What is VMware Update Manager?

What is VMware Update Manager ? what’s New?  What is use of VMware Update manager and it’s components.

What is update Manager?

With the help of Update Manager we can do the patching for ESXi host, Update the VM vmware tool version (upgrade) and to fix the bug. So that we can protect our environment from attack.

With Update Manager, you can perform the following tasks:

1. Upgrade and patch ESX/ESXi hosts.
2. Install and update third-party software on hosts.
3. Upgrade virtual machine hardware, VMware Tools, and virtual appliances.

Points need to remember:

1. Update Manager requires network connectivity with VMware vCenter Server.
2. Each installation of Update Manager must be associated (registered) with a single vCenter Server instance.
3. If you have vCenter server in Linked Mode then need to install Update manager in each vCenter server and register with it.

For scanning and remediation, Update Manager works with the following ESXi versions.

1. For VMware Tools and virtual machine hardware upgrade operations, Update Manager works with ESXi version 5.0 and later.
2. For ESXi host patching operations, Update Manager works with ESXi 5.0 and later.
3. For ESXi host upgrade operations, Update Manager works with ESXi 5.0 and later.

VUM Components:

Update Manager has two client components, which run in the different vSphere client components.

1. There is an Update Manager Client plug-in that runs on the vSphere Client (The vSphere Client is a desktop client)
2. Update Manager Web Client that runs on the vSphere Web Client.( vSphere Web Client is a Web-based client.)

Important: For Desktop Client plugin you have to install it manually in VI client.

VUM 5 and 6 Features

• Support of new embedded database: Update Manager 6.0 and the UMDS 6.0 can be configured to use the new embedded database Microsoft SQL Server 2012. In Update Manager 6.0 release, to install the embedded database, you must select the option to use Microsoft SQL Server 2012 database before starting the Update Manager server or the UMDS installation wizard.

• Additional database support: The Update Manager 6.0 server and the UMDS 6.0 are compatible with Oracle Database 12c.

•  Cross platform upgrade (ESX to ESXi) –VUM now has the ability to do a cross-platform upgrade and move you from, let’s say ESXi Server 5.x to ESXi Server 6.

• Optimized Cluster Patching and Upgrade–VUM 6 has the ability to understand your HA/DRS cluster capacity and perform ESXi host upgrades faster than ever by remediating the optimum number of hosts at one time – upgrading multiple hosts in parallel.

• VMware Tool Upgrade Improvements– VUM now reduces the amount of time required to upgrade the VMware tools in each VM by reducing the number of reboots and/or scheduling reboots associated with the tools to occur at the next VM reboot.

• Improved Virtual Appliance Updates –VUM not only update virtual appliances but it can also upgrade them even if VUM doesn’t have Internet access and VUM has insight into the software components inside a VM that are related

• More Flexible Update Manager Download Service – the UMDS, as it is called, is the process going to VMware.com (and other websites) and downloading the patches that you will apply. In VUM5 & 6, UMDS is more flexible, allowing you to specify multiple download URL paths and also to only download patches that are relevant to your environment.

• Update Manager Utility–VUM 6 is an update manager utility that helps you to reconfigure the Update Manager setup, change the database password and proxy authentication, re-register Update Manager with vCenter Server, and replace the SSL certificates for Update Manager.