VMware ESXi 5.5, Patch Release ESXi550-201602001

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

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 on the order in which to upgrade your vSphere environment, see Update sequence for VMware vSphere 5.5 and its compatible VMware products (2057795).

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.

For more information, refer KB2141207.

Release Date: February 21, 2016

Download Filename:
ESXi550-201602001.zip

Build:
3568722

Download Size:

354.7 MB
md5sum:

90ed05eada4c32cfffda1aef1039e929

sha1checksum:

8d573cfd23399815dd3909d5019f04649931d507

Host Reboot Required: Yes

Virtual Machine Migration or Shutdown Required: Yes

Bulletins

This release contains general and security-only bulletins. Security-only bulletins are applicable to new security fixes only. No new bug fixes are included, but bug fixes from earlier patch and update releases are included.

If the installation of all new security and bug fixes is required, you must apply all bulletins in this release. In some cases, the general release bulletin will supersede the security- only bulletin. This is not an issue as the general release bulletin contains both the new security and bug fixes.

The bulletin IDs of security-only bulletins end with an “SG” suffix.

Bulletin ID	Category	Severity	Knowledge Base Article
ESXi550-201602401-SG	Bug Fix	Critical	2144357

Image Profiles

Starting with ESXi 5.0 Update 1, VMware patch and update releases contain general and security-only image profiles. Security-only image profiles are applicable to new security fixes only. No new bug fixes are included, but bug fixes from earlier patch/update releases are included.

The general release image profile supersedes the security-only profile. Application of the general release image profile applies to new security and bug fixes.

The security-only image profiles are identified with the additional "s" identifier in the image profile name.

Image Profile Name	Knowledge Base Article
ESXi-5.5.0-20160204001-standard	2144001
ESXi-5.5.0-20160204001-no-tools	2144002

For information on patch and update classification, see KB 2014447.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5

Resolution

Summaries and Symptoms

This patch release contains the bug fixes for ESXi. For more information, see the KB articles for the individual bulletins.

For information about the issues fixed with the ESXi-5.5.0-20160204001-standard image profile, see KB 2144001.
For information about the issues fixed with the ESXi-5.5.0-20160204001-no-tools image profile, see KB 2144002.

Deployment Considerations

None beyond the required patch bundles and reboot information listed in the respective KB articles.

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.