Using vSphere ESXi Image Builder to create an installable ISO that is not vulnerable to Heartbleed

Here is a follow-up post from Andrew Lytle, member of the VMware Mission Critical Support Team. Andrew is a Senior Support Engineer who is specializes in vCenter and ESXi related support.

VMware recently released updates to all products affected by the vulnerability dubbed “Heartbleed” (CVE-2014-0160): http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2014-0004.html

As per KB article: Resolving OpenSSL Heartbleed for ESXi 5.5 – CVE-2014-0160 (2076665), the delivery method for this code change in the VMware ESXi product is through an updated ESXi vSphere Installation Bundle (VIB). VIBs are the building blocks of an ESXi image. A VIB is akin to a tarball or ZIP archive in that it’s a collection of files packaged into a single archive.

Typically a new ESXi ISO file will be made available only during major revisions of the product (Update 1, Update 2, etc). If you need an ESXi 5.5 ISO which is already protected from Heartbleed, you can make your own ISO easily using vSphere PowerCLI.

The PowerCLI ImageBuilder cmdlets are designed to make custom ESXi ISOs which have asynchronous driver releases pre-installed, but it can also be used in a situation like this to make an ISO which lines up with a Patch Release instead of a full ESXi Update Release.

In this post we will cover both the ESXi 5.5 GA branch, as well as the ESXi 5.5 Update 1 branch. Choose the set of steps which will provide the ISO branch you need for your environment.

Creating an ISO based on ESXi 5.5 GA (Pre-Update 1)

These steps are for downloading the requirements for creating an ISO which is based on the ESXi 5.5 “GA” release, which was originally released 2013-09-22.

Step 1: Download the Required Files

When creating a custom ESXi image through Image Builder, we need to start by downloading the required files:

• ESXi 5.5 GA Offline Depot (w/ Heartbleed patch) “ESXi550-201404420-SG” (ESXi550-201404020.zip) – https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal

• vSphere PowerCLI (VMware-PowerCLI-5.5.0-1671586.exe) – https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/details?downloadGroup=PCLI550R2&productId=353

Install PowerCLI through the Windows MSI package, and copy the zip files to a handy location. For the purposes of this example, I will copy these files to C:\Patches\

Step 2: Import the Software Depot

• Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C:\Patches\ESXi550-201404020.zip
  

Step 3: Confirm the patched version (optional)

If you wish to confirm the esx-base VIB (which includes the Heartbleed vulnerability code change) is added correctly, you can confirm the VIB has Version of 5.5.0-0.15.1746974 and the Creation Date of 4/15/2014.

• Get-EsxSoftwarePackages –Name esx-base
  

Step 4: Export the Image Profile to an ISO

• Export-EsxImageProfile –ImageProfile ESXi-5.5.0-20140401020s-standard –ExportToISO –FilePath C:\Patches\ESXi5.5-heartbleed.iso
  

Creating an ISO based on ESXi 5.5 Update 1

These steps are for creating an ISO which is based on the ESXi 5.5 “Update 1” release, which was originally released 2014-03-11.

Step 1: Download the Required Files

When creating a custom ESXi image through Image Builder, we need to start by downloading the required files:

• ESXi 5.5 Update 1 Offline Depot (w/ Heartbleed patch) “ESXi550-201404401-SG” (ESXi550-201404001.zip) – https://www.vmware.com/patchmgr/findPatch.portal

• vSphere PowerCLI (VMware-PowerCLI-5.5.0-1671586.exe) – https://my.vmware.com/group/vmware/details?downloadGroup=PCLI550R2&productId=353

Copy the zip files to a handy location. For the purposes of this example, I will copy it to C:\Patches\

Step 2: Import the Software Depot

• Add-EsxSoftwareDepot C:\Patches\ESXi550-201404001.zip
  

Step 3: Confirm the patched version (optional)

If you wish to confirm the esx-base VIB (which includes the Heartbleed vulnerability code change) is added correctly, you can confirm the VIB has the Version of 5.5.0-1.16.1746018 and Creation Date of 4/15/2014.

• Get-EsxSoftwarePackages –Name esx-base
  

Step 4: Export the Image Profile to an ISO

• Export-EsxImageProfile –ImageProfile ESXi-5.5.0-20140404001-standard –ExportToISO –FilePath C:\Patches\ESXi5.5-update1-heartbleed.iso
  

Installing the ESXi ISO

The ISO file which was created in this steps can be used in exactly the same manner as the normal VMware ESXi 5.5 ISO. It can be mounted in a remote management console, or burned to a CD/DVD for installation.