VMware has made vSphere 6.5 generally available on November 15th, and this includes the core hypervisor platform ESXi 6.5. In the What's New and Release Notes documents you can read all about the exciting new features, but most of them require paid licenses and a vCenter server to centrally manage your ESXi hosts.
This blog post is my first try to explain what free license users and owners of unsupported ("white box") hardware need to know when they are going for an upgrade or installation of ESXi 6.5 ...
How to upgrade
There are various methods to upgrade a standalone ESXi host. I list them here in the order of my own preference:
1. Using esxcli software profile update with the VMware Online Depot
This is probably the easiest way to patch or upgrade your ESXi host, but unfortunately the ESXi 6.5 GA bits are not yet available in the VMware Online Depot, and that means you cannot use this method right now. This will change at the latest when VMware publishes the first patch for ESXi 6.5. My ESXi Patch Tracker service will inform you once ESXi 6.5 hits the Online Depot. On its help page you will also find instructions on how to use this method.
2. Using esxcli software profile update with the Offline Bundle
One alternative to using the VMware Online Depot directly is to use the ESXi 6.5 GA image in Offline Bundle format. Its file name is VMware-ESXi-6.5.0-4564106-depot.zip, and if you are able to download it from the My VMware portal then you just need to upload it to a datastore of your host and run esxcli like this:
esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-4564106-standard -d /vmfs/volumes/your_datastore/VMware-ESXi-6.5.0-4564106-depot.zip(Replace your_datastore with the name of the datastore where you uploaded the bundle to)
The issue now is that you will only be able to download the ESXi 6.5 Offline Bundle if you have a paid ESXi/vSphere license under subscription. If you only have the free ESXi license registered then you will be able to download the ESXi 6.5 image only in ISO format. That means you must use the third option:
3. Upgrading ESXi with the ISO image
Download the ISO file (VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.5.0-4564106.x86_64.iso) from the vSphere Hypervisor Download Center. You need to log on with a MyVMware account here, but this time it's only a free registration.
Burn the ISO file to a CD media and then just boot your ESXi host using this media. This is basically the same process that you would use for new installs. Just follow the on screen instructions and be sure to choose "Upgrade" instead of "Install" when asked.
Legacy network drivers are still blacklisted
With ESXi 6.0 VMware introduced the nasty concept of blacklisting unsupported legacy network drivers to prevent their installation and usage. If you are not aware of this then please read my ESXi 6.0 White box upgrade guide (section 2.) for a detailed explanation. In ESXi 6.5 VMware continues to use this blacklisting method.
If you are upgrading from ESXi 5.5 and need to use one of the blacklisted drivers then you must follow the workaround described in my above mentioned post and install an alternative driver from the V-Front Online Depot before upgrading to ESXi 6.5.
If you already use ESXi 6.0 then you either have already implemented this workaround or you just don't need it. Either way you don't need to worry then.
Legacy and Community network driver compatibility
In KB2147697 VMware declares that all drivers built and certified on ESXi 5.5 and 6.0 are also supported with ESXi 6.5.
Technically even drivers that have been compiled for ESXi 5.1 can still be installed and used on ESXi 6.5. However, drivers that have been compiled for ESXi 5.0 can definitely no longer be installed on ESXi 6.5.
This affects the following drivers from the V-Front Online Depot: net-atl1, net-atl1e, net-r8101, net-8139too, net-skge, net-tulip. They can no longer be installed on and used with ESXi 6.5.
Improved support for SATA AHCI Controllers - sata-xahci patch no longer needed!
Until ESXi 6.0 the builtin support for SATA AHCI controllers was limited to certain controller models, and I developed the sata-xahci patch package to make the builtin sata-ahci driver usable for additional controllers that are officially unsupported.
Good news is that ESXi 6.5 includes a new native AHCI driver (vmw_ahci) that generically supports any controller that identifies itself as a SATA AHCI controller (PCI device class 0106). That means with ESXi 6.5 every AHCI controller will work out-of-the-box, and my sata-xahci patch is no longer needed here.
I was very excited about this until I saw Anthony Spiteri's blog post about a serious performance issue that he had with ESXi 6.5 and the new native driver ... That does not mean that this is a general problem of the vmw_ahci driver. So you should definitely give it a try on your own system!
If you currently rely on my sata-xahci patch and want to try the new native driver then you need to uninstall the sata-xahci package after upgrading to ESXi 6.5. Use the esxcli command
esxcli software vib remove -n sata-xahcito do this and reboot the system.
