Updating ESXi with RCLI Appliance

If you're running ESXi and connecting directly to the VIC you do not have the option to update your host. This can be done easily with the Remote Command Line Utility. This is installed as part of Virtual Center, you can download it or can be downloaded as a virtual appliance. The virtual appliance is free and can be downloaded here: VI-RCLI
I prefer the virtual appliance, even thought it's a couple of extra steps. Start the virtual appliance with VMPlayer. Make sure you have a DHCP server on your network. Create a root login and password. This doesn't have to be the same as your ESXi server. This is only for the appliance. Access the following website to download your desired patch. Here Get the URL by right clicking on the link for the download and selecting properties. You should have something like this: http://download3.vmware.com/software/vi/ESXe350-200811401-O-SG.zip. Go to your virtual appliance and execute the wget command with the above URL.




Once the download is complete you can view your download, saved in whatever directory you saved it to by using the dir or ls command.





To update, 20081114 or whatever image you downloaded use the following command:

vihostupdate.pl –server IP of ESXi server -username root -password root password -i –b ESXe350-200811401-O-SG.zip





Hit enter and grab your favorite beverage.

The appliance will unpack and install the requested files. Once complete you will get a message that says you will need to reboot for the new firmware image to take effect. After typing yes the host will reboot. After the host is back up you can verify that your machine has been updated by executing the following command from the RCLI: vihostupdate.pl –server IP of ESXi server -username root –q





If there was a problem installing the new image you can revert back to a prior image by holding down the shift button and pressing the R button while the "Loading Hypervisor" screen is up. You will see the prior image and can revert back to it by selecting it and pressing the Y button. Now if you don't use the RCLI you can delete the appliance, and the patch downloaded to the appliance will be deleted.