This historical lab example shows how I updated an ESXi 7.0 host from the command line when I could not use the UI. The original public depot in the commands is no longer available; read the notice above and substitute a currently supported depot or offline bundle. Prepare the Host and Enter Maintenance Mode Broadcom’s current esxcli patching procedure requires the ESXi host to be in maintenance mode before esxcli software profile update. ...
As I was installing\upgrading my lab environment to ESXi 7.0 I received an error that the CPU was unsupported. As per the release notes vSphere 7.0 release notes my CPU is no longer on the compatibility list. Since this is a lab environment I wanted to continue using my current hardware. It goes without saying that this method should not be used in a production environment. To allow the legacy CPU all I had to do is boot up from the ISO, on the boot Menu I pressed TAB or Shift + O and added allowLegacyCPU=True option as seen in the screenshot below ...