This is a guide that shows you how to patch/update your stand alone VMware ESXi 6.7 server install.
As the VMware ESXi 6.7 server is a stand alone server (no vCenter or VCSA, thus, VMware Update Manager (YUM)), you will need to patch the host without using the Update manager. This will involve patching the server using zip files downloaded from VMware’s patch portal.
Step 1: Download patch zip files
Log in to the VMware Patch Download Portal and select ESXi embedded and Installable for version 6.7.0.
The last cumulative patch released, as of time of writing, is update-from-esxi6.7-6.7_update01 , released on 10/16/2018
Step 2: turn on SSH
To enable SSH on your VMware ESXi server, log in to the web GUI and navigate to:
Host > Actions > Services > Enable Secure Shell (SSH)
Step 3: Upload patch to the datastore
Upload the downloaded patch zip file to your ESXi server datastore via:
Click on the new newly created updates folder and select Upload, select the update patch you downloaded.
Storage > Datastore1 > Datastore browser > Create new directory > call this updates
Step 4: Place the ESXi server into maintenance mode
Right-click on Host and select Enter Maintenance Mode.
(The host is in maintenance mode until you select Maintenance Mode > Exit Maintenance Mode.)
Step 5: Verify current server version
You can verify what version your ESXi 6.7 server is currently on (mine is showing version6.7.0 (Build 8169922) via:
Host > Version
Step 6: Run patch install
Now that you have uploaded the patch zip file, enabled SSH access and place the server into maintenance mode we can precede to accesing the server via SSH and installing the patch.
Open your preferred SSH program (terminal, Putty etc) and access your ESXi server.
You can verify the folder path to the patch via running the command ls, is my case the patch was uploaded to the following folder path
/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/updates/update-from-esxi6.7-6.7_update01.zip
You can now install the patch using the following command:
esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/updates/update-from-esxi6.7-6.7_update01.zip
Once the patch has successfully finished installing, you will be required to perform a full reboot of the ESXi server.
Step 7: Verify patch was successful
Once the VMware ESXi 6.7 server has successfully rebooted, access the web GUI and check that not only is the server working as expected, but also that the version information has update to reflect the patch install. My server now shows that is has been patch to version: 6.7.0 Update 1 (Build 10302608)
Once you have verified that the server has successfully been updated, return the ESXi server to normal operation via taking it out of maintenance mode:
Right-click on Host and select Exit Maintenance Mode.