It looks like yesterday the whole IT Community was pretty much focused on the much anticipated Apple Live event, so you might have missed an important VMware announcement: vSphere 5.5 Update 2 was released. Besides the usual bug fixes there was one important new functionality added that will make a lot of VMware Admins happy, especially those who do not like the new Web Client.
Before going into some details here are the relevant links to downloads and release notes:
vCenter Server 5.5 Update 2
ESXi 5.5 Update 2
- Download stock VMware ISO (better do NOT use the Driver Rollup ISO ...)
- Download HP Customized ISO (for HP servers)
- Release Notes
Release notes highlights
vCenter:
- Support for additional databases (Oracle 12c, MS SQL Server 2012 SP1 and 2014)
- A new CEIP (Customer Experience Improvement Program) that collects configuration data from your environment and uploads it to VMware for analysis (hopefully optionally)
- Resolved issues with Host profiles together with Auto Deploy
- The Web Client will warn you if the database server is running out of disk space
ESXi:
- Support for hosts with 6 TB of RAM
- Performance improvements with Storage rescans
- Storage vMotion does no longer reset CBT (Changed Block Tracking) information
For a full list of resolved issues see the Release Notes.
For a list of other updated vSphere components (like vSphere Replication) see the vSphere 5.5 Download page.
Edit Virtual Hardware 10 VMs with the Update 2 legacy vSphere Client!
When vSphere 5.5 was released the legacy vSphere Client was declared deprecated and you were no longer able to use it to edit the settings of a VM that was upgraded to hardware version 10. This made all users that do not have vCenter available (or do not like the new Web Client) very unhappy.
VMware has finally listened to their complaints and reinstated the capability to edit Virtual Hardware Version 10 VMs with the legacy vSphere Client with Update 2! You will still get a warning though that you will only be able to edit version 8 features (see hardcopy at the top of this post).
Please note: You only need to update the vSphere Client to the Update 2 version, but not necessarily the host! So you can immediately and safely start taking benefit from this improvement: Here is a direct download link for the vSphere 5.5 Update 2 client.
How to update your free and/or standalone ESXi host
If you want to update your standalone ESXi host to 5.5 Update 2 then you can use the procedure that I already explained for earlier updates. For your convenience here are the commands for easy copy/paste:
Enable SSH access on your host, log in to it (e.g. using putty) and run the following commands:
# open firewall for outgoing http requests: esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient # Update using the ESXi 5.5 U2 Imageprofile from the VMware Online depot esxcli software profile update -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-5.5.0-20140902001-standard # Reboot your host reboot
This post first appeared on the VMware Front Experience Blog and was written by Andreas Peetz.
Follow him on Twitter to keep up to date with what he posts.
Follow him on Twitter to keep up to date with what he posts.
Hi and thanks for sharing your knowledge!
ReplyDeleteHave you figured any way to disable CEIP?
No worries, during the installation of the vCenter Windows version you need to explicitly enable CEIP if wanted (it is disabled by default). I guess with the Linux appliance it is similar.
Deleteim currently running 5.5 without update 1 with dell OEM image. Do i need to install U1 first? i.e. are the updates cummulative? thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
Deletethe Update Bundles are cumulative, so you do not need to install any earlier patches. For details see my post Are ESXi 5.x patches cumulative?.
Andreas
Thanks! Can you confirm as well that it is fine to use this process on a DELL OEM packaged ESXi 5.5 image? I have already applied it on one dell OEM box (non-critial) but holding off on the other 9 until I have done some more research. BTW, this is a brilliant VMWARE blog and keep up the good work!
DeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteDell servers should be installed and updated with the Dell Customized image. For ESXi 5.5 Update 2 it is available here: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=YGH6K
Unfortunately Dell only provides the ISO file, but not an Offline Bundle ... If you have Update Manager available then you can import the ISO file there, but if not then you must boot the host with the ISO to perform the update.
Andreas
Do you know if there's a reason that the T410 isn't listed as supported for U2?
DeleteHi Mike,
Deletethe Dell Poweredge T410 IS supported with 5.5 U2. See
this entry in the VMware HCL.
