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How to Install, Update, and Remove the Nimble Connection Manager on ESXi

There are a few ways to install Nimble Connection Manager (NCM) on your ESXi hosts. The easiest way is to add the appropriate download source to VMware Update Manager (VUM) in your vCenter, then create and attach a baseline for Nimble Connection Manager to each of your ESXi hosts attached to the HPE Nimble array. Doing so will ensure that Nimble Connection Manager is installed or updated during your normal VMware Update Manager update cycle which will keep Nimble Connection Manager updated across your infrastructure. For those that need them, here are the source URLs:

Nimble Connection Manager Download Sources for VMware Update Manager
ESX VersionDownload Source
ESXi 5.xhttps://update.nimblestorage.com/esx5/ncm/index.xml
ESXi 6.0https://update.nimblestorage.com/esx6/ncm/index.xml
ESXi 6.5https://update.nimblestorage.com/esx6.5/ncm/index.xml

Now that you have the download sources, what do you do with them? For starters, add them to VMware Update Manager (VUM). For detailed instructions on how to do that, check out my blog post on the subject, or VMware Docs.

Another option is to install Nimble Connection Manager directly to the host. There are a few prerequisites for this method:

  1. Enable SSH on the host.
    1. Select the host, click Manage, and keep Settings selected.
    2. Click Security Profile.
    3. In the

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How to Cleanly Uninstall the Nimble Connection Manager Before an ESXi Upgrade

If you’re using HPE Nimble storage arrays to back your VMware environment, there’s something that you should know. Lets start from the top. As of this writing, the Nimble Connection Manager (NCM) for ESXi comes in three different flavors. There’s a version available for use with ESXi 5.X, one available for use with ESXi 6.0, and one available for use with ESXi 6.5. Add the appropriate download source to VMware Update Manager (VUM), then create and attach a baseline for Nimble Connection Manager to your hosts. Doing so will ensure that Nimble Connection Manager is installed or updated during your normal VMware Update Manager update cycle which will keep Nimble Connection Manager updated across your infrastructure. For those that need them, here are the source URLs:

Nimble Connection Manager Download Sources for VMware Update Manager
ESX VersionDownload Source
ESXi 5.xhttps://update.nimblestorage.com/esx5/ncm/index.xml
ESXi 6.0https://update.nimblestorage.com/esx6/ncm/index.xml
ESXi 6.5https://update.nimblestorage.com/esx6.5/ncm/index.xml

I recently upgraded my entire VMware environment from vSphere 5.5 to 6.5. Because I had Nimble Connection Manager installed on the hosts, and the version installed was compatible with ESXi 5.X, I had to do a few things before I could upgrade the hosts. If you leave the older version of Nimble

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