Now that ESXi 8.0 is available for download, many people may be considering upgrading their ESXi 7.0 servers to the latest version. In this article, I will walk you through three ways to upgrade your ESXi 7.0 or older ESXi server to ESXi 8.0.
- Method 1 – using ESXi ISO
- Method 2 – using
esxcli
a command-line interface - Method 3 – using vLCM (vSphere Lifecycle Manager)
To watch a video demonstrating the upgrade process using these methods, please visit the following YouTube link:
Method 1 – using ESXi ISO
This method is recommended if you have one or a few ESXi hosts. The procedure is straightforward and similar to the fresh installation of ESXi.
- Download the latest version of the ESXi ISO image from the VMware website.
- Create a bootable USB drive with the ESXi ISO image or mount the ISO to your ESXi VM running in a nested environment.
- Connect the bootable media to the ESXi host that you want to upgrade.
- Reboot the ESXi host and press the appropriate key to boot from the bootable media. This will vary depending on your hardware, but it is usually a function key (e.g. F11 or F12). If you run your lab on a VMware workstation, shut down your ESXi host and Power it on to Firmware.

- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation process. This will involve selecting the installation destination, configuring the network settings, and accepting the license agreement.


- Select Storage Device:

- During the installation process, the installer will recognize if you already have a previous version of ESXi installed. It will then give you the option to either upgrade your current installation or perform a clean installation.

- Press F11 to begin the upgrade.

- The process of upgrading to ESXi 8.0 has started.

- The upgrade process has been completed successfully. The installer will now prompt you to remove any installation media and reboot the system.

- After reboot, the host will boot to ESXi version 8.0

Method 2 – using esxcli a command-line interface
In the next step, we will upgrade our current ESXi host using the command line. This can be done quickly and easily using just a few commands, including the following:
- To allow your host connectivity to the internet:
esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient
- To upgrade your host:
esxcli software profile update -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml -p ESXi-8.0.0-20513097-standard
NOTE: ESXi-8.0.0-20513097-standard is the current version during writing this article, it can change. Please check the VMware release documents for the current ESXi profile!


After a few minutes (please be patient, there will be no progress bar nor any indication of an upgrade), the command line upgrade will display a message indicating that it has been completed successfully. You will also see a notification that a reboot is required in order to apply the changes.

Method 3 – using vLCM (vSphere Lifecycle Manager)
The last method we are going to use vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) which is part of the vCenter Server.
NOTE: Before ESXi host(s) can be upgraded, vCenter needs to be upgraded first.
- Connect to vCenter Server
- Navigate to the vSphere cluster that contains the ESXi host you want to upgrade.
- Click on the Updates tab, and then click on Image > Setup Image.

- On the image configuration screen, use the drop-down menu to select the desired version of ESXi.

- You can add vendors’ addons.


- If you have integrated HSM with vCenter (for example OMIVV ), you can update the firmware in the same cycle. This is a huge advantage, as you will require only one reboot (downtime). Read here how to integrate HSM -> https://angrysysops.com/2021/07/21/how-to-integrate-vcenter-hsm-dell-openmange-with-vlcm-lifecycle-management/
- Once you are happy with your image build, click on SAVE

- You will be prompted to finish the image setup process.

NOTE: The image will replace all baselines attached to the cluster and its hosts with the image. Once the set-up is completed, the cluster cannot go back to using baselines. You can customize the image.
- The next step is to check the compliance status of the cluster. To do this, click the ‘Check Compliance’ button.
- You will see a list of hosts that are out of compliance. In order to bring these hosts into compliance, we need to remediate them. To do this, click the ‘Remediate All‘ button.

- A dialogue box will appear showing the potential impact of the remediation process. To start the remediation, click the ‘Start Remediation‘ button.

- The remediation process has begun on the host(s).

- After a few minutes, you will see the ESXi host reboot and boot into the upgraded version of ESXi 8.0.

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