How to update ESXi Hosts From version 6 to 6.5  from the internet via ssh

I recently installed VCenter 6.5 in my environment and I needed to update my esxi hosts from 6 to 6.5. Here are the steps I took to accomplish this.

Prerequesites:

1. Create a backup of your Esxi hosts using Veeam or any backup method that you like
2. Make sure that your VCenter is upgraded to 6.5 first
3. Esxi hosts needs to have an internet connection
4. You need to have root access or have an account that can sudo su
5. You need to have ssh enabled, or have access to local console
6. You need to review these vmware notes:

https://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=2147548

I first verified that I am still running 6.0. There are two ways I could find out what version I am running

1. I logged in vshere client and on top line I saw this:

1. I can also run this command in ssh and get the version .

esxcli system version get

I am using teraterm for ssh connection and my hosts is on 192.168.5.30

I Copyed and pasted this command in your ssh session and wait for it to run

esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-6.5.0-4564106-standard -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

After 15 minutes, the update completes and we see that it needs to be rebooted.

Before rebooting, we need to set the system in maintenance mode by using this command:

esxcli system maintenanceMode set –enable true

Then reboot the system using this command:

esxcli system shutdown reboot –reason=”update to 6.5 on 3/4/17″

The system was back up and I issued the following command to check the new version.

esxcli system version get

So the update was successful.

Final thoughts: The update was painless and easy. It took me less than 25 minutes to do this. Next, I am curious if one can automate this process so it can be done to multiple hosts via ssh.