Before you install available patches, you can stage the patches to the appliance. You can use the vCenter Server Management Interface to stage patches either from a local repository by attaching an ISO image to the appliance, or from a remote repository directly by using a repository URL.

During the process of staging, the vCenter Server Management Interface validates that a patch is a VMware patch, that the staging area has enough free space, and that the patches are not altered. Only new patches or patches for existing packages that can be upgraded are staged.

If a problem that prevents the successful staging of the patches occurs, vCenter Server suspends the staging process. Review the error messages, correct the problem, and, in many cases, you can resume staging the patches from the point at which vCenter Server encountered the problem.

Prerequisites

  • If you are staging patches 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. You can configure the ISO image as a datastore ISO file for the CD/DVD drive of the appliance using the vSphere Client. See vSphere Virtual Machine Administration.
  • If you are staging patches from a remote repository, verify that you have configured the repository settings and that the current repository URL is accessible. See Configure URL-Based Patching.

Procedure

  1. Log into the vCenter Server Management Interface as root.
    The default root password is the password you set when deploying vCenter Server.
  2. Click Update.
  3. Click Check Updates and select a source.
    Option Description
    Check URL Scans the configured repository URL for available patches.
    Check CDROM Scans the ISO image that you attached to the CD/DVD drive of the appliance for available patches.
    In the Available Updates pane, you can view the details about the available patches in the source that you selected.
    Important: Some updates might require a reboot of the system. You can see information about these updates in the Available Updates pane.
  4. You can run a pre-check of an update to verify that it is compatible with your current deployment.
  5. Click the staging option you would like to use.
    Option Description
    Stage Stages the selected patches to the vCenter Server appliance for installation at a later time.
    Stage and Install Stages and installs the selected patches to the vCenter Server appliance. For more information on installing patches, see Install vCenter Server Patches.
    Unstage Unstages the selected patches.
    Resume If vCenter Server encounters a problem staging the patches, the vCenter Server Management Interface displays the Resume button. Correct the problem preventing the patches from staging, and click Resume to finish staging the patches. The staging process resumes from the point at which vCenter Server encountered the problem.

What to do next

If you decided to stage the available patches for installation at a later time, you can now install. See Install vCenter Server Patches.