Upgrade ESXi 4.0 to ESXi 4.1

Prior to the upgrade, a backup of the ESXi configuration is recommended. This backup can be done using the vicfg-cfgbackup command that is part of the ESXi CLI. The CLI can be installed in Windows or Linux.

  • Download the installer from the Drivers and Tools tab of the ESXi download page.
  • Install the exe using default options.
  • Open a command prompt in Windows and navigate to the installation directory
    • cd C:cd “C:Program FilesVMwareVMware vSphere CLIbin”
  • Run the command to back up the configuration
    • vicfg-cfgbackup.pl --server 192.168.1.20 -s C:esxi_backup.txt
  • If authentication is not specified in the command, it will be requested and the password will not be echoed to the terminal
  • Note: this command actually saved the file in this location despite the path I specified: C:UsersryanAppDataLocalVirtualStore

Once the backup has been taken, it’s time to do the upgrade.

  • Download the following upgrade ZIP bundle from the VMware Web site to a location that is accessible to the vSphere CLI machine.
    • upgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.build#-release.zip
  • The upgrade ZIP bundle contains and esxupdate bulletin and an upgrade bulletin.
  • Power off any virtual machines that are running on the host and place the host into maintenance mode.
  • Install the esxupdate bulletin by running the following command on the vSphere CLI machine.
    • vihostupdate --server 192.168.1.20 -i -b c:tempupgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip -B ESXi410-GA-esxupdate
  • Install the upgrade bulletin by running the following command on the vSphere CLI machine.
    • vihostupdate --server 192.168.1.20 -i -b c:tempupgrade-from-ESXi4.0-to-4.1.0-0.0.260247-release.zip -B ESXi410-GA
  • Verify that the bulletins are installed on the ESXi host by running the following command.
    • vihostupdate.pl --server 192.168.1.20 --query
  • Reboot the host.

After the reboot, the first time connecting to the server with the vSphere Client, will result in a new version of vSphere being downloaded and installed. Just follow the prompts to get it upgraded.

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