Important: Always upgrade vCenter Server to version 5.5 Update 3b before you update ESXi to ESXi 5.5 Update 3b or later to avoid issues due to interoperability implication relating to SSLv3 disablement.

vCenter Server will not be able to manage ESXi 5.5 Update 3b or later versions if you update the ESXi hosts before updating vCenter Server to version 5.5 Update 3b. VMware best practices states that the vCenter Server should be upgraded prior to upgrading the managed ESXi hosts. For more information, see ESXi 5.5 Update 3b and later hosts are no longer manageable after upgrade (2140304).

For more information surrounding the SSLv3 disablement, refer to VMware ESXi 5.5 Update 3b Release Notes and VMware vCenter Server 5.5 Update 3b Release Notes.

Summaries and Symptoms

This patch resolves an issue when upgrading from ESXi 5.5 to 6.x or in a mixed cluster setup where some hosts are on 5.5 and others on 6.x the virtual machine or objects might become inaccessible or non-compliant. This happens due to the change in the interpretation of a specific entry in the cmmds database across two different versions.

Patch Download and Installation

The typical way to apply patches to ESXi hosts is through the VMware Update Manager. For details, see the Installing and Administering VMware vSphere Update Manager.

ESXi hosts can be updated by manually downloading the patch ZIP file from the VMware download page and installing the VIB by using the esxcli software vib command. Additionally, the system can be updated using the image profile and the esxcli software profile command. For details, see the vSphere Command-Line Interface Concepts and Examples and the vSphere Upgrade Guide.