Your soSW will still run without any problems. Under the new subscription you will loose also the possibility after loosing support to use the SW fully.
When you doesnt have any site ID under entitlements, then you dont have there nothing connected or your support expired and then you dont see there anything. When you have ago bout something and is there now missing you can uncheck the checkbox Active and you will also older licenses.
New owner new rules.
If may my answer has helped you or resolved your problem or question mark it as RESOLVED.
Original Message:
Sent: Mar 20, 2025 12:50 PM
From: James McDowell
Subject: Broadcom ESXi patch only download site where?
I'm not a lawyer so I can't comment on the legality of getting update patches. When we purchased a perpetual license from VMware my understanding was that software patches for my licensed version were included, but not upgrades, I may however be wrong about that. Direct access to technical support was obviously not included when we chose to not onboard with the new Broadcom plans.
Till recently I was able to download patch depots and ISOs from the Broadcom support portal, but apparently no longer.
As I can still patch via the esxcli (though the memory bug is a nuisance) I'm unsure why I can no loner get those same patches through the support portal, which I do have a site ID for and still have access to. I like to have the offline depot files as then if I have to restore a backup config I can do a fresh install, patch to the software level that was installed and restore the config easily.
In the support portal there is a badge for software entitlements next to what we own, but clicking on the link leads to nothing to download, as Alfista mentioned. That seems odd as back in December there was no "entitlements" link, but we could download the patches.
I would have thought that it would be in Broadcom's interest to keep current systems patched and safe from vulnerabilities, but as usual I find what goes on there to be rather opaque.
In any event, thanks for the replies, I appreciate the input.
Original Message:
Sent: Mar 20, 2025 03:54 AM
From: 0aae0
Subject: Broadcom ESXi patch only download site where?
Technically said, if you don't have active support contract, you also not have legal rights to download the patch binaries.
At least so far, Broadcom is allowing, or at least condoning, the downloading of patch files via online patch servers.
However, these policies can change at any time.
Original Message:
Sent: Mar 04, 2025 11:38 PM
From: IT Support
Subject: Broadcom ESXi patch only download site where?
So Broadcom did something to the portal, so patch search is effectively gone.
Even if you get to the patch description url, the download link itself is missing.
Are offline users that can't do online profile updates permanently unable to patch if you don't have active support/licenses now?
Original Message:
Sent: May 07, 2024 07:07 PM
From: Asteroza
Subject: Broadcom ESXi patch only download site where?
William Lam seems to have a solution, but it's not a consolidated site per se.
https://williamlam.com/2024/05/useful-links-for-vmware-by-broadcom-day-2-transition.html
Per his instructions
I picked vSphere standard 7.0 which led here
https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/solutionfiles?displayGroup=VMware%20vSphere%20-%20Standard&os=&release=7.0&solution=VMware%20vSphere%20-%20Standard&subfamily=VMware%20vSphere
The patch list is for ESXi depot files and vCenter ISO's. Select the depot you want, and you get tossed to a page with a HTTPS download link which does not require entitlement. The main page has a version selector at the top so you can do 8.0 through to 5.5 as needed. This appears to show only the last general support patches for EoS ESXi, so I guess you must go through the entitled download path to get any newer patches for 6.7 users.
That final link is as close as we get to the old patch site, but you do need a Broadcom support logon to reach it?
Original Message:
Sent: May 07, 2024 06:28 PM
From: Asteroza
Subject: Broadcom ESXi patch only download site where?
That might work for directly connectable hosts, but the proxy support for the CLI when you don't have external DNS resolution directly at the host is an utter clown show.
But, if XML access works, then somehow extracting the depot links and hand downloading them should be possible...
But that site is locked down so you can't just go exploring the folders though.
This should not be made this difficult for regular sysadmins to access patches for offline systems.
Original Message:
Sent: May 07, 2024 04:13 AM
From: susse77
Subject: Broadcom ESXi patch only download site where?
If you are trying to update a host you could use esxcli. It worked on hostupdate.broadcom.com last sunday.
connect to the host using ssh and open up the firewall:
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
search for your release:
esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.broadcom.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-inde
x.xml | grep -i ESXi-8
un the update command:
esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-8.0U2b-23305546-standard -d https://hostupdate.broadcom.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml
close the firewall:
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient
Original Message:
Sent: May 05, 2024 06:47 PM
From: Asteroza
Subject: Broadcom ESXi patch only download site where?
So previously there was a consolidated patch download site.
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/patch
This allowed direct access and download to recent and/or last ESXi patch for current and older ESXi versions. This had zero entitlement restrictions in the interest of improving the security stance of the overall user community.
Where is the equivalent Broadcom patch download site? I do not see an obvious link in the My Downloads page. Will such a site continue to allow unrestricted access to patch or offline bundle downloads?