Dell EMC VxRail: Fail to install VIB due to insufficient space in bootbank on ESXi host

When attempt to install VIB on ESXi host, it may fail.

Command output is similar to:

[root@exsi-host1:/tmp] esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/NVIDIA-VMware_ESXi_6.7_Host_Driver-430.46-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922.x86_64.vib  [InstallationError]  The pending transaction requires 240 MB free space, however the maximum supported size is 239 MB.  Please refer to the log file for more details.

In /var/log/esxupdate.log file on the affected ESXi host, you see entries similar to:

2016-02-04T12:19:23Z esxupdate: BootBankInstaller.pyc: ERROR: The pending transaction requires xxx MB free space, however the maximum supported size is xxx MB.

/bootbank partition stores the hypervisor image. It is formatted with FAT format and 250MB size. The image will be extracted and loaded into the system memory during the boot process.

This issue occurs when the bootbank partition runs out of space.

Currently, there is no resolution for adjusting the size of bookbank partition. To work around this issue, free the space on the bootbank by un-installing non-required VIBs on the ESXi host.

Note: If you are not sure about which VIB could be removed safely. Please contact customer support and quote this Knowledge Base article (541606) in the problem description. 

To list all installed VIBs, use "esxcli software vib list" command.


To get detailed information about a VIB, use "esxcli software vib get -n <vib_name>" command.


To remove a VIB, use "esxcli software vib remove -n <vib_name>" command.