ESX4.1 using VUM for installing offline bundles

[Allen Crawford]

Also, upon further research, VUM is actually reporting the NMI driver as "not applicable" on every HP server I've tried to install it to. The only server that has it is the freshly installed server and that's only because someone else here installed it via "vihostupdate" instead of VUM. I just did a fresh install of ESXi 4.1 and then tried to install NMI and CIM via VUM and only CIM worked--NMI still shows up as being "not applicable". Curious how your case is going, I'll likely hit our reps up too.

[AaronK]

Yep, the problem with the NMI package (if you look at the vmware.xml) is that is is only applicable to ESX (classic).
I have tried changing around the xml file to add support for ESXi, but then it won't import.

I have been escalated to second level, but haven't heard anything yet.


Aaron

[Allen Crawford]

Ah, I didn't even take a look at the XML file yet because the description even states ESX/ESXi 4.1 in it and since it actually imported correctly I figured it was fine. Of course, I did notice VUM shows it as "esx 4.1", but I just figured that meant it would work for both. I haven't seen a patch in VUM that works for both products before (generally it just says "esx" or "embeddedEsx") so I didn't know.

[AaronK]

Yea, there are actually many patches that apply to both...
If you go into VUM, and look at the "Patch Repository", you will see the ones that have 2 items in the "Product" section that support both.
They will say something like "embeddedEsx 4.0.0, esx 4.0.0" (as an example, the Cisco Nexus 1000V"

I attached a screenshot as an example.

This is how the NMI package 'should' also work.

[DerekS_1]

How can HP not find these major bugs while testing their packages?!?!? I'm baffled by the lack of QA HP has. HP get your act together!

[deceit]

What a mickey mouse install package.

I guess this is why they say on both kb articles the vmhostupdate.pl command and not VUM.

HP NMI Sourcing Driver for VMware ESX/ESXi 4.1 reports as being compliant on all of my freshly built ESXi 4.1 hosts.

[HahPehUser]

Just to be sure:
What do I have to update after installing this package from the Software Depot:
"VMware ESXi 4.0 and Updates from HP - 4.1 -July 2010- ESXi HD-USB-SD Image Installer CD (583772-005.iso)"
on a brand new ML350-G6 (with Raid 5)?

Should I download and update both
a) "* RECOMMENDED * HP ESXi Offline Bundle for VMware ESXi 4.1 "
b) "* RECOMMENDED * HP NMI Sourcing Driver for VMware ESX/ESXi 4.1"

And how can I get the list (commands? syntax? as in the post from Allen Crawford with the rows "Id", "InstallDate" and "Description"?

[Allen Crawford]

@deceit:

The NMI Sourcing Driver shows as compliant on all of my ESXi 4.1 hosts too, but if you look closely, it is likely compliant because VUM thinks it isn't applicable and never installed it. For example, click on a host in question, then click the "Update Manager" tab. Then in the bottom pane you should see the name of your host and a count of how many "Upgrades" or "Extensions" have been remediated. Click this little blue number and it'll pop open a new window with more details. In my case I set up NMI as an extension, so I clicked on that and it then shows that my HP ESXi Bundle 1.0's (CIM providers) compliance is "Installed." However, the compliance column for the HP NMI driver says "-- Not Applicable." Anyway, I suspect yours will be similar.


@HahPehUser:

I'm guessing that you already have the correct CIM providers (ESXi offline bundle as HP calls it) with that CD you referenced, but I'm not sure about the NMI driver. I don't use HP's media, so I have to install both. In either case, you should be able to check easily enough with one of the following two methods:

1) Use the following PowerCLI (PowerShell Toolkit) command:
Get-VMHostPatch -VMHost | Format-Table Id, InstallDate, Description, VMHost -AutoSize

2) Use the following command from the vMA virtual appliance that VMware provides:
vihostupdate --server --query

Both commands should give you the same info.

[Bas Vinken]

I found an other solution.
Most import for me is an fully unattended install. To achieve this I'm using the HP ESXi DVD. Both bundles are integrated and it works like a charm. Software can be found here:
https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=HPVM06

[Allen Crawford]

That's great for an initial install, but what happens when there's a new version of the CIM providers or NMI driver?