I recently ran in to a problem where i couldn’t update my esx server from the UI so i wanted to to it from the command line. After doing some research this is the way i was able to do it:

Step 1 was to open the firewall by running:

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e true -r httpClient

Step 2 was to list the profiles available:

esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml | grep -i ESXi-7

or if i already have a bundle downloaded available:

esxcli software sources profile list -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/downloaded.zip | grep -i ESXi-7

Step 3 was to pick one of the releases and apply the update

esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-7.0b-16324942-standard  -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml

or from the local zip file

esxcli software profile update -p ESXi-7.0b-16324942-standard  -d /vmfs/volumes/datastore/downloaded.zip

Step 4 dont forget to close the firewall

esxcli network firewall ruleset set -e false -r httpClient

As i was installing\upgrading my lab environment to ESXi 7.0 i received an error that the CPU was unsupported. As per the release notes vSphere 7.0 release notes my CPU is no longer on the compatibility list.

Since this is a lab environment i wanted to continue using my current hardware. It goes without saying that this method should not be used in a production environment.

To allow the legacy CPU all i had to do is boot up from the ISO, on the boot Menu i pressed TAB or Shift + O and added allowLegacyCPU=True option as seen in the screenshot below