To apply updates to a standalone host you have to do some steps with putty and the esx commandline, because vCenter Server and Update Manger are missing in this case.

It is also possible to do a complete upgrade within putty and esx commandline.

To do the upgrade these steps are neccessary:

  • Select and download the package from
    https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal
    upgrdesxi_01upgrdesxi_02
  • Upload the ZIP to a datastore which is accessable for the ESXi Server
    upgrdESXi03
  • Set ESXi to Mainenance Mode and connect via SSH. You could set the Maintenance Mode also via SSH and esxcli.
    upgrdESXi04
  • To install the upgrade use the following command, while <volume> is your choosen datastore.
    esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/<volume>/update-from-esxi5.5-5.5_update02.zip
    upgrdESXi05
  • reboot und and exit Maintenance Mode.

After the reboot the ESXi should have the new version.