Using vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) image-based updates for vSphere 7.0 Update 2a ESXi updates

A walkthrough of using the vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) image-based process to remediate a vSphere cluster ESXi hosts. In this walkthrough, I am updating a nested vSphere cluster lab environment from ESXi 7.0 Update 1 to ESXi 7.0 Update 2a which is the latest releas of Update 2 for remediation using the vSphere Lifecycle Manager image-based process.

Using the image-based vSphere Lifecycle Manager approach is a great way introduced in vSphere 7.0 that allows using a single image containing not only vSphere components but also OEM hardware firmware, drivers, vendor-addons, and other components in a single image.

This is a one-way process. You can't flip back to using vSphere Update Manager (VUM) for your cluster. You can move ESXi hosts out of the cluster into a VUM-enabled cluster, but the cluster is set to vLCM image updates once you move forward. The image-based process is a newer and more powerful tool in controlling your lifecycle management of vSphere clusters.

Read my full blog writeup of the vLCM image-based update process here:

[rfrancoi]

Man... That was an EXCELLENT presentation and delivery. Thank you.

[The_Samsquantch]

Great run through of the process. Is it safe to assume that host profiles are just something that is retained in the background when initially kicking this cluster over to an image managed cluster?

[eduardonobrega]

Great video, thanks. Easy to maintain the hosts, but what about the security and critical updates? To install these i need to increase the the image level every time too?

[dnldnl]

What happens in VCENTER is running on host that is getting image applied?

[slavonskibecar]

THis is completely wrong approach by Vmware what about if I want to install new ISO because I have HP servers. You dont get that option so this is very dangerous in production