This procedure has been applied on vcenter version 7.x
I don’t know if it works on different versions on vcenter.
Download vCenter Patch
Open https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=VMware+vCenter+Server&tab=Solutions select the installed vCenter version in your system from the dropdown menù, Select the latest FIX version and download the image file patch-FP.iso
Before Update
Take a Snapshot of your vcenter (remember to delete it few days after update)
If you use any backup system (bacula, veeam, arcserve…) verify if there are jobs running and wait until they are completed (or stop them).
Open vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface (https://your-vcenter-ip:5480) and login as root. In Summary verify health values are Good, in Services verify all services status are Healthy. If you find any problem, fix it before update.
If active (Fully Automated), disable Cluster Automatic DRS on your clusters. Select the cluster go to Configure -> Services -> vSphere DRS -> Edit -> Automation Level to Manual -> OK
It could be useful (but not mandatory) to log in as root to the web interface (HTTPS) of the hypervisor where the vCenter is hosted. This might be necessary in case there is any problem during the update, to check the vCenter status or open the vCenter console, as the vSphere will not be accessible while the update is in progress.
Procedure to Update vCenter
Open VMware vcenter Remote Console and add a Removable Device -> CD/DVD and select the ISO image of patch downloaded earlier
After connecting the ISO image, you need to open an SSH session to the vCenter and log in as the root user.
Run the following commands (i added comments after //):
Command> software-packages stage --iso //to upload "stage" data on vcenter
Command> software-packages list --staged //verify staged content
Command> software-packages install --staged //install packages
[2024-11-31 15:16:07,853] : update is already staged. Proceeding to install.
[2024-11-31 15:16:27,435] : Installing version: 7.0.3.02220
[2024-11-31 15:16:41,276] : Running precheck ....
[2024-11-31 15:16:44,283] : Validating user input ....
[2024-11-31 15:16:49,295] : Preparing system for update ....
[2024-11-31 15:16:52,302] : Running test transaction ....
[2024-11-31 15:18:29,539] : Stopping services ....
[2024-11-31 15:18:48,580] : Extracting script information from rpms ....Usually at the end of the installation, the system reboots by itself, if it doesn’t reboot by itself and reboot is required, run the following comand:
shutdown reboot -r "patch reboot"After Installation activities
After reboot you can check if the services are correctly starting on vcenter, open SSH session
Command> shell
vcenter # watch -n5 "service-control --status"
Every 5.0s: service-control --status
Stopped:
vmcam vmware-imagebuilder vmware-mbcs vmware-netdumper vmware-rbd-watchdog vmware-vcha vsan-dps
Running:
applmgmt lwsmd pschealth vmafdd vmcad vmdird vmdnsd vmonapi vmware-analytics vmware-certificatemanagement vmware-cis-license vmware-cm vmware-content-library vmware-eam vmware-perfcharts vmware-pod vmware-postgres-archiver vmware-rhttpp
roxy vmware-sca vmware-sps vmware-statsmonitor vmware-sts-idmd vmware-stsd vmware-topologysvc vmware-updatemgr vmware-vapi-endpoint vmware-vmon vmware-vpostgres vmware-vpxd vmware-vpxd-svcs vmware-vsan-health vmware-vsm vsphere-client vsphere-uiRestore DRS on cluster. Select the cluster go to Configure -> Services -> vSphere DRS -> Edit -> Automation Level to Fully Automated-> OK
Verify the ISO is unmounted from vcenter console
Delete vcenter snapshot after few days.