This is a follow-up learning post on a post we did recently, where we have upgraded an ESXi host via an ISO image. Today, well learn how to upgrade ESXi 6.0 via Command line interface (CLI). The process of ESXi upgrade has been already documented on this blog, for previous releases (ESXi 5.x > ESXi 6.0), and we used the .ZIP upgrade file. You can read this how-to post here. But today well learn How to Upgrade ESXi 6.0 to 6.5 via CLI and well do another method which consists of upgrading via a VMware Online depot.
Why would you want to upgrade you ESXi host via VMware online depot? It is easy to upgrade an ESXi host and also, for users who do not have easy access to the GA Offline bundle (Free ESXi users). Youll need an internet connection on the host youll want to upgrade. If you have a host which does not have an internet connection, then you can simply use one of the two above.
How to Upgrade ESXi 6.0 to 6.5 via CLI The steps:
Step 1: 1.Enable SSH and connect to your ESXi host via Putty (or alternative)
2. Enable firewall rule (allow) for web traffic esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
Step 2: Run this command to see the VMware online depot and the different profiles you can upgrade from. esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep -i ESXi-6to list available profiles. (or do just the same but with
ESXi-6.5″ at the end of the command, to see just the 2 profiles corresponding to ESXi 6.5).
There are Two profiles which interests us.. Lets pickup the one with no-tools
Step 3: Run the upgrade with this command: esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-4564106-no-tools -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
Step 4: Reboot the host to complete the upgrade.Were done.
Here is a video detailing the steps.
Please note that in the video I only listed the ESXi 6.5 versions from online depot
so I actually used this command to filter the available online profiles:
esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep -i ESXi-6.5CR:
https://www.vladan.fr/how-to-upgrade-esxi-6-0-to-6-5-via-cli-on-line/