The purpose of this blog post is to provide the guidance and the steps needed to update VMware Tools in my vSphere 8 environment. Release notes for VMware Tools v12.1.5 can be found here, and below is a screenshot of my current environment.
The goal is to share how to update VMware Tools for each ESXi Host using vSphere Lifecycle Manager. To begin, please log into your vSphere environment and then navigate to vSphere Lifecycle Manager.
Next, select Components and then filter the Name column and search for Tools. You’ll notice Async Releases for previous versions. At this time, we’re going to add v12.1.5 (build number 20735119), which is the most recent release as of this post.
At this time, you’ll need to download the most recent version from Customer Connect and search for VMware Tools Download. On the following page, select the box for Downloads on the left-hand side and then select the appropriate version (VMware Tools 12.1.5 in this example). When prompted to select a download file, please select VMware Tools Offline VIB Bundle.
Once the file has been downloaded successfully, you can now proceed with the process of Importing it. Under Actions, select Import Updates, followed by Browse, then navigate to the location of the file that was previously downloaded, and then followed by clicking Import.
Once the file has been successfully imported, it will be displayed under Components.
Now will need to create a Baseline and then attach it to your ESXi Hosts. To do so, select Baselines, New, and then Baseline.
You’ll then be prompted to provide the new Baseline a name, then select Patch, followed by Next.
Un-check the option to Automatically Update this Baseline and then select Next.
Disable the option to Show Only Rollup Updates, filter the Name column and search for the name you assigned (in this example, tools 12.1.5)
Select the baseline that was created, followed by Next.
And then Finish.
Now we’ll need to apply it to my Cluster. Select Inventory, select your Cluster, followed by Updates. Select Attach, Attach Baseline or Baseline Group, select the new Baseline, Next and then Finish
If the status of the new baseline is Non-Compliant or Unknown, please follow the steps below to correct it so it appears as Compliant. Select the Baseline Update and then Remediate. Once this is complete, the status should change to Compliant.
This concludes this blog post. If I have missed anything or if you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Al Rasheed - A personal Blog about IT related subjects. 
Dear Al,
excellent write-up, works like a charm – thank you!
In environments where you don’t have direct internet access and thus Lifecycle Manager is not able to retrieve online patch definitions and updates by itself it still is fairly easy to import those manually. The benefits are that you just need this additional step to import updates manually, while still being able to facilitate the Lifecycle Manager features for ESXi remediation.
So I just downloaded and added the latest VMware Tools (12.3.5-22544099) .vib file to the repository, created a Baseline, attached it to the Cluster and remediated it on 22 running ESXi hosts; none of them were in Maintenance Mode, and everything was applied successfully.
One recommendation though regarding the link to the patch portal: https://customerconnect.vmware.com/patch#search
Using the link provided in the article had me loop through the login window constantly returning to the login window. Other than that – super cool, thanks for bringing me (and everybody else) up-to-date.
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