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How to update the ESXi 4.1 free version to ESXi 4.1 Update 1


UPdate ESXi 4.1 without Vmware Update Manager.

If you’re using the free version of VMware Hypervisor you might want to know how to upgrade to the latest version if you don’t have VMware Update Manager.  I’ll show you the exact steps which are necessary to be able to update ESXi 4.1 to ESXi 4.1 update 1 – free version of VMware Hypervizor.

If you just starting to test ESXi 4.1 Free version, it’s ok, but if you put your Free ESXi in production, consider of buying a license. The vSphere Essentials Kit starts at $611. This permits you to manage 3 Hosts….. -:) and it does give you an access to update manager where you can manage you patches via the GUI.

You’ll need few things before you can start the patching process. You’ll need the upgrade file and VMware vCLI.

The steps:

01. First of all you’ll need to download the update package for ESXi 4.1. Go to this adress and download the zip file (206 Mb).

How to update vSphere 4.1 Free hypervizor to 4.1 Update 1

02. Download VMware vCLI here and install it on your Windows box.

03. Copy the downloaded ZIP package – the update-form-esxi4.1-4.1_update01.zip to the bin directory of WMware vCli.

04. Open the vCLI command prompt and CD to the c:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin directory

05. Now you will need to use the command vihost update in folowing format: vihostupdate –server host name or IP address -i -b location of the ESXi upgrade ZIP bundle -B ESXi4.1-to-ESXi4.1UPDATE01

Enter:  “perl vihostupdate.pl –server 192.168.1.10 –username root –password password -i -b update-from-esxi4.1-4.1_update01.zip”

Now, if you don’t put your host in maintenance mode first you’ll get a message complaining about that….

You’ll see the updating process running and when you’ll want to connect to your ESXi 4.1 host again with your vSphere Client, the vSphere client will update itself automatically…..

PS: Here you can find the updates for those 2 version of VMware in those 2 kb articles with the detailed information:

Sources:

- vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Scripting Guide

- vSphere Upgrade Guide

 

 

Vladan SEGET

Vladan is an Independent consultant, vExpert, VCP and owner of this website. This website ESX Virtualization started as a bookmarking site, but very fast found itself many readers and supporters. Feel free to network via Twitter @vladan

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  • GrZeCh

    Hello,

    there is a way to update without using vCLI. Just upload update file to one of your datastores, enable SSH and update using esxupdate command.

    Go to /vmfs/volumes/DATASTORENAME

    Listing updates:

    esxupdate –loglevel=DEBUG –bundle UPDATEFILE -a scan

    Installing update

    esxupdate –loglevel=DEBUG –bundle UPDATEFILE -b BULLETIN update

    • http://www.vladan.fr Vladan SEGET

      Thanks for the info … -:)

      • http://karlochacon@gmail.com karlochacon

        is it me or you can also update you ESX 4.1 to Update 1 using Vmware Update Manager?
        right?

        • http://www.vladan.fr Vladan SEGET

          If you have Update Manager (so …. you got vCenter..). Of course you can.

          Cheers.
          Vladan

  • Rainer

    Hi!

    i got this Message on a esxi 4.0

    Error connecting to server at ‘https://localhost/sdk/webService’: Perhaps host i
    s not a vCenter or ESX server

    Do i need a vcenter?

  • http://www.ceyhunkirmizitas.net Ceyhun Kirmizitas

    Write the command manualy ( do not copy and paste). This is typical perl behaviour.

  • Deetechi

    If you have a VMware account you can utilized VMware GO to upgrade from 4.0 to 4.1. Also installs patches. It’s a “lite” Vcenter.

    • http://www.vladan.fr Vladan SEGET

      Oh, that’s good to know… -:)
      Thanks for the info Deetechi.

  • http://www.regatronics.com grabbat

    Can’t open perl script “vihostupdate.pl”: No such file or directory

    any how to fix that?

    • http://www.vladan.fr Vladan SEGET

      Try to verify that you did not misspell a directory/file. It’s often the case.

      regards
      Vladan

      • http://www.regatronics.com grabbat

        thanks vladan. I had to put the full path for the vihostupdate.pl and the update file also.
        it works for me. I was hoping to fix an issue with an HP DL380 g7 server. It did not. The issue is when enabling the hyperthreading in the bios, the server crashes (reboots) as soon as i start any virtual machine
        on the ESXi 4.1. I’m not sure if you guys have any idea what it could be.

  • Tyson

    Thanks. Worked like a charm!

  • Farzin Sb

    thanks for this simple tutorial , but i faced the following problem and it didnt work.

    my server is still esxi 4.1 free evaluation.
    vmware -v : VMware ESXi 4.1.0 build-348481

    but it didnt work. it gives
    error connection to server at https://localhost/sdk/webService perhaps host is not a vcenter or esx server.