You can check for and install patches either from an ISO image or directly from a repository URL.

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 on backing up and restoring vCenter Server, see vCenter Server Installation and Setup.

Prerequisites

  • Log in to the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface as root.

  • Before you can install available patches, you check for new patches and stage the patches to the appliance. See Check for and Stage Patches to the vCenter Server Appliance.

  • If you are patching the appliance 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 patching the appliance from a repository URL, verify that you have configured the repository settings and that the current repository URL is accessible. See Configure the Repository for 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

  1. In the vCenter Server Appliance Management Interface, click Update.
    In the Current version details pane, you can view the vCenter Server Appliance version and build number.
  2. Select the range of stages patches to apply, and click Install Updates.
    Important: Some updates might require a reboot of the system. You can see information about these updates in the Available Updates pane.
  3. Read and accept the End User License Agreement.
  4. After the installation completes, click OK.
  5. If patch installation requires the appliance to reboot, click Summary, and click Reboot to reset the appliance.

Results

In the Available Updates pane, you can see the changed update status of the appliance.