Last week we released two new update versions for vSphere 7.0. When examining the vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) image repository, you’ll notice that two new ESXi base images are automatically downloaded, reflecting the downloads that are available on my.vmware.com.
There could be some confusion to why we released two versions. With vSphere 7 updates, we’ll also release security only releases (pre-security patches/updates). The rationale here is that there are customers that are unable to upgrade their systems with bug fixes until the changes have been qualified. The qualification process can take a long time.
At the same time, these customers need security fixes installed as soon as possible. Their rules of operation allow for the installation of security patches without long qualification testing. These customers have requested that a security only version of ESX patches be created for every ESXi minor version releases.
Name and Version
Release Date
Category
Detail
ESXi 7.0b – 16324942
06/16/2020
Enhancement
Security and Bugfix image
ESXi 7.0bs – 16321839
06/16/2020
Enhancement
Security only image
The release notes include this information as well. The 7.0b version includes the security and bugfixes, the 7.0bs version only includes the security fixes.
Speaking of the new releases, another interesting update is that several Cisco hosts are now supported for vSphere Quick Boot. Consider to enable quick boot to save a lot of time patching your hosts using either vSphere Update Manager (VUM) or vLCM! Do note that enabling quick boot disables some security features like Trusted Platform Module (TPM).
