Upgrading ESXi 5 to 6.5

Posted by Melanie Stewart on 28 09 2017. 0 Comments

Upgrading from 5 to 6.5 can take quite a while! So get a snack!

You'll need to login into your ESXi host via SSH. This isn't enabled by default so you'll have to enable it first.

Once logged in, here are the commands used for the upgrade:

• Enter maintenance mode:

     vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

• Version of ESXi:

     esxcli system version get

• Enable firewall rule (allow httpclient traffic):

     esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient

• Review available software from the VMWare depot:

     esxcli software sources profile list -d

     https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep -i ESXi-6

• Upgrading to 6.5 standard:

     esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-4564106-no-tools -d http://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

• Exit maintenance mode:

     vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit

• Rebooting:

     reboot