If you experience any problems with the new native driver then you can disable it with this command:
esxcli system module set --enabled=false --module=vmw_ahci(see KB2044993) and re-install the sata-xahci package if you relied on it before.
After you have tried it please leave a comment to this post and describe how the new native drivers works for you!
Goodbye, vSphere Client!
With vSphere 6.5 VMware made true what they announced a long time ago already: The Windows based legacy vSphere Client (also known as C# Client) can no longer be used to manage an ESXi 6.5 host!
But no worries: Recent versions of ESXi 5.5 and 6.0 already came with an HTML5 based Embedded Host Client that is now also included in ESXi 6.5. It was first introduced as an unsupported so-called fling, and is still further developed as this, but the versions that are shipped with ESXi are fully supported and provide all the functionality you need.
If you haven't tried the new Host Client before then just point your web browser to
https://<ip-of-your-host>/ui/
to access it. It's really great, you won't miss the old vSphere Client!
Is it worth upgrading?
For free license and white box users there are only few reasons to upgrade from ESXi 6.0 to 6.5: The new native AHCI driver (if it works for you) and improved support for NVMe storage. Maybe overall better support for the latest motherboards and CPUs ...
You can always try and roll back if you run into an issue!
This post first appeared on the VMware Front Experience Blog and was written by Andreas Peetz.
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Is the PCI passthrough fixed via the HTML5 client? It wasn't working in 6.0 and had to use the C# Client to manage it instead.
ReplyDeleteDon't know. I suggest you try the latest fling version of the Host Client. Give feedback if the issue is still there, the developers are very responsive.
Deleteits been broken since 5.5 no? i really doubt its been fixed, not willing to hose my system trying:)
DeleteAfter trying to upgrade and ended up doing a format instead, I tried to PCI my network ports so i could reinstate my VM's.
DeleteI have 4 10GB ports (on MB) and 4 intel 1gb ports from a card. I see all ports in the html client but when I go to assign passthrough it refuses to let me assign port 1 and 3 on the 10 gb and port 1 on the intel card.
If i go through the C# client (yes it still works) I can assign the ports properly. However if I go to power up the VM in the html5 client, it'll fail if I've assigned intel port 1. If I power up via C#. Works fine. I'd say it still has some issues, or I need see if i can find better drivers rather than the defaults.
On Jan 24th version 1.16 of the VMware Host Client (esx-ui) was published and there are related fixes mentioned in the Changelog. Can you please try if that version fixes the PCI passthrough configuration?
Deletevmw_ahci have a bug,passthrough a 3t sata disk to vm,onlu display 778g
ReplyDeleteAre you passing through the SATA controller to a VM? Then ESXi does NOT use a driver (like vmw_ahci or sata-ahci) for it. The issue that you are seeing is probably a problem of the VM's Guest OS.
DeleteI only passing through the disk,not the controller(vmkfstool -z /vmfs/device/disk/t10_ataXXX xxx.vmdk),then add the xxx.disk to vm.
DeleteI disable the vmw_ahci(esxcfg-module -d vmw_ahci),then display correct(3000G) in vm.
The vm is windows 7.In linux,display correct(3000G).
DeleteInteresting, thanks for sharing!
DeleteHey, have a similar problem with a RDM of a 6TB HDD which will be indicated as only a 1,5 TB HDD. So I disabled the new vmw_ahci driver and readd the sata-xahci driver. This one works like a charm.
DeleteI also had those problems and wrote about it:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nxhut.com/2016/11/fix-slow-disk-performance-vmwahci.html
btw. PCIe-passthrough works in the latest HTML5 client.
Will drivers such as Net-atl1e ever be re-compiled with 6.5 support?
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
Deletethe original author (or anyone having the modified source code) could do this, but in this and other cases it seems to be difficult to reach out to them, or they are no longer interested in doing this work.
You should better get another supported NIC for your system if you rely on such an old driver now.
Andreas
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI have Asrock J4205-ITX mainboard with intergrated Realtek RTL8111GR network card -which package should i use for 6.5 version? Same as for 6.0?
Will this work? (net55-r8168) Thanks
Hi Dave,
Deleteif it works for 6.0 then it will also work for 6.5.
Andreas
Hi Andreas,
ReplyDeleteI did create ISO with that PS script u provided and its working on 6.5 (with net55-r8168) , in UI its showing me that i have Realtek 8168 card. Is there any other driver for mine RTL8111GR ?
Or i can leave it as it is?
Thanks
Hi Dave,
DeleteYou've done it right. This is the only driver available.
