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Upgrade ESXi 5.5 to ESXi 5.5 U1 using HP image fails

Before i start an upgrade i usually run two commands just to verify what build number my ESXi host currently uses and what image my ESXi host currently uses:

  • vmware -v – shows the build number
  •  esxcli software profile get – shows the image name and in my case the result before the upgrade was:
    (Updated) HP-ESXi-5.5.0-iso-5.72.27
    Name: (Updated) HP-ESXi-5.5.0-iso-5.72.27

As seen in the above output the ESXi hosts were currently installed with the Hewlett Packard (HP) ESXi 5.5 image which was download via the HP web site here and the HP ESXi 5.5. U1 image i was trying to install was also downloaded via the same HP web site.

When i tried to upgrade the ESXi hosts with the HP ESXi 5.5 Update 1 ISO i received the following error in the vSphere Update Manager plug-in for vSphere Client.

Screen Shot 2014-07-20 at 20.24.37

I did some investigation, apart from reading the VMware knowledge base article 2082027, including manually:

  • Comparing installed VIBs with the once included in BCM-NetXtremeII ZIP file
  • Trying to install conflicting VIB

Below you’ll see the steps i took when comparing installed drivers and the drivers included in the offline bundle.

I verified the installed net-cnic driver version by running the“esxcli software vib list | grep -i net-cnic” command and this was the output:

  • Name/version
    net-cnic/1.78.76.v55.7-1OEM.550.0.0.1331820

To verify the versions included in an offline bundle you can run the command:

  • esxcli software sources vib list -d location-to-the-offline-bundle

Below you’ll find my output from the command”esxcli software sources vib list -d /tmp/BCM-NetXtremeII-4.0-offline_bundle-1796156.zip” 

Screen Shot 2014-07-21 at 23.49.16

I really don’t understand why net-cnic version 1.7a is classified as a downgrade when the currently running version is 1.78.76.v55.7-1OEM.550.0.0.1331820 as shown in the output from the ESXi host command “esxcli software vib list | grep -i net-cnic

My conclusion is that the problem seems to be related to either incorrect version numbering of the Broadcom net-cnic driver included in the Broadcom offline bundle or misinterpretation of the version number of the Broadcom net-cnic driver included in the Broadcom offline bundle.

The first thing that crossed my mind after the troubleshooting was to create a new ISO image using PowerCLI commands because in that case i could use vSphere Update Manager for the upgrade process. However, i have no idea if i’ll get the correct attention if i ever have to create a service request when using a home made ESXi image.

So what i did after downloading the BCM-NetXtremeII-4.0-1796156.zip from the HP vibsdepot and unzip the ZIP file (which is necessary to get the offline bundle) which i had already done was the following:

  • Created a vSphere Update Manager baseline using the Offline bundle ZIP file included in the BCM-NetXtremeII-4.0-1796156.zip file and not the actual BCM-NetXtremeII-4.0-1796156.zip file.
  • Installed the Offline bundle using vSphere Update Manager which included a reboot of the ESXi host.
  • Run the vSphere Update Manager scan again for the HP ESXi 5.5 U1 image which now showed the following result:
    Screen Shot 2014-07-21 at 22.04.39
  • Installed the HP ESXi 5.5 U1 using vSphere Update Manager which also included an ESXi host reboot

When finished i run the “esxcli software profile get” command which now showed the following output:

HP-ESXi-5.5.0-Update1-iso-5.74.27
Name: HP-ESXi-5.5.0-Update1-iso-5.74.27

Upgrade completed and all the ESXi hosts now runs 5.5 U1.

 

 

3 pings

  1. Newsletter: July 27, 2014 | Notes from MWhite

    […] ESXi 5.5 to 5.5 U1 using HP Image fails This is an interesting example of troubleshooting but also problem / solution.  Good info if you use HP gear as you may run into […]

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