Free ESXi server

Download free ESXi server from here:

https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/info?slug=datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere_hypervisor_esxi/5_5

How to upgrade from ESXi 5.1 to 5.5

Shut down VMs running on host.

Enter maintenance mode:

vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

Set firewall rules to make patch retrieval possible:

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient

Retrieve a list of available upgrades and look for the most recent one:

esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep ESXi-5.5

Run the upgrade:

esxcli software profile update -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-standard

Reboot.

Exit maintenance mode.

vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit

How to patch free VMware ESXi Standalone Host

Get the latest patch from VMware here:

http://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/download.portal

Look for something like

update-from-esxi5.1-5.1_update03

I think you want embeddable and installable

Upload the patch to a datastore visible from the host.

Shut down the VMs.

Put the host into maintenance mode.

Enable SSH:

Configuration | Security Profile | Properties | SSH

Connect via Putty to the host.

Run this command:

esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/<your_datastore>/update-from-esxi5.1-5.1_update03.zip


It will take a few minutes.  Afterward, the screen will spit out a bunch of text.

Reboot the host.

Check the version number with vSphere or use the command line:

esxcli system version get

Exit maintenance mode.