Do not apply a November 2024 HPE ESXi patch if your system firmware is from January 2023.
Test in non-production
The situation escalated in early 2026 when threat actors began exploiting the older at scale, targeting vulnerable ESXi hypervisors in widespread attacks. This event was part of a larger trend, as adversaries actively targeted critical VMware ESXi vulnerabilities, "elevating the risk posture for virtualized infrastructure worldwide".
There are three primary methods to patch an ESXi host running an HPE Custom Image. The choice depends on the size of your environment and the version of vSphere you are running. 1. VMware vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) / Update Manager hpe custom image for esxi patched
Evacuate all virtual machines using vMotion to ensure zero downtime for workloads. Place the host into maintenance mode: esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true Use code with caution.
If you patch ESXi without updating SPP, you may see: NMI: PCIe error or S.M.A.R.T. monitoring failed .
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Once the desired image is configured, vLCM automatically checks compliance across all hosts in the cluster. Hosts that do not match the desired state can be remediated with a few clicks. vLCM conducts a non-disruptive and fully automated remediation of the entire cluster, a significant improvement over manual patch management.
Includes standard providers like Smart Storage Administrator (SSA) CLI, allowing storage configuration directly from the ESXi command line.
If the HPE coredump partition (often /dev/disks/...:5 ) is missing, your hardware support module is corrupted. Re-install the HPE VIB immediately. There are three primary methods to patch an
Inventory and compatibility
esxcli software vib update -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/patch-file.zip Use code with caution.
Create a new custom image, selecting the base VMware image and the HPE bundle components. Remediate: Use the image to remediate your hosts. Method 2: Command Line (ImageBuilder PowerCLI) Download: Download the latest HPE Custom Image ISO.
