VMware ESXi 7.0.3 Upgrade

Andres Bohren
VMware ESXi 7.0.3 Upgrade

Hi All,

I’ve decided to upgrade my VMware ESXi 6.7 to 7.x. Searched for HPE Custom Images and was able to download the ISO File from VMware.

I’ve created a bootable USB Stick with Rufus

Then rebooted the Server and booted from the USB Stick

Enter to run the VMware ESXi 7.0.3 Installation

F10 to Accept the EULA

Selected the Volume where ESXi is installed

Selected Upgrade ESXi with preserving the VMFS Datastore

Got an Error with a dependency

Rebooted ESXi Server and logged in with SSH

esxcli software vib list | grep -i scsi-bfa
esxcli software vib remove -n scsi-bfa

Rebooted again from USB Stick and go trough the Installation Wizard again. The dependency Error was gone and it remains a Warning that the CPU may not be supported in future ESXi releases.

F11 to confirm Upgrade

Sucessful upgrade and info to remove the USB Stick - Enter to Reboot

Rebooted and wanted to connect to ESXi Webinterface

503 Service Unavailable (Failed to connect to endpoint: [N7vmacore4Http16LocalServiceSpecE:0x000000fd1f041330] _serverNamespace = action Allow _port 8309)

/etc/init.d/hostd restart
/etc/init.d/rhttpproxy restart

After fixing the Issue the ESXi Webinterface works

I’ve downloaded the latest ESXi 7.x Patch from 2024-03-05 (VMware-ESXi-7.0U3p-23307199-depot)

Uploaded the Patch via Datastore Explorer to the ESXi Server and then started the Installation with SSH Login on ESXi Server.

Again got some dependency error

esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/ISO/VMware-ESXi-7.0U3p-202307199-depot.zip

Removed the Packages mentioned and then Rebooted the ESXi Server

esxcli software vib remove -n qedi
esxcli software vib remove -n qedf

Now tried again to install the Update with SSH - this time it works

esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore3/ISO/VMware-ESXi-7.0U3p-202307199-depot.zip

After a Reboot the ESXi Server has the Version 7.0.3 Build 23307199

VMware Webinterface Shows ESXi 7.0 Update 3

Host Client

I’ve checked the Product Lifecycle of ESXi 7.x - it’s still supported for about a Year until April 2025

Actually i run now on “evaluation Mode” for 60 Days. I now have to figure out if i will stay on VMware ESXi or move to another Virtualization Plattform like Microsoft Hyper-V.

Regards
Andres Bohren

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