vSphere 6.7 Update 1 is now out, and with that the vSphere Client is now Fully Featured for your vSphere Environment. With the addition of vSphere Update Manager in the vSphere Client we have quite a few new workflows compared to the old vSphere Web Client. Let’s highlight some of these new improvements.
We have a new Overview section that highlights host Compliance. There is a new Datacenter and Cluster Overview section which provides ESXi Versions, Hosts’ Compliance and the status of Pre-Check Remediation.
In the Update Manager Administration section we have also improved some workflows, one new workflow is the ability to to filter Updates by baseline.
You are also now able to Import Patches and ESXI Images by Filename or URL. This workflow has also been simplified to use a one-click upload.
The Host Overview has also been enhanced to include specific details such as whether or not Quick Boot is enabled, which patches are installed, host compliance and remediation pre-check.
Now included in vSphere 6.7 we have a Remediation Pre-Check. This checks for a few items that may block your update. Some settings will be changed temporarily by vSphere Update Manager such as:
Disabling HA Admission Control
Disabling Fault Tolerant (FT)
Disabling Distributed Power Management (DPM)
However some settings must be changed manually prior to remediation such as:
Disconnecting CD-ROM drives
The Remediation Pre-Check remediation will call this out and let you know if user action will be required.
We also have improved the Host Remediation workflow. The remediation is now simplified with the single screen remediation and scheduler. As we have simplified this workflow cluster remediation settings will be passed automatically. We have also removed some settings from being modified such as the ability for parallel host remediation and the ability to disable Quick Boot.
You are now left with a very small set of settings that which can be managed through the Settings Tab in the Update Manager Overview.
Not only have we improved Host Patching but we have also made great improvements to VM Patching of Tools and Compatibility. No longer are you required to create baselines, when selecting a VM you can upgrade with a one-click remediation.
