Custom ESX 2.x.x Upgrade with a Tar-Ball

Note:

  • It is possible to upgrade/patch ESX 2.x remotely using tar ball and perl script from VMware
  • We must change the boot process to make sure the VMkernel is not loaded during this period using LILO commands 
  1. Download the tar.gz file from VMware – use md5sum to check the file has not been corrupted
  2. Using scp or WinSCP transfer the tar.gz file to your /tmp or /vmimages location   
  3. Untar the tar.gz file with: tar -xvzf esx-2.5.x.xxxxx-upgrade.tar

    Note:
    This will take some time! 

     

  4. Change the boot option andReboot ESX withlilo -R linux-up
    reboot        

     

    Note:
    When you reconnect to the Service Console, confirm you have not loaded the Vmkernel. An easy check is to ls /vmfs. No Vmkernel, No VMFS…

    When you reconnect to the Service Console, confirm you have not loaded the Vmkernel. An easy check is to ls /vmfs. No Vmkernel,

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  1. No VMFS…

    When you reconnect to the Service Console, confirm you have not loaded the Vmkernel. An easy check is to ls /vmfs. No Vmkernel, No VMFS… 

     

  2. cd in to the esx-2.5.x.xxxxx -upgrade directory
  3. Run the Perl script called ./upgrade.pl Note:
    This will give status messages like:  This script will upgrade your ESX server to version 2.5.2
    Verifying files … done
    Upgrading packages …….
    Running vmware-config.pl … done
    *** You must reboot the system to finish the upgrade ***  

     

     

     

     

  4. Choose N, to the reboot
  5. Reset the boot order with:lilo -R esx
    reboot      

     

     

 

This was first published in June 2006

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