Upgrading VMware ESXi 4.0 to ESXi 4.1 Update 1

The following are notes I took while upgrading several ESXi 4.0 servers (Dell PowerEdge M600) to Update 4.1.0 Update 1.

I decided to post these notes since I encountered an error that wasn't specifically identified in a VMware KB, although there is one for the issue as you'll see, the error is slightly different.

Here's the VMware KB article that discusses the upgrade options to 4.1:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1022140

The following is the specific video that I used as reference (uses esxupdate from the SSH consol):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0wSHPSvmpk&feature=player_embedded#at=57

1. I updated the ESXi 4.0 servers to the latest patches prior to performing the upgrade to 4.1u1. I'm not sure if this is required or not.
   
2. Copy the upgrade-from-esxi4.0-to-4.1-update01-348481.zip to the local datastore (I put it in a new directory /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/esxi-upgrade). The upgrade package may be different if your version isn't currently ESXi version 4.0. Also, if you are upgrading from ESX 4.0 make sure to watch the video and follow the initial preupgrade step!
   
3. SSH into the ESXi server
   
4. Put the ESXi server into maintenance mode via either the vSphere Client GUI or from the command line
   

   
   # vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter
   # vim-cmd /hostsvc/runtimeinfo | grep inMaintenanceMode
      inMaintenanceMode = true, 
   
   

5. Try to run the update, mine ran for several minutes and eventually errored:
   

   
   # esxupdate --bundle=/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/esxi-upgrade/upgrade-from-esxi4.0-to-4.1-update01-348481.zip update
   
   The following problems were encountered trying to resolve dependencies:
      Requested VIB deb_vmware-esx-firmware_4.1.0-1.4.348481 conflicts with the
      host
   

   I found a KB article that covered a similar error and followed it's advice to remove an unneeded Cisco Nexus package:
   http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1026752
   
   • Check if the cisco package is installed
     

     
     # esxupdate query --vib-view | grep cross_cisco | grep installed
     
     cross_cisco-vem-v100-esx_4.0.4.1.1.28-0.5.2                        installed     2009-07-17T17:53:15.448003+00:00 
     
     

   • Remove the package
     

     
     # esxupdate -b cross_cisco-vem-v100-esx_4.0.4.1.1.28-0.5.2 remove
     

6. Run the update again, this time it succeeds (ran for 10 minutes or so)
   

   
   # esxupdate --bundle=/vmfs/volumes/datastore1/esxi-upgrade/upgrade-from-esxi4.0-to-4.1-update01-348481.zip update
   
   Unpacking vmware-esx-tools-light-4.1.0-1.4.348481.i386.vib          ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Unpacking vmware-esx-firmware-4.1.0-1.4.348481.i386.vib             ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Unpacking cross_oem-vmware-esx-drivers-net-vxge_400.2.0.28.21239-.. ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Unpacking vmware-esx-esxupdate-esxi-4.1.0-0.0.260247.i386.vib       ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Removing packages :vmware-esx-tools-light vmware-esx-viclient       ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Installing packages :deb_vmware-esx-esxupdate-esxi_4.1.0-0.0.260247 ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Installing packages :deb_vmware-esx-firmware_4.1.0-1.4.348481       ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Installing packages :cross_oem-vmware-esx-drivers-net-vxge_400.2... ################################################################################################ [100%]
   Installing packages :deb_vmware-esx-tools-light_4.1.0-1.4.348481    ################################################################################################ [100%]
   
   Running [/usr/sbin/vmkmod-install.sh]...
   ok.
   The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the
   changes to be effective.
   

7. Exit maintenance mode and reboot
   

   
   # vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit
   # vim-cmd /hostsvc/runtimeinfo | grep inMaintenanceMode
      inMaintenanceMode = false, 
   
   # reboot
   

VMware Announces the Release of vSphere 4.1

The release over can be found on this page.

The page is mostly sales jargon, but does contain one interesting tidbit that ESX will not be supported after this release!

"For planning purposes, it is important to know that vSphere 4.1 is the last vSphere release to support both ESX and ESXi hypervisor architectures; all future releases of vSphere will only support the ESXi architecture"

Also, some exciting news for Essentials Plus users:

"VMware vMotion™ is now included in the Essentials Plus and Essentials for Retail & Branch Offices kits, as well as in vSphere Standard edition."

VMware Virtual Center Server failing to start at boot

I recently moved vCenter Server 4 from running on bare metal to a virtual machine. The vCenter Server is not starting successfully at bootup and the Windows Event Log has a message that doesn't provide much insight:

Event Type:    Error
Event Source:    VMware VirtualCenter Server
Event Category:    None
Event ID:    1000
Date:        2/1/2010
Time:        9:38:03 AM
User:        N/A
Computer:    VCENTER
Description:
The description for Event ID ( 1000 ) in Source ( VMware VirtualCenter Server ) cannot be found. The local computer may not have the necessary registry information or message DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. You may be able to use the /AUXSOURCE= flag to retrieve this description; see Help and Support for details. The following information is part of the event: Error getting configuration info from the database.

I found one site that resolved this issue by manually copying SSL certs to "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\VMware\VMware VirtualCenter\SSL", however in my case, the directory and keys exist:
http://www.networknet.nl/apps/wp/archives/846

I believe that the issue is related to the timing of the services starting, in particular, the vCenter components are trying to start too soon before SQL Express is ready.

This VMware Forum posting may provide the workaround (creating a batch file to start the services):
http://communities.vmware.com/thread/208888

1. Create a new batch file called C:\Scripts\vc-start.bat (goofy that Windows doesn't provide a 'sleep' command)
   

   sc config MSSQL$SQLEXP_VIM start= demand
   net start MSSQL$SQLEXP_VIM
   ping 127.0.0.1 -n 10 -w 1000 > nul
   sc config vpxd start= demand
   net start vpxd
   ping 127.0.0.1 -n 10 -w 1000 > nul
   sc config vctomcat start= demand
   net start vctomcat

2. Set the following services to start manually in the "services.msc" MMC program
• SQL Server (SQLEXP_VIM)
  
• VMware VirtualCenter Server
• VMware VirtualCenter Management Webservices
3. Test the new batch file from the command line
4. Set the batch file to start on boot (procedure for Windows XP Pro and Win2k3)
• Open local computer policy: Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc
• Expand Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Scripts
• In the right-hand pane, double-click Startup
• Click Add...
• Browse to C:\Scripts and double click vc-start.bat
• Leave script parameters empty
• Click OK and reboot

The vCenter server and tomcat components should now start at boot.