So, after downloading the ISO image (at least the DVD can be [...]]]> VMware’s Update Manager has always been too complex and cumbersome for small installations. However, back in the EX 3.5 days, it at least worked. Late last year when vSphere 4 Update 1 came out, I once again tried using good ol’ Update Manager.

So, after downloading the ISO image (at least the DVD can be used to build new hosts) I went through the process of baseline creation, compliance, added the host, and viola, Upgrade is not supported from host version 4.0.0 to blah blah blah.

Luckily, esxupdate to the rescue. I uploaded the .zip file bundle (not the ISO image, so another 900MiB download) to VMFS storage and ran the update script from the location of the .zip file after putting the host into maintenance mode:

# esxupdate --bundle=ESX-4.0.0-update01a.zip update

Performed a reboot, and the host is now running at ESX 4.0.0 build 208167. Caveats:

• Make sure 3rd party monitoring and management packages are uninstalled first (e.g., HP or Dell)
• Maintenance mode (natch)

VMware’s market lead is based on large scale management and features you cannot find (yet) in Xen or Hyper-V. I love most features and the UI of vCenter, but the add-ons really need to be better managed.