File Paths in VMware ESXi

I’m dangerous with my knowledge of VMware ESXi. I know enough to keep it running but am a novice when it comes to maintaining and upgrading. Upgrading a Dell PowerEdge T640 from 7 U2 to U3 was a success and I patted myself on the back for not blowing up my server in the process. Until I got to the end and needed to add the Dell/EMC vendor add on. The VIBs come in the form of a .zip file.

I only lost 1 hour and 59 minutes of my time on earth with trial and error to figure out the proper path to supply. The command I thought I needed was:

esxcli software vib install -d "/vmfs/volumes/LongNumber/apps/esx/DellDrivers/DellEMC_Addon_7.0.3_A00.zip" 

This path was based on me looking at the NFS Datastores in the ESXi GUI, which I have as follows:

By clicking on the Apps datastore I was able to find the Location for this NFS share.

What I failed to understand is that as far as ESXCLI is concerned the Apps datastore is

/vmfs/volumes/LongNumber/

not

/vmfs/volumes/LongNumber/apps/

So the command I actually needed to use is:

esxcli software vib install -d "/vmfs/volumes/LongNumber/esx/DellDrivers/DellEMC_Addon_7.0.3_A00.zip" 

And then all was well with the world.

Next up – migrating OSData from internal SD Cards to SSD in prep for ESX 8….

2 thoughts on “File Paths in VMware ESXi

  1. Hello

    Do you still have the DellEMC_Addon_7.0.3_A00.zip? If so, would you mind sharing the zip with me (if not too big through email otherwise through download link)? Unfortunately this file has been pulled from the internet and I’m unable to find it.

    Unfortunately I’m in the position of needing it to perform an upgrade to fix an issue.

    Email: gitneko [at] gmx [dot] net

    Thank you for your time and I wish you a good weekend ๐Ÿ™‚

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