There is many ways to upgrade or patch ESXi 5.5 to ESXi 6.0. The standalone version of ESXi or one managed by vCenter server can be patched very easy way via CLI and using SSH client like Putty for example. ESXi 5.5 Free version can obviously be upgraded/patched this way as well. The only problem might be if you don't have paid version and in this case you cannot download the ESXi Offline Bundle (VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip file ) which is needed for this upgrade from 5.5 to 6.0.
The ESXi Offline bundle is available for paying customers now, and it's not known when users of free version of ESXi will be able to download it. So in this guide I'll show you two ways of upgrading the existing ESXi hosts. The hosts can be running ESXi Free Version or not. The offline bundle works for both.
- Patch ESXi 5.5 to ESXi 6.0 by using VMware Offline Bundle
- Patch ESXi 5.5 to ESXi 6.0 by using VMware Free Hypervisor ISO file.
You'll probably want to use vSphere Update manager (VUM) if you're running more than few ESXi hosts. VUM has to be installed on Windows machine and you also need vCenter server. In this article I'm not covering those options, but I'm focusing on patch or upgrade ESXi 5.x to 6.0 via CLI or Via VMware ESXi ISO file. In both scenarios there is a downtime, so you need to shut down all VMs running on that host or vMotion them elsewhere, before you start upgrading.
Patch ESXi 5.x to ESXi 6.0 – via CLI by using the VMware Offline Bundle (VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip) file
01. Download ESXi Offline Bundle (VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip)
02. Copy VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip to a datastore visible by your ESXi host
03. Put the host in maintenance mode (via vSphere client > right click > enter maintenance mode) and run this command via CLI (connect with Putty client)
esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/your_datastore/VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip
In case you don't have SSH access enabled, please enable it via vSphere client by Selecting your host > Configuration TAB > Security Profile > Properties > SSH
05. Reboot your host and check the build
Check this video which details those steps:
Patch ESXi 5.x to ESXi 6.0 by using ISO file VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0-2494585.x86_64.iso
In case you are not allowed to download the VMware Offline Bundle yet, you can download the Full ISO of VMware Hypervisor – VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0-2494585.x86_64.iso. This ISO is not only a full installer which can be used to perform clean ESXi 6.0 installations (including the ESXi 6.0 free), but this file can be used to upgrade (patch) your existing ESXi 5.x version to the ESXi 6.0.
In the past I had many question concerning upgrades via ISO. It seems that this isn't well known scenarios and many people thinks that it can harm their systems or it can overwrite their datastores etc… No it's not true as VMware installer is smart enough not to destroy any underlying ESXi isntallation. I have done a short video detailing the steps as well.
01. Download the Free version of VMware ESXi 6.0 hypervisor here.
It's an ISO file called VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.0.0-2494585.x86_64.iso which is a full ISO of ESXi and you can do fresh ESXi installation with it. But in our case we want to do an Upgrade, right? So shut down any VMs you're runing and reboot the host.
02. Change boot sequence in BIOS so you're booting via CD-ROM drive.
03. Use the UPGRADE option (default one) to upgrade your ESXi 5.x host.
Hit Enter and then wait to see this screen where you'll press F11 key.
The installer will upgrade your existing ESXi 5.x to the latest version
04. Reboot your system and check the results
And here I have done a short video detailing the steps.
The second option might involve burning the ISO file to a CD, but it's safe option and you don't have to worry about loosing your datastores, VMs …. It's less known option as many users prefer the VMware Offline bundle, but as for now this bundle isn't available for everyone so I thought that it might be a useful post for those users. If you have found this post useful, please share it with your followers through your media channels.
If anything goes wrong (NIC not recognized after the reboot, purple screen of death – PSOD, or other problems) you can revert back to ESXi 5.5 very easily. Right after the BIOS sequence you can hit Shift + R (Recovery mode). It can happen if your hardware isn't on VMware HCL.
And then you have the option to validate that you want to go back to the previous version (the version from which you were upgrading). You can hit Y to confirm…
Get your ESXi 6.0 Free License and apply it to your installation
Many folks asked me how to get and apply the ESXi Free License. Sometimes the very obvious is not so obvious for others, so you asked – I share…
The license number is on the download page after you register for the ESXi Free version.
You must apply it to your ESXi 6.0 installation as by default it runs Full 60 days trial. To apply it to your ESXi 6.0 free version just connect via vSphere client (available through the download as well) and Select your host > Licensed features > Edit > Enter Key.
In case you missed the latest news, you can check my vSphere 6.0 page where are all the details about the latest release of VMware vSphere 6.0, ESXi 6.0 and all other products of the VMware vCloud Suite. It's a major VMware upgrade which has been rolled out few days ago.
Stay tuned for more articles, how-to tutorials at ESX Virtualiztion website.
