Cisco VIBs for vSphere 5 upgrade

[peter.robertson]

When upgrading a UCS B200 M2 from ESXi 4.1 to 5.0 a warning is provided by the ESXi installer regarding the presence of custom VIBs.  In my case these are Cisco VIBs that I believe were pushed to the host by UCSM when it was added to the hardware VN-link distributed vSwitch.  The VIBs cannot be carried over to ESXi 5.0 as they are not included in the ESXi ISO provided by VMware.

Any guidance on the best way to proceed?

Will Cisco release a customized ESXi ISO including the necessary VIBs, or are customers advised to build their own ISOs using ESXi Image Builder?

When I tested this in the lab, if I upgrade with the standard ISO and ignore the warning the install will complete.  However, when I try to add the upgraded host back into the distributed vSwitch through vCenter the process fails and UCSM does not attempt to push the VIB to the host.

[mipetrin]

Hi Peter,

The VIB file is pushed via vCenter, not the UCSM. That is assuming you are utilizing VUM. Otherwise the vib file would need to be manually installed/updated.

The new Nexus 1000v SV1(4a) vib files are available to download from the VMware website. Currently there is an issue with the VMware search functionality for the vib files, described in their KB article http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2005490

Therefore, you can find the vib file using the following steps.

1) Visit the following page:

      http://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/download.portal

2) Under Search by Product, select the following:

   - ESXi (Embedded and Installable)

   - 5.0.0

   - You can leave all other options as default

3) Hit search and on the results page you should find "VEM500-201108271"

4) You can then use this vib file with your ESXi 5.0 installation.

Instructions for VIB file installation/update is available via Cisco's guide, including ESXi 5.0 specifics:

Cisco Nexus 1000V VEM Software Installation and Upgrade Guide, Release 4.2(1) SV1(4a)

Disclaimer: Cisco Nexus 1000V for release 4.2.1.SV1(4a). The Cisco patch VEM500-201108271-BG should only be installed along with ESXi 5.0.0 if you are using the Cisco Nexus 1000V product. This patch updates the Cisco Nexus 1000V Virtual Ethernet Module to be binary compatible with VMware bulletin ESXi 5.0.0. Do NOT install this patch if you are not using Cisco Nexus 1000V product.

Hope that helps

Regards,

Michael

[llozanos81]

Upgrade UCS to 2.0(1)m it includes VEM version for vSphere 5

Regards

Luis Lozano