Well, now what will I do to get ESXi 7 updates applied?

paprika-1977-12 · 2025-04-25T13:58:08.594Z

I have this question answered What sends this and how do I customize? vSphere update manager I suppose, but it does say workstation in the title

Just in time to have my alerts go from updates working just fine to not. I assume since 4/24/2025 was when Broadcom now requires download token to be issued for updates.

knowledge.broadcom.com

VCF authenticated downloads configuration update instructions

This isn’t so much a question for you to tell me how to do it since I can read and try the article, it is more for commentary and discussion. Stuck on any number of other issues. It is like if I asked Broadcom to make my life more challenging because I don’t have enough to do already.

Rod-IT · 2025-04-25T14:00:15.224Z

Since you’ve noted this is for discussion, I’ve changed your ‘question’ tag to ‘discussion’

paprika-1977-12 · 2025-04-25T14:15:51.288Z

Rod-IT:

for discussion

I am specifically interested if anyone has sections of the license agreements they would like to highlight that outlines why it would not be legal for me to apply updates to any of my ESXi 7 systems past when support was paid. HPE specifically calls out that subscription is required for firmware past a specific point on their equipment for things like the SPP which aggregates those patches, but for many of the individual components makes them available for download. I am still trying to decipher how this applies to the HPE ESXi 7 drivers, etc.

Rod-IT · 2025-04-25T14:25:31.907Z

If you own a perpetual license, this if for use, not updates.

Updates and upgrades are part of Support and Subscription Services : This section of the license agreement usually states that updates, patches, and new releases are provided as part of the support and subscription services.

Broadcom VMware Licensing Changes Explained

How do the changes impact businesses using existing perpetual licenses?
Businesses can continue using their perpetual licenses, but once support contracts expire, they will lose access to updates, security patches, and technical support.

adrian_ych · 2025-04-28T10:37:06.879Z

paprika-1977-12:

I am specifically interested if anyone has sections of the license agreements they would like to highlight that outlines why it would not be legal for me to apply updates to any of my ESXi 7 systems past when support was paid. HPE specifically calls out that subscription is required for firmware past a specific point on their equipment for things like the SPP which aggregates those patches, but for many of the individual components makes them available for download.

Sadly, I think you have just answered your own question. Since you got the licenses via HPe, then yours is likely a 3rd party support (under Broadcom’s licensing terms).

Even before the Broadcom acquisition, we had lots of issues “transferring” manufacturer or 3rd party support and/or maintenance directly to VMware (my VMware back then).

paprika-1977-12 · 2025-04-28T17:09:19.096Z

adrian_ych:

Since you got the licenses via HPe

I did not get the licenses direct through HPE. I was using HPE as an example of how software updates are officially licensed by another vendor tangential to the topic.

All the VMware licenses were purchased either through the VMware online store or via a reseller.

adrian_ych · 2025-04-29T03:22:40.798Z

paprika-1977-12:

All the VMware licenses were purchased either through the VMware online store or via a reseller.

Then sadly, the licenses SLA and T&Cs or EULA were on the myVMware (or now Broadcom) site.

But in the documents, they will not say that the licenses “do not have support” or “does not include future security patches” or “does not allow future upgrades”. But they will mention that you need a valid subscription and/or maintenance contract in order for future upgrades and updates.

paprika-1977-12 · 2025-04-30T13:49:51.418Z

paprika-1977-12:

since I can read and try the article

Can confirm that this is not too terrible. Even for the accounts where the owner didn’t have the correct permissions to do this the support tickets were resolved in less than a day to grant the access. Configuring the vCenter appliance itself and then the lifecycle manager under the vCenter UI were not too bad. 1 new URL plus token for the vCenter appliance management interface and 4 new ones (URLs, all 4 use the same token used for the appliance) for the lifecycle manager.

Next mission. Decipher how this works out for the vendor specific, in my case HPE, updates.

Rod-IT · 2025-05-01T22:19:07.446Z

Just for those who have/use or own VMWare

Oh Broadcom… really! - Virtualization - Spiceworks Community

paprika-1977-12 · 2025-05-02T16:43:46.314Z

Never thought I would be saying these words. I cannot wait until I get back to running an all Hyper-V shop.

paprika-1977-12 · 2025-05-02T17:05:23.309Z

Good read to mull over.

Wondering what the technical process for end user administrators of the product is to check out all the updates that are applied to each ESXi instance and then go about removing any of the updates that may have been accidentally applied after the fact due to how the vCenter update manager was configured to just go grab them off the public repository.

Going through the exercise to get the current supported editions updated I was able to find out you can just disable the repository download URLs that are preconfigured which keeps the not supported editions from looking for updates.

Rod-IT · 2025-05-02T17:09:07.500Z

Existing repos are disabled since 23 April anyway.

You now need to change these to a Broadcom link and have an active ‘token’ granting you rights to the download section.