Howto update ESXi without vCenter (Update Manager)

Use the following steps to upgrade your ESXi version to the latest version without download patches first! We are going to use Putty to talk against the command line 🙂

First step, put your ESXi server into maintenance mode :

vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

Now we are going to check the profile version we are running

esxcli software profile get

Or check the build version using the UI:

Now enable the host firewall rule to allow web traffic

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient

Run the following command to list the online depot profiles available :

esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

When you run into an error using the above command. Check your DNS and Gateway settings. ESXi needs to resolve some information using the internet!

Now let’s install the appropriate update, in my case I found out that I’m currently running 20170601001s. In your situation that can be different!

You can see what version you’re running using the previous command :

esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.0.0-20170601001s-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

Ok, let’s reboot!

Reboot

After installation I noticed the latest build :

Now set the firewall rule to the previous setting :

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient

Final step exit maintenance mode :

vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit