upgrade Archives - Squidworks

Quick guide to upgrading Netgate FW-7541 and FW-7535 firewalls to PFSense 2.0.+ without any special process.

I just recently ordered a new Netgate FW-7541 for our COLO that I will be using in a fail over setup. The Netgate nanoBSD build is not bad but has a few limits on packages that we wanted to overcome and also Netgate does not keep up with the PFSense updates as quickly so they are still at PFSense 2.0.1. We want our box to be running PFSense 2.0.2 so how do you do this when the it says it has the “Latest” updates from NetGate?

The trick is to change the update package location selecting the default i386 path for updates under the Firmware menu in PFSense. To do this go to the [System] menu and scroll down to [Firmware]. Now select the [Updater Settings] tab and then select from the dropdown list [Default Auto Update URLs] the (pfSense i386 Stable Updates) from the list. This will then automatically change the base URL to the new firmware location. Now save it and then retest to see if updates are available. It should now report a new version is available for install. Select the update firmware button and wait as it updates your Netgate to a full version of PFSense.

Once your system reboots you should be able to login and see your new version running.

*Note, the system may flip web admin themes on you after upgrades. To get back to the old tried and true pfSence default theme go to [System] -> [General Setup] and select pfSense_ng from the themes list and save. This will return you to the standard theme.

Enjoy,

Cubert 😎

[How To] – Patching Standalone vSphere 5 ESXi Hosts

So you have a standalone ESXi host or 2 that needs to be patched with the latest updates coming out of VMWare and you do not have a VCenter or are otherwise using the VMWare Update Manager. Here is the basic steps to get you updated and all patched up.

Here are the steps to getting your ESXi 5 Host patched.

Download the patch file you want directly -> Get VMware Patches Here
Enable SSH for remote support on the ESXi Host by accessing the (Security Profile) under Host Configuration.
Place ESXi host is in Maintenance Mode.
Using the vShpere Client browse your local datastore and make a directory called “Updates”, select this new folder and upload the patch zip file bundle to this folder.
SSH into Host and execute the following command. (Replace [DATASTORE] and [PATCH_FILE] with your actual file information.

esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/[DATASTORE]/Updates/[PATCH_FILE].zip

You should get the following installation result.

Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.

Afterwards you should reboot the ESX host and upon it’s return it should now be patched with the build you applied above.

NOTE: If you try and use the old esxupdate command, which is still there, you will get this message:

~ # esxupdate Usage: This program is not meant to be used directly. Please use esxcli image/software instead.
esxupdate: error: Command must be specified Usage: This program is not meant to be used directly. Please use esxcli image/software instead.

[Solved]-VMware Install operation failed: The metadata or bundle option must be specified

Getting error message: Install operation failed: The metadata or bundle option must be specified ?

This error popup up after running the following cmd when trying to update our VMware vSphere server.

C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware vSphere CLI\bin>vihostupdate.pl -url https://192.168.xxx.xxx/sdk/webservice -i –bundle c:\temp\upgrade-from-esxi4.0-to-4.1-update01-348481.zip

I am using vSphere CLI 4.0 on a Windows 2003 server, logged in as a domain admin.

I tried several things I found off Google then it occured to me that it may be a issue with permissions. I restarted the CLI with Admin priviledges and Wamo!!

Please wait patch installation is in progress …
The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.

So if your getting this error this is worth a try.

Cubert