Staging is the process of downloading depot components from the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot to the ESXi hosts without applying the software and firmware updates immediately. Staging reduces the time that ESXi hosts spend in maintenance mode.

In vSphere 8.0, staging exists as a separate operation that you can initiate. Staging is also automatically triggered when you remediate a cluster, a host in the cluster, or a standalone host. By default, vSphere Lifecycle Manager performs the staging operation onto all hosts in the cluster in parallel.

If you manage a cluster with a single image, you can stage the image to all hosts in the cluster or to a single host from that cluster. Staging is also supported for clusters with hosts and standalone hosts that have DPU devices. During staging, vSphere Lifecycle Manager downloads to the hosts all components that are applicable to the DPU device.

After staging is successful, a staged icon (Successful staging is represented by a green checkmark over a green rectangle.) appears for any host to which the image is staged. The icon shows that both the software and firmware components from the image are successfully staged to the respective host. If for any reason vSphere Lifecycle Manager can't stage the firmware components to the host, staging does not fail, but you don't see the staged icon for that host.

Staging as Part of Remediation

Starting with vSphere 8.0, the remediation process happens in two steps, staging and then the actual remediation. vSphere Lifecycle Manager puts the ESXi hosts in maintenance mode only after staging is complete. The result is reduced ESXi downtime and disruption in the virtual workloads running on the virtual machines that reside on the respective hosts.

If for some reason staging is successful but the subsequent remediation process fails, the compliance status of the cluster or the standalone host changes from non-compliant to staged.

What Happens With the Staged Content?

The staged content is downloaded to scratch partition if scratch partition has enough space for the staged image. As a result, the staged content is persistent across power-cycles and reboots. If you delete the staged content, vSphere Lifecycle Manager re-stages the components needed for applying the image to the hosts in the cluster or the standalone host as part of the remediation process.

During staging, vSphere Lifecycle Manager validates the checksum and signature of the VIBs and downloads them to the appointed folder only after the validation is successfully completed. When the VIBs become available locally on the hosts, only a root user can modify them.

Staging Firmware Components

If an image contains a drivers and firmware add-on, during staging, the firmware VIBs are staged to the host or hosts along with the other software components defined in the image. If the firmware vendor does not support firmware staging, you get a notification in the Image Compliance card. You won't see the staged icon for that host even if staging the rest of the software is successful. In such a case, vSphere Lifecycle Manager installs the firmware components on the hosts during remediation.

Stage an Image to a Cluster

Staging an image to a cluster before remediating the cluster reduces the time that ESXi hosts spend in maintenance mode. After successful staging, you can immediately proceed with remediation, or you can remediate the cluster at a later time.

When you stage an image to a cluster, vSphere Lifecycle Manager downloads all software and firmware components defined in the image from the vSphere Lifecycle Manager depot to all hosts in the cluster. Before you can stage an image to a cluster or a host, you must run a compliance check for the cluster and ensure that the host or hosts to which you stage the image are non-compliant with that image. Staging content to compliant hosts doesn't alter the hosts in any way. Staging the image on hosts whose compliance status is unknown triggers an automatic compliance check.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that the hosts in the cluster are non-compliant with the image.
  • Verify that the hosts in the cluster are connected to vCenter Server.
  • Verify that you have the required privileges to perform the task.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to a cluster that you manage with a single image.
  2. On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Image.
  3. In the Image Compliance card, click the Stage All button.
  4. (Optional) Click Skip Remaining Hosts if you want to stop the staging process while it is ongoing.
    The image is not staged to the skipped hosts.

Results

After staging finishes successfully, an icon (Successful staging is represented by a green checkmark over a green rectangle.) appears for each host for the cluster. The icon shows that all software and firmware from the image are successfully staged to the hosts in the cluster. If for any reason vSphere Lifecycle Manager can't stage the firmware components to the host, staging is still successful, but you don't see the staged icon for the hosts.

What to do next

Remediate the cluster to install the staged software and firmware to the hosts in the cluster.

Stage an Image to a Single Host Within a Cluster or a Standalone Host

Staging is an operation that you can perform for a single host within the cluster or for a standalone host. Learn how to stage an image to a single host from a cluster or to a standalone host.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that the hosts in the cluster or the standalone host are non-compliant with the image.
  • Verify that the hosts in the cluster or the standalone host are connected to vCenter Server.
  • Verify that you have the required privileges to perform the task.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to a cluster or host that you manage with a single image.
  2. On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Image.
  3. Stage a single host.
    Option Action
    Stage a single host in a cluster.
    1. In the Image Compliance card, select a host from the Hosts list.

      A card with information about the host appears on the right.

    2. Click Actions > Stage > .
    Stage a standalone host.
    1. In the Image Compliance card, click the Stage button.

Results

After staging finishes successfully, an icon ( Successful staging is represented by a green checkmark over a green rectangle.) appears for the host. The icon shows that all software and firmware components from the image are successfully staged to the host. If for any reason vSphere Lifecycle Manager can't stage the firmware components to the host, staging does not fail, but you don't see the staged icon for the host.

What to do next

Remediate the host to install the staged software and firmware components to the host.