How to upgrade ESXi 5.x to the latest ESXi 6.0?

1. Download the file called VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip from My VMware portal. It should be available when you sign-up for a trial of VMware vSphere 6.0 together with the ESXi 6.0 iso file.

2. Upload this file to the datastore visible by your ESXi host.

3. Put your host in maintenance mode (right click > enter maintenance mode) and connect via putty. Note that SSh must be enabled. (configuration > security profile > properties > ssh). Now run this command to update the host:

esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/<your_volume>/VMware-ESXi-6.0.0-2494585-depot.zip

4. Reboot your host and exit maintenance mode.


Note:- Please take all host configuration files backup and use Host Profiles to backup all settings.