HP customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi
     • Cisco customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi
     • Hitachi customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi
     • Fujitsu customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi
     • NEC customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi
     • IBM customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi
     • DELL customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5 & ESXi 5.5 Update 2
     • VCE Vblock customised image for VMware vSphere ESXi (Log in to support.vce.com, open VCE Download Center / Select Vblock type / Select RCM (Release Certification Matrix) – Software Download for Release Certification Matrix / Select VMware vSphere).
   • Your own customised ISO image. See “HOW TO: Create custom vSphere ESXi ISO with VMware vSphere ESXi Image Builder” for details.For the purpose of this guide I will be using VCE Vblock customised image from RCM 4.8.0.
5. Import the ISO image
   
6. Upload successful
   
7. Create ESXi host upgrade baseline
   
8. New baseline:
   
9. Select Datacenter / Cluster or individual host and attach the baseline:
   
10. Select baseline and click Attach.
    
11. In the Hosts and Cluster view right-click on the Cluster you attache the baseline to, select Scan for Updates, select Upgrades and click Scan.
    
12. After Scan is completed, Update Manager will display the Host Compliance status:
    
13. In the majority of cases the status will be Non-Compliant.  The reason these two hosts are Incompatible is that there are some outstanding software configuration changes that require a reboot.
    
14. Reboot the host and re-Scan it for Upgrades:
    
15. To upgrade a host, put it in Maintenance Mode, click on Remediate…, select Upgrade Baseline and click Next;
    
16. Accept the License Agreement, click Next;
    
17. The ISO image that I am using for host upgrade includes all third-party software and drivers required for the new version of the ESXi (Thank you VCE! :) ) and therefore I will allow the removal of the incompatible software and drivers.
    
18. Schedule the upgrade or run it immediately:
    
19. Change Maintenance Mode options or accept defaults. Click Next;
    
20. Change Cluster Remediation options or accept defaults. Click Next;
    
21. Confirm the upgrade options and click Finish.
    
22. In the Recent Tasks pane, the remediation task is displayed and will remain at about 22 percent for most of the process. The process is still running and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete;
23. After the upgrade the Host compliance status will change to Compliant.