Applying a hotfix or update using the command line

In the following example, we will discover how to apply a hotfix using the xe CLI to the XenServer host xenserver2:

1. First, download and extract the update file to a known location on your computer.

2. If High Availability is enabled on the pool, disable it by executing the xe command pool-ha-disable.

3. Copy the update file to a folder on the XenServer host, using a tool such as WinSCP. In this example we copy the file to the path /home/.

   Note

   You can download the WinSCP tool available at http://winscp.net.

4. Upload the hotfix file to the host you wish to update using the xe command patch upload:

   xe patch-upload file-name=<file-name> -s <server> -u <username> -pw <password>
   

   where:

   • The file-name parameter is the path where you have uploaded the hotfix file

   • The server parameter is the name or IP address of the host where you want to apply the hotfix

   • The username parameter is the name of the user account that XenServer will use to upload the file

   • The password parameter is the password related to the user account that you will use to upload the file

   In our example, we execute the following command:

   xe patch-upload file-name=/home/XS60E001.xsupdate -s 192.168.0.2 -u root -pw xenserver
   

   

   XenServer assigns the hotfix file a unique identifier (UUID). We use this UUID for installing the hotfix. In our example, the uuid is 95ac709c-e408-423f-8d22-84b8134a149e.

   Note

   As we have seen using XenCenter, if XenServer detects any errors or preparatory steps that have not been taken it informs you. So, follow any guidance before continuing with the update.

5. Now, start the update process using the xe command patch-apply:

   xe patch-apply host-uuid=<host-uuid> uuid=<hotfix-uuid>
   

   where:

   • The host-uuid parameter is the unique identifier of the XenServer host that you are updating

   • The uuid parameter is the unique identifier of the hotfix that you have uploaded previously

   In our example, we execute the following command:

   xe patch-apply host-uuid=5b344339-620c-42f2-b0d1-1b6ad5ec8802 uuid=95ac709c-e408-423f-8d22-84b8134a149e
   

6. After you have applied the hotfix, you can verify that the update has been successfully applied by using the xe command patch-list. If the update has been successful, the hosts (SRO) field contains the host UUID:

   

   The command patch-list also informs you about the post-update tasks that you have to perform. The after-apply-guidance (SRO) field in this example instructs you to restart the host.

7. After you have completed the update process, enable again the High Availability feature on your pool with the xe command pool-ha-enable.