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Howto patch a VMWare ESXi 4.x host with the command line tools (CLI; without vCenter Update Manager)

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In order to be able to apply patches to a VMWare ESXi server (Version 4.x) you'll need to install the VMWare vSphere CLI (command line tools) first. You can download them here: https://developer.broadcom.com/tools/vsphere-cli/latest

To apply a patch execute the following command:
1. Check connection by listing the content of the patchfile

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vihostupdate.pl --server 94.23.249.221 --list --bundle c:\Users\ytak\desktop\ESXi410-201104001.zip

2. Enter usernamne/password and wait (depending on the size of the patch file and the bandwidth it might take a while, because the whole patchfile needs to be uploaded to the ESXi server)...

Enter username: root
Enter password: *****
---------Bulletin ID--------- ----------------Summary-----------------
ESXi410-201104401-SG Updates Firmware
ESXi410-201104402-BG Updates VMware Tools

2. Execute the update command...

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vihostupdate.pl --server 94.23.249.221 --install --bundle c:\Users\ytak\desktop\ESXi410-201104001.zip