Install vCenter Server Appliance Patches

You can use the software-packages utility to install the staged patches. You can also use the software-packages utility to install patches directly from an attached ISO image or repository URL without staging the patch payload.

Important: The services running in the appliance become unavailable during the installation of the patches. You must perform this procedure during a maintenance period. As a precaution in case of failure, you can back up the vCenter Server Appliance. For information about backing up and restoring vCenter Server, see vSphere Installation and Setup.

Prerequisites

If you are installing staged patches, verify that you staged the correct patch payload. See Stage Patches to the vCenter Server Appliance.
If you are installing patches that you previously staged from an ISO image, verify that the ISO image is attached to the CD/DVD drive of the vCenter Server Appliance. See Stage Patches to the vCenter Server Appliance.
If you are installing patches directly from an ISO image that you previously downloaded from https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/patch, you must attach the ISO image to the CD/DVD drive of the vCenter Server Appliance. You can configure the ISO image as a datastore ISO file for the CD/DVD drive of the appliance by using the vSphere Web Client. See vSphere Virtual Machine Administration.
If you are installing patches directly from a repository, verify that you have configured the repository settings and that the current repository URL is accessible. See Configure URL-Based Patching.
If you are patching a vCenter Server Appliance with an external Platform Services Controller, verify that you have applied patches. You must apply patches to the Platform Services Controller and any replicating partners in the vCenter Single Sign-On domain.

Procedure

Access the appliance shell and log in as a user who has a super administrator role.
The default user with a super administrator role is root.
Install the patches.
- To install staged patches, run the following command:
```
software-packages install --staged
```
- To install patches directly from an attached ISO image, run the following command:
```
software-packages install --iso
```
- To install patches directly from the current repository URL, run the following command:
```
software-packages install --url
```
  By default the current repository URL is the default VMware repository URL.
  
  If you want to install only the third-party patches, use the --thirdParty option.
- To install patches directly from a repository URL that is not currently configured, run the following command:
```
software-packages install --url URL_of_the_repository
```
  If you want to install only the third-party patches, use the --thirdParty option.
If you want to directly accept the End User License Agreement, use the --acceptEulas option.
For example, to install only the third-party patches from the current repository URL without staging the patches with directly accepting the End User License Agreement, run the following command:
```
software-packages install --url	--thirdParty --acceptEulas
```
If the patch installation requires a reboot of the appliance, run the following command to reset the appliance.
```
shutdown now -r "patch reboot"
```