ESXi

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  • 1.  Patching ESXi Host

    Posted Aug 25, 2011 04:54 PM

    Hi,

       We have got around 200 ESXi4.0 host across different geographical location. They all are managed by a single virtual center. The hosts are not in cluster. Is there any tool/script to update the patches for the host without any manual intervention like bringing down the VM, keeping the host in maintenance mode.

    Appreciate any help.



  • 2.  RE: Patching ESXi Host

    Broadcom Employee
    Posted Aug 25, 2011 06:13 PM

    Welcome,

    May is interesing VMware Update Manager for you . http://www.vmware.com/products/update-manager/overview.html

    VUM is included in vcenter package, but you need install.

    VUM download patches with filter of critical and anothers, check compliance with version.

    Might will helpful


    Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers. 

    Mauro Bonder - Moderator



  • 3.  RE: Patching ESXi Host

    Posted Aug 25, 2011 06:21 PM

    Since you are using vCenter, I would suggest, vCenter Update Manager.  You can pre-stage the patches without disruption.  Then when you are ready to apply the updates, you will need to shutdown any VMs on the host and put it in maintenance mode.  Since there is no cluster, you really have no choice but to shutdown the VMs on the Host to apply the patches.  If you want to automate the process, I would suggest using vCenter Orchestrator or Power CLI.



  • 4.  RE: Patching ESXi Host

    Posted Aug 25, 2011 08:05 PM

    Thanks for your reply.   We are normally patching the host thru VUM. But We are looking for a script to  do it automatically.



  • 5.  RE: Patching ESXi Host

    Posted Aug 25, 2011 08:07 PM

    I have not tried this, but it may be worth looking into.

    http://wirey.com/2010/03/patching-esxi-using-powercli/