Great article !
Hi Vladan,
Thanks for this blog entry. I have one question: are the production licenses used in ESXi 5.5 valid for 6.0?
Cheers,
Jose
Of course Not -:) But this is not a problem if you’re on SnS…
Hello !
Thanks for the article.
I’d like to point one thing.
When updating to newer version with offline bundle, it’s correct to use command with different argument:
esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/your_datastore/VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip
Use “install” instead “update”.
Because “update” doesn’t remove/replace drives & other stuff.
ESXi patches should be used with “update”.
Yes, if you use “install” instead you will loose any custom VIBs you are perhaps using for your (otherwise unsupported) NIC cards… True. “Update” does keep all those VIBs…
It was not clear to me. So I keep the NIC driver have to use install or update? My NIC is R8168
Update = keep.
Hello and thank you for a good quick introduction to vSphere 6. I was curious to find out if you need to apply 2-3 patches at the same time using this method whether a reboot is required after applying each update patch or you can simply run the update for each patch and reboot after the last one is applied?
Any one can shed any light please.
Thanks!
There aren’t any patches for ESXi 6. Depends on patches, some needs reboot and some does not…
Sorry, I forgot to mention. I was referring to patches for ESXi5.5. I see what you mean if any of the patches require a reboot than they can’t be applied in a sequence without rebooting first the host after applying each of the patches.
Hello and thank you for these excellent instructions on how to upgrade from ESXi 5.5 to ESXi 6.0. I’m just a novice and am using ESXi 5.5 as a solution to host two VM’s on my home server. I just have one question before I perform the upgrade. The two VM’s I’m running are pfsense 2.2.1 and OpenMediaVault. When I migrated my OMV instance from bare metal to ESXi I had to manually configure direct disk access to my physical data drives for my OMV instanace as ESXi by default will not allow this. My question then is, will performing the upgrade result in the direct disk access configuration being lost? I’ve also done some searching to determine if ESXi 6.0 still supports direct disk access and haven’t found any clear answers.
Thank you for any advice you can provide!
Pete
You talking RDMs. It should be preserved as you don’t upgrading the virtual hardware of your VMs by upgrading the bare metal ESXi hypervisor….
But the best practice would be to virtutalize the storage as well (create VMDK and move data)….
Best..
Curious if the ISO method will work on an ESXI installation running off a USB stick (plugging a second stick with the 6 ISO image should on paper update the original esxi stick)?
Not sure that the ISO placed on USB will be bootable Out of the box… Just sayin.. But yes, theoretically if you can make it boot of that way then you can specify the destination (on the 1st USV) The installer should see that there is an underlying ESXi installation and shall propose an upgrade.
This upgrade method is valid also for 5.0 version ?
In the main title you speak about migration from 5.5, instead of 5.x version that you talk into the article.
Yes, it works for the 5.0 version too..
Cheers,
I migrate from 5.5u2 to 6 and now my windows VM can’t use SLAT of my processor but all was working very well before, I use windows hyper-v for dev windows phone. And emulators need slat. I missed something ? Is it possible to go back to previous install ? (none of my vmx have been modified, I tried to change hardware version without a success…)..
Yes, if you have done an upgrade you can actually revert back. Right after the BIOS sequence you can hit Shift + R (Recovery mode) and choose the option.
Thanks, you savez me, i Will try mater. Do you Know if it is a problème of esxi 6 or something I dis wrong? Thanks
Ok, the recovery was successfull and very fast…and now my hyper-v is fully back with my little turion N54l…Thanks to Vladan !
error upgrade 5.5 to 6: nfs41client failed to load
The esxi 6.0 version don’t support network adapter 10/100, u need at least one 10/100/1000 network adapter. =D
He don’t recongnizes 10/100 adapters, if you don’t have a 10/100/1000 adapter, u can’t install the system. :/
Yes, that’s possible, but should not be a showstopper. Just get a used GbE Intel NIC through e-Bay for 20-30$… and off you go -:).
I solve me problem with NIC 8168 in this instructions: http://www.v-front.de/2015/03/vsphere-6-is-ga-ultimate-guide-to.html
I Create a custom installation ISO for ESXi 6.0 with net55-r8168 and install.
link net55-r8168: https://vibsdepot.v-front.de/wiki/index.php/Net55-r8168
link ESXi-Customizer: http://www.v-front.de/p/esxi-customizer.html
Thank you for this good article Vladan! FYI, owners of a Dell server with ESXi 5.5 can use the customized offline bundle without a VMWare paid account. This can be downloaded from here:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=HJFY8
Thanks for the heads up Martijn. Certainly useful for Dell users indeed.
Best,
Vladan
I’m using ESXi 5.5 on my private server at home and I got a license from my school which runs a year.