Andreas
Guten morgen,
ReplyDeleteich wollte heute nach deiner Anleitung meinen esxi host von 6.0 auf 6.0U2 updaten. Es funktionierte alles nach wunsch, nach dem reboot und der neuerlichen anmeldung am vSphere client waren jedoch kein datastore mehr verfügbar (keine VM's). LUN - Laufwerke wurden jedoch richtig gemountet. Abhilfe schaffte nur ein Rollback. Ist dazu etwas bekannt. Das laufende ImageProfil ist ein Updated HP ESXI-6.0.0-iso.600.9.3.30.2.
ISt es ein HP Server? Dann solltest Du das HP Customized ESXi Image für den Update verwenden. Für 6.0 Update 2 lade das Offline Bundle von hier: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=OEM-ESXI60U2-HPE&productId=491
DeleteEs ist ein HP Server(ProLiant DL380G9, Intel Xeon CPU E5- 2620v3), ich werde es mit dem Offline Bundle versuchen. Danke
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great updates on ESXI.
ReplyDeleteSurprised that I am still able to connect directly with ESXI 6.5 host with Windows based legacy vSphere Client.
Yes, this still works - I should have mentioned that. Connections to a vCenter 6.5 server do no longer work though.
DeleteHi, I can't seem to add the sata-xachi driver to 6.5. I tried to upgrade one of my home boxes to 6.5 but the default driver in 6.5 will not detect my sata controller. The motherboard is a GA-Z77X-UP4 TH with the Intel Z77 chipset.
ReplyDeleteDo you solve this issue? I try too add sata-xahci to ISO. But i cannt see any SATA Drives on 6.5. 6.0 ISO + sata-xahci - works fine. How we can customize ISO 6.5 and disable builtin drivers sata ahci?
DeleteYou need to add the sata-xahci package AND disable the vmw_ahci driver with the esxcli command I mention in my post.
DeleteI had latency-issues with vmw_ahci. The VMs had huge i/o wait. The throughput itself was quite good. I switched back to sata-xahci. Thanks for that patch!
ReplyDeleteI also had slowness with vmw_ahci. After reformatting my datastore to VMFS6 (instead of VMFS5), I kept vmw_ahci because of better throughput and GUI responsiveness. Can someone confirm this ?
DeleteI'm getting 40MB/s with the native driver with a move action between my SSD and external USB3.0 disk as USB device.
ReplyDeleteAn existing datastore on a 400GB Hitachi Deskstar (HDS724040KLSA80) SATA drive wasn't recognized after I upgraded to 6.5 and uninstalled the sata-xahci package and used vmw_ahci. ESXi sees the device, but it won't let me clear the partition table or create a new datastore. Whenever I try to do so, ESXi says 'Failed: Cannot change the host configuration'. Two other WD SATA HDDs and two SSD drives in the same machine are just fine.
ReplyDeleteI try remove from vmw_ahci in iso file boot.cfg. After boot install now SATA drive is present - but cann't Upgrade (Starting but) Failed. How i can disable this module right.
ReplyDeleteHi Konstantin,
Deleteyou can disable the driver on a running system with
esxcli system module set --enabled=false --module=vmw_ahci
followed by a reboot.
If you want to create an installation media that does not include the native right away then use my ESXi-Customizer-PS script with the option "-remove vmw_ahci" to create a custom ISO.
Andreas
I try add option -remove
DeleteRemove selected VIBs from Imageprofile ...
Remove VIB vmw_ahci: Package vmw_ahci could not be found in image profile ESXi-6.5.0-20170104001-standard-customized, not removing.
Hi Konstantin,
Deletesorry, the package name is vmw-ahci, not vmw_ahci.
Andreas
Hello, this is an excellent site with lots of valuable information. I understand that it is possible to upgrade an ESXi system to the latest version by simply installing the update.
ReplyDeleteWill it work to upgrade an old 5.1 system directly to the latest 6.5 version by installing the latest 6.5 update? or are there some other issues that I need to be aware of?
As per the ESXi Upgrade Compatibility Matrix upgrading from ESXi 5.1 to 6.5 is not supported. You need to upgrade to 6.0 first, then to 6.5.
DeleteAndreas
I upgraded 3 ESXi 6.0 hosts to 6.5 yesterday and tried the built-in vmw_ahci driver. I eventually had to disable it using your instructions, and reinstall the sata-xahci version, because performance to/from the Kingston HyperX Predator PCI-E SSDs was horrible. It kept disconnecting and reconnecting. Thanks!
DeleteHi Scott,
Deletethank you for your feedback. It would be interesting to hear how ESXi 6.7 behaves with the builtin vmw_ahci driver. Do you have a chance to use that instead of 6.5?
Andreas