VMware Esxi and UCS Firmware Upgrade PPT

1. Upgrading VMware Esxi 5.X to 6.X ,
UCS Firmware upgrade and
challenges
Amim Ansari
Knowledge
Transfer

2. Vmware Esxi 6.7 upgrade path

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There are two way to download ISO file
Go to www.vmware.com
Select menu My VMware > Product & Downloads > All Downloads > VMware
vSphere > Custom ISOs > expand the OEM Customized Installer CDs option
and download the Cisco Image for ESXi 6.5.0 Install CD
Or
Click on below link and copy to web browser
https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=OEM-
ESXI65U2-CISCO&productId=614

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Log into the server's CIMC web interface – 192.168.1.1
In the Server Summary, under Actions tab select -> Launch KVM Console.
Dialogue box will pop-up, select “Accept the session” and continue. KVM
console session will launch as below.

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Select “Yes” to continue.

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On the KVM console, select “Virtual media” tab > Activate virtual devices. Then,
accept the session on dialogue box that pop-up. Connection will be established.
Go again to “Virtual Media” tab > Map CD/DVD > Browse the location of .iso
image and hit Map device.

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• Confirm that the .iso image is mapped to CD/DVD by going back to Virtual
Media tab in KVM console.
• Once confirmed, select Power Cycle System (Cold Reboot) under the
Power tab.
• The device will start booting up.
• Press “F6” to enter into the boot menu.

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8) Press “F6” to enter into the boot menu.

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Select a boot device “Cisco vKVM-Mapped vDVD1.22” and hit enter.

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Once boot device is selected, it would automatically select the installed
image and start loading the Esxi installer. This process would take 5-7
minutes to complete.

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On the VMware ESXi 6.5.0 installer, Press “Enter” to continue.

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Accept the EULA (End User License Agreement) by pressing “F11”.

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Once the EULA is complete, select a disk to upgrade and then press “Enter”
to continue.

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Check for Listed ESXi and VMFS found. Select “Install ESXi, preserve
VMFS datastore” and press “Enter” to continue.

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Confirm the upgrade by pressing “F1”

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The upgrade to ESXi 6.5.0 will start and this process will take about 5-7
mins.

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Once the upgrade ,complete you will be directed to upgrade complete
window. Hit “Enter” to reboot the server.

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The server is ready to start using ESXi 6.5.0. Press “F2” to enter into
Customize System/View logs.

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Enter Login name, password when prompted, and press, “Enter” to continue.

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Upgrade is successful .

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Challenge when upgarding 6.5 or 6.7 on UCS C220M3or C240M3 , you will
get Below Error .

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Error is due to because in C220M3 or C240M3 we do not have a Following
hardware Emulex and Qlogic in New Esxi 6.5 or 6.7 ISO Image
How to remove These Error .
1) A) Build a customized ISO Image from Power Shell and remove
unwanted VIB which is not supported by your current hardware .
B) Enable SSH in the ESXi host
Disabled by default, the SSH service must be enabled in th Esxi
Host using the VSphere client , go to configuration tab & select
security profile in the software section ,click properties in the top
right of the screen to enable SSH.
1)

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Conflicted Vibs
scsi-be2iscsi 10.2.250.0-1OEM.500.0.0.472629 Emulex
scsi-qla2xxx 934.5.29.0-1OEM.500.0.0.472560 QLogic
scsi-qla4xxx 634.5.26.0-1OEM.500.0.0.472560 QLogic
Removed using below command through CLI.
---------------------------------------
esxcli software vib remove -n scsi-be2iscsi
esxcli software vib remove -n scsi-qla2xxx
esxcli software vib remove -n scsi-qla4xxx

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Upgrading firmware and bios on Cisco’s C220/C240 series servers
How do we achieve it:
• download HUU ( Host Upgrade Utility) ISO image to your workstation
o login to C-IMC ( Cisco Integrated Management Controller) via a browser
o open up Java based virtual KVM
o attach the iso image from your workstation
o reboot server
o Press F6 during the boot
o boot from virtual DVD
o run the pre-upgrade check
o upgrade bios and firmware on raid controller, mlom, NIC cards, and etc
reboot the system

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Server Product model and version can easily be identified under “Server
Summary” when you login to the server via CIMC.

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You will need to have an account with Cisco to download the server upgrade
iso image from their Download home
https://software.cisco.com/download/navigator.html
On the Download Software page navigate to –> Products–> Servers – Unified
Computing –> UCS C-Series Rack-Mount Standalone Server Software.

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Find the appropriate UCS Server Software:

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Find the appropriate UCS Server Software:

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On the next screen choose the Unified Computing System (UCS) Server
Firmware

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Download the HUU iso image to your workstation.

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You can go ahead and login to the CIMC panel on the server you looking to
upgrade BIOS, hardware firmware and of course the CIMC software itself.
Once logged in, click on the Server tab, then Summary link. On the left under
Server Summary, you will see number of Action items, one of them being
“Launch KVM Console”. Go ahead and start the java based KVM console,
but be aware that you might need to add the server’s CIMC IP address into
Java Security exception list.

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You might get a viewer pop-up screen with .jnlp extension, you must
associate it with Java Web Start Launcher for vKVM to start properly.

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Connect to the vKVM (virtual KVM)

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Next step is to make sure to map the Drive to appropriate HUU iso image.

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Reboot the server and press F6 to get into boot menu. Choose Cisco Virtual
CD/DVD while in the boot menu.

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It will take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes for the server to boot from the
attached HUU iso image. You must agree when a license agreement page
comes up, otherwise you will
not be able to proceed

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Select all the items, then press Update All, and Yes to upgrade firmware on
all the components.

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This step usually takes anywhere from 80 minute or more if you are doing it
over a slow WAN link network. So be patient.

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Press exit, once the firmware upgrade is done. Server Will reboot and login
again in CIMC to check upgraded Firmware .
Thank You