VMware pulled 7.0 update 3, 3a, and 3b for ESXi last week as well as vCenter 7.0 Update 3b due to excessive bugs/issues with the software. There had already been two updates to try to rectify these problems, but the issues ended up being too serious to keep trying to patch in-situ. These updates are no longer available on VMware’s website.
So what does this mean? Well, if you were on vSphere 7.0 update 2x and were planning to upgrade… those plans need to be pushed off until the new version is available. If you are already on 7.0 update 3 and aren’t experiencing issues, you may have lucked out…but be ready to upgrade when the “fixed” releases are launched. I say “fixed” in quotations because VMware hasn’t had the best track record over the last few years with QA, and we normally recommend holding off on upgrades anyway. Given the relatively unprecedented step of the update being pulled, this may be a time to rush to the next upgrade.
If you’re about to update to VMware 7.0, read this first.
Take some time to read the known issues and try to avoid some of the situations that lead to issues. Places to be extra careful involve Physical mode RDMs (ex: clusters on top of VMware), or virtual machines doing trim/unmap functions. VMware also has a FAQ with some guidance around what you should do in various situations.