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Updating ESXi v5.5 for Heartbleed/ OpenSSL vulnerability - VMware virtualisation - esxi550-201404020

Today I got a chance to update my ESXi v5.5 with patch released by VMware so wanted to put quick notes for anyone who may need help in patching their ESXi standalone host for openssl vulnerability.

VMWare Advisory lists what is affected with OpenSSL/ Heartbleed vulnerability.


1. Follow the link for ESXi 5.5 / ESXi 5.5 Update 1 from above Advisory page and download relevant patch listed on the table from download site.


2. Connect to your host using SSH (Putty) and check your current ESXi version.

# vmware -v
This should list VMware ESXi 5.5.0 build-1331820 or similar.

# uname -a

VMkernel myHOST 5.5.0 #1 SMP Release build-1331820 Sep 18 2013 23:08:31 x86_64 GNU/Linux


3. Transfer your patch downloaded in zip format over to one of the datastores using vSphere client. In my case the patch downloaded form VMware was ESXi550-201404020.zip.


4. Now run below to list patch contents.

#esxcli software sources profile list -d=/vmfs/volumes/YOURDATASTORE/ESXi550-201404020.zip

The output of above will look something like below.

Name                              Vendor        Acceptance Level
--------------------------------  ------------  ----------------
ESXi-5.5.0-20140401020s-no-tools  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported

ESXi-5.5.0-20140401020s-standard  VMware, Inc.  PartnerSupported


5. Using above highlighted line install your profile.

#esxcli software profile install -d=/vmfs/volumes/YOURDATASTORE/ESXi550-201404020.zip -p "ESXi-5.5.0-20140401020s-standard" --ok-to-remove

You will see output like below with a full list of vibs installed.

Installation Result
   Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
   Reboot Required: true

   VIBs Installed: VMware_bootbank_elxnet_10.0.100.0v-1vmw.550.0.0.1331820
-------------output truncated---------------


6. Reboot your host.

#reboot


7. Check the latest version and build number.

#vmware -v

VMware ESXi 5.5.0 build-1746974

#uname -a

VMkernel myHOST 5.5.0 #1 SMP Release build-1746974 Apr 15 2014 11:11:56 x86_64 GNU/Linux

8. Generate new SSL Certificate



9. Change root password



All done.

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