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We are running a standalone VMware 5.5 host server (HP ProLiant) that is not part of a cluster or even a SAN with other hosts. It has a number of patches that need to be applied to it and I'm wondering what the best way to do this is. I can use the Update Manager to stage the patches to the host but then I need to shutdown all the guests in order to put the host in to maintenance mode to actually apply them. Obviously this shuts down the Update Manager. I could vMotion the host off to another server but, as I said, this host isn't a part of a SAN so it would require quite a while to copy everything off and then back again when the updates are done.

Is there a simple way to apply the patches that have been staged once the host is in maintenance mode?

Caynadian
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You would download the patches from here:

You would apply the patches using the ESXi command line and following VMware's instructions.

In the end, you're basically putting the host in maintenance mode and running something like: esxcli software vib install -d "/path/to/patch/ESXi500-201111001.zip"

The patches are cumulative (kinda), so you only need the newest build number.

Community
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ewwhite
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  • So basically forget the update manager entirely and do the whole process manually? I was thinking I could stage the updates from Update Manager and then just apply them with the command line. – Caynadian Aug 26 '15 at 13:13
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    For a single host, you end up doing it manually unless your vCenter is living somewhere else. – ewwhite Aug 26 '15 at 13:14
  • Thanks... Worked as advertised. Would be nice if you could just stage and then patch normally but oh well. As a side question, do you know where on the host patches get staged to? Prior to asking the question, I staged the patches but now I should unstage them I guess. – Caynadian Aug 26 '15 at 14:28
  • Good question. I have no idea where they are staged. – ewwhite Aug 26 '15 at 14:37
  • No prob... I'll post a new question and see if anyone else knows. – Caynadian Aug 26 '15 at 14:47
  • (it really doesn't matter too much, though) – ewwhite Aug 26 '15 at 14:48
  • Staged files should be gone after reboot since ESXi is running of a RAM-disk. – omni Sep 15 '18 at 07:48