PowerPath: Steps to upgrade PowerPath/VE

How to upgrade PowerPath/VE?

Before you begin:

- It is recommended to migrate or power off all the VMs hosted on the ESXi Server before upgrading PowerPath (in clustered ESXi environment).
- Put the host into maintenance mode.
- Ensure that the SPC-2 flag is enabled for Symmetrix devices (if used).
- Ensure that vMotion is correctly configured to allow for non-disruptive installation of PowerPath/VE if required.
- With PowerPath Management Appliance, it is possible to non-disruptively upgrade PowerPath without manually migrating VM’s between hosts (Applicable only for clustered ESXi environment)

There are 3 update methods - see PowerPath/VE Install and Admin guide for further details.

1) Installing using VMware Update Manager - This is the recommended installation method.
2) Installing using remote vCLI
3) Install PowerPath/VE using Auto Deploy

Upgrade example:

1) Migrate all the VMs on the host to other ESXi hosts in the cluster. 
2) Put the host into maintenance mode. The upgrade can be performed without this step also. But it is a recommended best practice.

- It can be done either using command line or using GUI. In GUI i.e. vSphere Client, right click the target ESXi Server, click "Enter Maintenance Mode".
- If the host is not responding to GUI, following commands can be used. Maintenance mode will ensure that the ESXi Server is not a part of cluster temporarily.

To enter Maintenance Mode:  vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter
To enter Exit Mode:         vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit     

To check if host is in maintenance mode at any point:   vim-cmd /hostsvc/hostsummary | grep inMaintenanceMode

3) Upload the PPVE zip file to a shared storage so all the ESXi Servers can be upgraded with the help of same zip file. Note down the name of the datastore where the bundle is uploaded.
4) Upgrade PowerPath/VE using one of the above install methods.
5) Reboot the host.
6) After reboot, use the following command to verify the new version of PPVE:
esxcli software vib list | grep -i powerpath
7) Now the upgrade is successful, the host can be put out of maintenance mode either from GUI or by following the commands used above to move host in and out of maintenance mode.

Note:
As its ESXi, it s possible the licensing information maybe lost.   So a registration will be needed.  If you use the vApp to perform license management, this will automatically re-register it.

ESX host lost PowerPath/VE license after reboot
Run rpowermt register host=XX.XXX.XXX.XX

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Installation logs:
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/var/run/log/esxupdate.log
/var/run/log/vmkernel.log