HOW TO: Upgrade VMware ESXi 5.1 to ESXi 6.0 in 5 easy steps

As many begin the process of upgrading their ESXi software to the latest version, there are a variety of steps to be aware of. In this tutorial article, I'll explain how to upgrade ESXi 5.1 to ESXi 6.0 in 5 easy steps.   

Before we get started:
It is important to ensure you have valid backups of your virtual machines before you make any changes to a Production VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.1 Host server, which is hosting virtual machines. Additionally, all virtual machines must be powered off and the server should be in maintenance mode.

Here are the steps to upgrade your software:

  1. Download the ESXi 6.0 Offline Bundle from VMware - here

• The file is called VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip,check the following:
  
  • MD5SUM: bebc48450b9743c56073602931d63600 
  • SHA1SUM: 79bf372bb7cd70bbbf2dd5f5819a7830468e2b7e
• ​​​Signatures are correct with the published figures above. See my Experts Exchange article Part 3: HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) to see how to check these checksum signatures and make sure they are correct for your offline bundle upgrade.

 
2. Upload the offline bundle to an ESXi 5.1 datastore

• Upload the offline patch bundle to an ESXi 5.1 datastore. We will be uploading the patch bundle to datastore1 on our ESXi 5.1 host server. If you require additional help on how to upload this file to the ESXi datastore, please see my Experts Exchange article Part 4: HOW TO: Upload an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

 
3. Connect to the ESXi 5.1 host server via SSH

• Connect to the ESXi 5.1 host server via SSH. If your ESXi 5.1 server is not enabled for SSH, please see my Experts Exchange article Part 5: HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1).
• Step 3 in the following Experts Exchange article details SSH access to an ESXi host server in you need additional guidance: Part 4: HOW TO: Upload an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

 

• At the console prompt, type vmware -l to confirm the ESXi version. VMware ESXi 5.1.0 GA or later should be returned, though this will depend upon whether any patches that have been applied.

 
4. Use esxcli at the console command line to upgrade the server

• At the console, type the following:

 

• The above command does not produce any feedback if entered correctly. After approximately 20 seconds, the upgrade should be complete. However, we have found if you are using slow USB flash drives and SD cards, this can take considerably longer for the files to be written. Once it is complete, you will be presented with the following screen:

 

• If all is well, you should see an update screen, shown above, though you may have to scroll the screen to see all the information. Check the update result at the top.If the update completed successfully, the system needs to be reboot for the changes to be effective.
• You can see new VIB packages (driver packages) installed, removed, and none that were skipped. If you are using an OEM version of VMware ESXi 5.1 (e.g. from HP, IBM or Dell), your output could be different.

 

• Type "reboot" to reboot the server.

 
5. Check the ESXi 5.1 Host server has been upgraded

• Check the following:
  
  • The Console Screen should report VMware ESXi 6.0.0 (VMKernel Release Build 2809209)

 
Congratulations, you have successfully upgraded your host server from VMware ESXi 5.1 to VMware ESXi 6.0.

Basic VMware Articles Series:  During this series of articles, VMware released VMware vSphere 5.5 and VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.5. These articles are also applicable to VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.0 and 5.5. For consistency, I have used VMware vSphere Hypervisor ESXi 5.1 throughout this series:
 

• Part 1: HOW TO: Install and Configure VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

 

• Part 2: HOW TO: Connect to the VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client

 

• Part 3: HOW TO: Create an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image (*.iso), and MD5 checksum signature, for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

 

• Part 4: HOW TO: Upload an ISO CD-ROM/DVD-ROM image to a VMware datastore for use with VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) using the vSphere Client, and checking its MD5 checksum signature is correct.

 

• Part 5: HOW TO: Enable SSH Remote Access on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1)

 

• Part 6: HOW TO: Create your first Linux Virtual Machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 7: HOW TO: Create your first Windows Virtual Machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 8: HOW TO: Install VMware Tools for Windows on a VMware Windows virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 9: HOW TO: Install VMware Tools for Linux on a VMware Linux virtual machine on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 10: HOW TO: Backup (Export) and Restore (Import) virtual machines to VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 for FREE

 

• Part 11: HOW TO: Suppress Configuration Issues System logs on host are stored on non-persistent storage

 

• Part 12: HOW TO: Configure and Replace the SSL Certificate on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

 

• Part 13: HOW TO: Shrink or Reduce a VMware Virtual Machine Disk (VMDK) using VMware vCenter Converter Standalone v5.5.2

 

• ​Part 14: HOW TO: Configure basic networking on a VMware vSphere Hypervisor 5.1 (ESXi 5.1) Host Server

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