VMware is the first to Provide Patch Mgt of Applications on VM's, Guest OS updates & Hypervisor Updates

Updating ESX / ESXi Host Patches, Guest OS Patches (Linux & Windows Service Pack and Patches) & Even amazingly Application Patches on your VM's (Be it Anti Virius or Enterprise Class App or Gaint DB s/w). VMware has tied up with www.shavlik.com to get end-to-end patch management via VMware Update Mgr.. I have experienced this first handed - wow, it's beautiful & great flexibility - Hats off to www.SHAVLIK.com & VMware - Few updates may require restart of Applications / Guest OS / ESX Host itself (keep an eye on Update Mgr wizards)

Below article Sourced from VMware Knowledge Base

We have a new video for you today detailing installing patches or updates to your VMware ESX host using VMware vCenter Update Manager. This video was created using ESX 4.0 and Update Manager 4.0. The same basic steps apply to other versions of ESX. This video also shows you how to determine how often your host checks for patches or updates, where to schedule the task, and how to run the task manually.

For more information and context, continue reading the KB article: Updating an ESX host using vCenter Update Manager.

Updating an ESX host using vCenter Update Manager

(Click - Watch on YouTube and then Full Screen for better clarity)