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ESXi

Free ESXi 6.7 - How to Download and get License Keys

vSphere 6.7 has been released and as known from previous versions, VMware provides a free version of their Hypervisor ESXi for everyone again. The license key can be created for free at VMware's website. It has no expiration date. The binaries you will receive as "Free Hypervisor" are 100% identical to the paid version but with some software limitations.

Tech Specs and Limitations

  • No commercial support (But great community support)
  • Free ESXi cannot be added to a vCenter Server
  • Some API functionality is missing
  • No physical CPU limitation
  • Number of logical CPUs per host: 480
  • Maximum vCPUs per virtual machine: 8

Other limitations like the 32GB Memory or 2 CPU Socket limit are no longer in place.

Read More »Free ESXi 6.7 - How to Download and get License Keys

VMware ESXi 6.7 - IO Devices not certified for upgrade

vmware-hcl-65Beside Server Hardware, also double check if your IO Devices (eg. NIC, HBA,..) are supported when updating ESXi hosts from VMware vSphere 6.5 to 6.7. The following devices were supported in vSphere 6.5 but are according to VMware's HCL not (yet) supported in vSphere 6.7.

  • Not supported does not say that it does not work.
  • The list has been created with the help of my IO-Devices HCL in JSON Format.
  • Did I miss something? Please comment.

Read More »VMware ESXi 6.7 - IO Devices not certified for upgrade

VMware ESXi 6.7 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade

Double check your vendor support when updating ESXi hosts from to vSphere 6.7. Some systems have not been certified by their vendor yet. The following servers were supported in vSphere 6.5 but are according to VMware's HCL not yet supported in vSphere 6.7.

Your server is listed and you want to upgrade?

  • Usually, the list gets smaller a couple of weeks after a new vSphere version has been released. I will update this post when I notice changes.
  • Not supported does not say that it does not work.
  • Servers get certified by their vendor, not VMware. If you want a server to get certified, ask your vendor.
  • Vendor support matrices sometimes differ from VMware HCL. Please ask your vendor or VMware whether you are allowed to upgrade.
  • The list has been created with the help of my HCL in JSON Format.
  • Follow the comments to get notified of updates.
  • Did I miss something? Please comment.

Read More »VMware ESXi 6.7 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade

VMware ESXi 3.5 - 6.7 Hypervisor Size Comparison

The VMware bare-metal hypervisor ESXi is in the market for over 10 years now. During that time it has been continuously refined and added with new features. Since vSphere 5.0, the hypervisor size is very constant and has not increased severely. In this post, I am going to have a look at how much the hypervisor footprint has been changed from ESXi 3.5 to ESXi 6.7.

  • ESXi 3.5 - 46,01 MB
  • ESXi 4.0 - 59,99 MB
  • ESXi 4.1 - 85,19 MB
  • ESXi 5.0 - 132,75 MB
  • ESXi 5.1 - 125,85 MB
  • ESXi 5.5 - 151,98 MB
  • ESXi 6.0 - 154,90 MB
  • ESXi 6.5 - 135,39 MB
  • ESXi 6.7 - 129,51 MB

Read More »VMware ESXi 3.5 - 6.7 Hypervisor Size Comparison

Using the first 3D Xpoint based Intel Optane SSD with ESXi

I could get my hands on Intel's first 3D XPoint based SSD to figure out how it performs.

3D XPoint is a new non-volatile memory technology that has been developed by Intel and Micron.

With 32GB, it doesn't make sense to buy them for anything else than their intended use case: Cache device to enhance SSD/HDD Performance. If you want to use Optane technology as VM Datastore, wait a couple of months when devices with a higher capacity are available.

 

Read More »Using the first 3D Xpoint based Intel Optane SSD with ESXi

What's inside VMware vSphere 6.0 Update 3

VMware has released vSphere 6.0 Update 3. That update only contains minor changes, no noteworthy new features have been added. Together with 6.0 U3, the following product updates were released today:

If you want to get notified about updates and new products, subscribe to my vTracker RSS Feed.Read More »What's inside VMware vSphere 6.0 Update 3

VMware ESXi 6.5 - IO Devices not certified for upgrade

vmware-hcl-65Beside Server Hardware, also double check if your IO Devices (eg. NIC, HBA,..) are supported when updating ESXi hosts from VMware vSphere 6.0 to 6.5. The following devices were supported in vSphere 6.0 but are according to VMwares HCL not (yet) supported in vSphere 6.5.

  • Not supported does not say that it does not work.
  • The list has been created with the help of my IO-Devices HCL in JSON Format.
  • Did I miss something? Please comment.

Read More »VMware ESXi 6.5 - IO Devices not certified for upgrade

vSphere 6.5 Component Password Recovery (vCenter, SSO and ESXi)

Everyone knows the situation where you can't log into a system because you have forgotten the password. The following article explains how to reset the password and regain access to VMware vSphere 6.5 core components including vCenter, SSO and ESXi Hosts.

  • Reset vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 root password
  • Reset SSO Administrator Password (vCenter Server Appliance 6.5)
  • Reset ESXi root password with Host Profiles
  • Gain Administrative ESXi access with an Active Directory
  • Reset ESXi root password (Linux Live CD)

Read More »vSphere 6.5 Component Password Recovery (vCenter, SSO and ESXi)

VMware ESXi 3.5 - 6.5 Hypervisor Size Comparison

VMwares bare-metal hypervisor ESXi is in the market for almost 9 years now. During that time it has been continuously refined and added with new features. Since vSphere 5.0, the hypervisor size is very constant and has not increased severely. In this post I am going to have a look at how much the hypervisor footprint has been changed from ESXi 3.5 to ESXi 6.5.

  • ESXi 3.5 - 46,01 MB
  • ESXi 4.0 - 59,99 MB
  • ESXi 4.1 - 85,19 MB
  • ESXi 5.0 - 132,75 MB
  • ESXi 5.1 - 125,85 MB
  • ESXi 5.5 - 151,98 MB
  • ESXi 6.0 - 154,90 MB
  • ESXi 6.5 - 135,39 MB

esxi-hypervisor-size-3-5-6-5

Read More »VMware ESXi 3.5 - 6.5 Hypervisor Size Comparison

VMware ESXi 6.5 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade

vmware-hcl-65Double check your vendor support when updating ESXi hosts from VMware vSphere 6.0 to 6.5. Some systems have not been certified by their vendor yet. The following servers were supported in vSphere 6.0 but are according to VMwares HCL not yet supported in vSphere 6.5.

Your server is listed and you want to upgrade?

  • Usually, the list gets smaller a couple of weeks after a new vSphere version has been released. I will update this post when I notice changes.
  • Not supported does not say that it does not work.
  • Servers get certified by their vendor, not VMware. If you want a server to get certified, ask your vendor.
  • Vendor support matrices sometimes differ from VMware HCL. Please ask your vendor or VMware whether you are allowed to upgrade.
  • The list has been created with the help of my HCL in JSON Format.
  • Follow the comments to get notified about updates.
  • Did I miss something? Please comment.

Read More »VMware ESXi 6.5 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade