1. download the latest esxi offline bundle.

ESXi 5.5 Update 1 Offline Bundle

File size: 624 MB File type: zip

  1. upload the offline bundle to esxi host with client or scp

  2. update the esxi with ssh

~ # esxcli software profile update -d /vmfs/volumes/vmdata/iso/update-from-esxi5.5-5.5_update01.zip -p ESXi-5.5.0-20140302001-standard

Update Result

Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.

Reboot Required: true

VIBs Installed: VMware_bootbank_ata-pata-amd_0.3.10-3vmw.550.0.0.1331820 …

VIBs Removed: VMware_bootbank_ata-pata-amd_0.3.10-3vmw.510.0.0.799733 …

Btw, -p means profile name. you can get the profile name from offline bundle zip. file. update-from-esxi5.5-5.5_update01.zip->metadata.zip->profiles