When it comes to upgrade/update patches or ESXi version my preferred method is VMware Lifecycle manager / VMware update manager vum. But there are scenarios or issues while updating ESXi using VUM / LifeCyle manager or also this procedure helps if ESXi server is standalone and not managed by vCenter server.
Source KB: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2008939 & VMware LifeCycle Manager import updates bundle and patch ESXi server
To start I have downloaded and uploaded to offline esxi patch bundle depot zip to ESXi datastore either using vSphere client or SCP tool (ie: WinScp, Note you will require to enable SSH on ESXi first).
This article can be also use to resolve below issues.
VMware LifeCycle Manager There are conflicts from the patches selected for staging or remediation
The host returns esxupdate error codes: -1. Check the Lifecycle Manager log files and esxupdate log files for more details.
Next step is to make sure you put ESXi server into Maintenance Mode, if ESXi server is a standalone shut down the VMs. You can use esxcli command to put server in maintenance mode.
esxcli system maintenanceMode get
esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable=true
Next verify the ESXi patch bundle depot zip file and what are the profiles (vib set) included in the patch bundle, I have two profiles one is standard and another is no-tools.
esxcli software sources profile list -d /vmfs/volumes/guid/vmware-depot.zip
I will take no-tools profile to patch/upgrade Esxi host, once ESXi is upgraded successfully restart it.
esxcli software profile update -d /vmfs/volumes/guid/vmware-depot.zip -p esxi-profile
reboot -f
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