Since this license won’t work with ESXi 6.0 I’d have to use the Trial License, but what happens after the 60 days?
Can I still use ESXi or will all the features be disabled?
That’s a good question. After 60 days trial the VMs will continue to work. I would think that you can login directly to the host to manage the host, but not sure about it. You can always apply a free (lifetime) license to this host, like I’m detailing in this post: http://www.vladan.fr/apply-vmware-free-license-vmware-esxi/
GREAT!!!! I upgraded from 5.5 to 6.0 and now I can’t start any of the VMs because it says the vmdk could not be opened because it was not a physical device, WTF?!?!
Now I can’t start my VMs anymore great…
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISK: OPEN scsi0:0 ‘/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan.vmdk’ persistent R[]
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISKLIB-LIB_MISC : DiskLibIsExtentPathSecure: Extent path “/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan-flat.vmdk” points to within the scratch directory “/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1”, rejecting as insecure.
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISKLIB-VMFS : VmfsExtentCommonOpen: DiskLibIsExtentPathSecure claims extent path “/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan-flat.vmdk” is insecure, failing disk open.
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISKLIB-VMFS : “/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan-flat.vmdk” : failed to open (The specified device is not a valid physical disk device): . Type 3
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISKLIB-LINK : “/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan.vmdk” : failed to open (The specified device is not a valid physical disk device).
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISKLIB-CHAIN : “/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan.vmdk” : failed to open (The specified device is not a valid physical disk device).
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISKLIB-LIB : Failed to open ‘/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan.vmdk’ with flags 0xa The specified device is not a valid physical disk device (20).
2015-05-20T09:03:45.930Z| Worker#0| I120: DISK: Cannot open disk “/vmfs/volumes/553396d5-7418db99-4a2e-94de80a316b1/Titan/Titan.vmdk”: The specified device is not a valid physical disk device (20).
Have you had any pass through in place before the upgrade? Looks like… What’s the box hardware? How about the HCL? You can always revert back to 5.5 http://www.vladan.fr/esxi-6-0-downgrade-options-lab-time/
You can’t upgrade if you added VIBs to the 5.5 image, unless you roll them into the 6.0 image also. It fails before you reach the point where you tell it to do an upgrade due to being “unable to detect a NIC”. Yet another disc wasted (on top of 2 for 5.5).
Upgrading from 5.5 (wider driver pack) to 6.0 did not solve my issue. Which is: that 6.0 does not include all drivers, and that is causing a major issue.
Running ESX(i)5.5 on Dell PowerEdge730 (RAID CONTROLLER H330) + Samsung 850 PRO SSDs works as a charm, in deploying large pools (100+ VMs)
….while
Running ESX(i)6.0 on Dell PowerEdge730 (RAID CONTROLLER H330) + Samsung 850 PRO SSDs, does not even come close, all kinds of I/O issues with deploys, very slow, basically shit.
Thus this means, that Update = keep (drivers) = false (><?)
I would not say that it does not keep the drivers, as it does. The problem is that those drivers are no longer optimized for ESXi 6.0 and that’s basically the problem….
Many Thanks Vladan, This patch made my life much easier. Thanks again
Thanks worked out great /Roger
Very thanks! Good article! Very clear. I had upgrade my exsi to 6.0 from 5.5.
cluster 1 (3 esx) and cluster 2 ( 2 esx). I need to upgrade the cluster 2 (only has 2 VMs in each host) from 5.5 to 6.
Can I update each host on cluster 2 separately using offline bundle.(without affecting cluster 1)
or it is necessary to use VUM for this?
You can do both. VUM or CLI. Per host (or per cluster). But honestly, 2 hosts ….. you can do easy with a cli…
Regards,
Please be aware that there is currently no upgrade path from ESXi 5.5 U3b to ESXi 6.0.
Have a read of the release notes here:
http://pubs.vmware.com/Release_Notes/en/vsphere/55/vsphere-esxi-55u3b-release-notes.html
Attempts to upgrade ESXi 5.5 Update 3b to ESXi 6.0 Update 1a and earlier versions of 6.0 fail – no workaround.
Hi vladan.
Do you think can I install a fresh hyperviroe 6.x and restore a 5.5 configuration bundle on it?
Hi I tried ti upgrade my 5.5 but the first option (upgrade ESXI and preserve datastore)does not appear
I previously try and update from 5.5 to 5.5U3 and it failed since that the option upgrade disappear.
And i’m scared to loose my settings if i pick option install
Any idea to have it back?
Thx
logs, logs, logs… Then, why don’t you try the CLI option first…
Hi i wanted to try but i can’t download VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip with my vmware account
I found the way to get back the upgrade option wit this
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/508907?start=0&tstart=0
but the update failed again it was nut i had to unistall it and then i finally upgrade my host to 6.0
Thx for your time and good tutos