Upgrade VMware ESXi from 5.x to 6.0 on SoYouStart (SYS) Servers

For some reason the So You Start templates only include VMware ESXi 5.0 Update 1. Here’s how to upgrade to ESXi 6.0.

1. SSH into your ESXi host
2. List all the 6.0 profiles from the VMware depot site:
   
   ~ # esxcli software sources profile list -d http://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep 6.0 ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150902001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160101001s-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151004001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160801001s-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151104001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150701001s-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160301001s-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150704001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150901001s-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150404001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160301001s-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160504001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160801001s-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150504001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150701001s-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160504001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150504001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160101001s-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160302001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160204001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150901001s-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151004001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150902001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151104001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160302001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150704001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160804001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160204001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150404001-no-tools VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160804001-standard VMware, Inc. PartnerSupported

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   ~ # esxcli software sources profile list -d http://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep 6.0 ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-no-tools       VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150902001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160101001s-standard  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151004001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160801001s-standard  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151104001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150701001s-no-tools  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160301001s-no-tools  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150704001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150901001s-standard  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150404001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160301001s-standard  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160504001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160801001s-no-tools  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150504001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150701001s-standard  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160504001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150504001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160101001s-no-tools  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160302001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160204001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150901001s-no-tools  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151004001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150902001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20151104001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160302001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-standard       VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150704001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160804001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160204001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160104001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20150404001-no-tools   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported ESXi-6.0.0-20160804001-standard   VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported

3. Install the latest version, in our case it will be ESXi-6.0.0-20160804001-standard (I had to run this command twice, it failed the first time):
   
   ~ # esxcli software profile install -d http://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-6.0.0-20160804001-standard --ok-to-remove

   1	~ # esxcli software profile install -d http://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-6.0.0-20160804001-standard --ok-to-remove

4. Next set our acceptance level to CommunitySupported`:
   
   ~ # esxcli software acceptance set --level=CommunitySupported

   1	~ # esxcli software acceptance set --level=CommunitySupported

5. Install custom vib driver for our Intel NIC 82579V (I have tested this on several SYS and SSD servers with no problems):
   
   ~ # esxcli software vib install -v http://files.v-front.de/net-e1001e-1.0.0.x86_64.vib

   1	~ # esxcli software vib install -v http://files.v-front.de/net-e1001e-1.0.0.x86_64.vib

6. Reboot:
   
   ~ # reboot

   1	~ # reboot

7. With any luck you should now be running 6.0:
   
   ~ # uname -a VMkernel ns529192.ip-198-27-82.net 6.0.0 #1 SMP Release build-4192238 Jul 29 2016 18:02:58 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 ESXi

   1 2	~ # uname -a VMkernel ns529192.ip-198-27-82.net 6.0.0 #1 SMP Release build-4192238 Jul 29 2016 18:02:58 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 ESXi

A shout out goes out to fite.cat, I used their commands and modified it to work with 6.0.