Andreas
Hello, Does this update include the HP drivers etc? Is there an image that contains the HP bits like the install ISO?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
Deleteyes, the link is in the post !?
Andreas
Hi Andreas, With regard to the HP servers, I know you linked to an ISO, but is there a way to do this online?
DeleteYour update line:
esxcli software profile update -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-5.5.0-20140902001-standard
Looks like to you just be the standard ESXi, but is there something similar of the HP version? If not, what is the simplest way to upgrade from an ISO?
Hi Andreas,
ReplyDeletehabe hier merkwürdige Effekte mit vsphere client 1993072 und ESXi 5.5u2.
Ich kann im vsphere client keine RHEL7 vm anlegen, der Assistent bietet mir maximal RHEL6 an (auch keine Centos 7 oder Oracle EL7).
Starte ich den Client mit -locale en_US, sehe ich Centos7 und OEL7, aber wieder kein RHEL7.
Hast Du eine Idee, woran das liegen könnte?
VG Rainer
Hallo Rainer,
Deleteich kann das bestätigen. Selbst im vCenter Web Client kann man RHEL7 nicht auswählen. Das ist ein Fall für den VMware Support, denn laut Guest OS Compatibility Liste ist RHEL7 supported.
(English summary: RHEL7 cannot be selected as a Guest OS when creating a VM in the legacy or Web Client although it is a supported Guest OS in vSphere 5.5 U2).
Andreas
Does Update 2 include the patch for the NFS bug?
ReplyDeleteYes, it does. All updates are cumulative and include any prior patches.
DeleteThanks again for this post! I used your 5.5U1 for the same. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteReicht es nicht aus mit der Updt2-Installer-CD im Offline-Modus das Update direkt am Host auszuführen? Verliert man dann die Treiber für Nicht-Intel-Lan-Cards?
ReplyDeleteDanke,
Peter
Das geht auch und custom VIBs bleiben dabei erhalten. Ich finde das aber wesentlich umständlicher (ISO runterladen, auf CD brennen, Host 2x booten) ...
DeleteThank you very much Mr. Peetz!
ReplyDeleteThanks to your excellent tutorial i have been able to upgrade two ESXi servers flawlessly.
Is it possible to know which update file (i used the ESXi-5.5.0-20140902001-standard) is the latest version for further future upgrades?
Hi,
Deletecheck for the latest patch level here:
http://www.vmware.com/go/downloadpatches.
In the search results table click on the link below the "Build number" to get to the KB article that lists the image profile name.
Andreas
Thanks for your reply.
DeleteIt worked perfectly. Only on one of my Esxi machines (a really small HP workstation) came up with the notification that there was not enough space to update the -standard. So i used the -notools and that worked perfectly. I only wonder if i now ever will be able to install vmware tools on the vm's...
Thank you again for your reply. I love toying with Vmware.
I've entered the commands as shown, but then the curser just sits there... How do I know it's doing anything? how long does it normally take?
ReplyDeleteHi DJWS,
Deletehave you opened the firewall (first command) prior to running the update command?
The download may take a while depending on the speed of your internet connection.
If unsure check for progress and error messages in the log file /var/log/esxupdate.log
Andreas
Hi Andrew - Thanks for posting this excellent article.
ReplyDeleteI have two questions:
1. Can we update ESXI 5.5u1 hosts managed under a VCENTER server to 5.5u2 similarly as you have mentioned above or is there any seperate procedure for them ( we are using VCENTER 5.5.0 Build 1369380 and don't want to update VCENTER for now).
2. Can we update from ESXI 5.5U1 build 1623387 directory ESXI5.5U2 build 2302651 (Latest build)? or we need to update build by build?
Your early response on this will be highly obliged as we need to do patching tomorrow.
Regards.
Hi Anonymous,
Deletemy name is Andreas, and I will answer comments on this post as time permits. Please don't expect getting realtime online support on blogs!
1. You can use this process also for vCenter managed hosts, but normally you would use vCenter Update Manager (VUM) to patch vCenter managed hosts.
2. ESXi patches are cumulative, so yes, you can go straight to the latest patch.
Andreas