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VMware Update Manager as a Guest

Hi,

Is it at all possible to install VMWare Update Manager as a guest on the ESXI server you want to manage ?

Normally the Update Manager machine would have to remain up, but I was wondering if you could be sneaky sneaky with the way you remmediate the host.

Basically we have a single ESXi server, in a datacenter (along with some ubunto servers and a SAN) The ESXi server is hosting a Vcenter appliance.

We would like to be able to locally manage updates, without having to install a physical Windows box or another ESXi server.

Thanks

Bill Bach

I just posed this same question to VMWare tech rep last night. His first estimate was "no", unless you can migrate or vMotion it to another host, but he was checking for me.

Zach2001

ASKER

hehe cheers - I was gonna post there too, but thought I might as well try here first..

fingers crossed

Aaron Tomosky

It's actually really really easy to install updates using ssh. I have 5 esxi boxes an don't bother with update manager. Basically you download the update, and put it on your datastore. Ssh into the esxi box and run a one line command. I don't have it in front of me but il get it shortly. Usually you have to put esxi in maintenance mode first, patch, reboot, exit maintenance mode.

Bill Bach

The recommendation I got back was actually pretty simple. First, make sure that VMWare tools was installed as a COMPLETE install. (If not, uninstall, then reinstall it.) Then, move the vCenter VM to a VMWare Workstation environment, where it can keep running while the ESX box is upgraded.

Zach2001

ASKER

does the vcenter have to be up as well as the machine running the upgrade manager then ?
Our vcenter server is the linux appliance...

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

Update Manager works on a virtual machine, but you clearly cannot update the Host, that the virtual machine is hosted on.

Zach2001

ASKER

I was thinking along the lines, of once the update manager had been used to stage the updates, I could kick off the updates via console / SSH

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

Not really practicable.

Zach2001

ASKER

How come ?
The Update manager does the hard part of finding what patches are needed, downloading them and copying them to the host.

I would find it very 'practicable' - as the alternative is doing it ALL manually or deploying and managing another server.

Zach2001

ASKER

So... if I can work out where update manager stages the updates I can easily use ESXcli, I think.
Who's with me ?

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Aaron Tomosky

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Zach2001

ASKER

I had always thought I would have to do all the VIBs one by one - I'm sure I used to have to do that in the past.

Easy as Pie.

Cheers fella