ESX4 host won't update using vSphere Update Manager

I orignally posted this to VMWare communites at: http://communities.vmware.com/message/1401012#1401012

I'm trying to do the initial updates on an ESX4 host using Update Manger.

I was able to successfully download and patch 2 ESX4 servers out of 3. The third one for some reason won't take the update. It scans fine and comes back with the same number of available/needed updates that the other machines successfully downloaded so I don't think its a port blocking problem.

When I go to Stage the update I get the "There are errors during the staging operation" error.

I've tried everything I can think of at this point:

Rebooted vCenter, uninstall and reinstall of vCenter; tried installing with the host in maintenance mode; made sure nothing is running; compared firewall ports on the other two units to make sure the settings are the same, etc.

The only obvious difference is the machines themselves. The two that worked fine are nVidia 680i white box machines and work perfectly for my test lab.

The one that's having the problem is a Dell PE 2900 so go figure. :/

One 680i is an upgrade from 3.5, the other was a clean install.

Any thoughts or directions I can head in?

Thanks!

The answer?:

Okay I finally solved it. (after picking up the problem again later).

This link has the answer: http://www.vmware.com/support/vsphere4/doc/vsp_vum_40_rel_notes.html

And the answer for the failure turns out ot be:

Host Patch and Upgrade Remediation Might Fail
Host patch and upgrade remediation might fail with the message There are errors during the remediation operation
if an inaccessible virtual machine exists on the host. The reason for this failure might be that the virtual machine files reside on a disconnected network storage.

Workaround: Connect the disconnected network storage or remove the inaccessible virtual machine from the vSphere inventory.

It turns out that on my test network I did indeed have an "innaccessible host" from the ghost of a VM that I had deleted. So much for housekeeping.

Otherwise that page has some other pointers to what might be causing this issue as well.

Solved!