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VMware ESXi 8.0 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade

VMware vSphere 8.0 IA (Initial Availability) is in the market for a couple of weeks now and it is expected to transition into GA (General Availability) soon. It's time to verify that your hardware is supported if you plan on upgrading your ESXi hosts to vSphere 8.0. Some systems have not been certified by their vendor yet. The following servers were supported in vSphere 7.0 U3 but are according to VMware's HCL not yet supported in vSphere 8.0.

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. In doubt, ask your vendor or VMware if 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. I will comment on changes when the list gets smaller.
  • Did I miss something? Please comment.
  • To keep the list convenient, only the following vendors are included: Cisco, DELL, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi, IBM, Lenovo, Inspur, Huawei and Supermicro

Read More »VMware ESXi 8.0 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade

VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 2 on Intel NUC

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0 Update 2 has been released this week and before you start to deploy it to production, you want to evaluate it in your testing environment or homelab. If you have Intel NUCs you should always be very careful when updating to new ESXi releases as there might be issues. Please always keep in mind that this is not an officially supported platform.

Within the 7.0 releases, there are many issues with consumer network adapters, like the deprecation of VMKlinux drivers and thus the missing support for Realtek NICs, and the up and downs with the ne1000 driver.

To be on the safe side, I'm doing a quick checkup on which NUCs are safe to update and what considerations you have to take before installing the update. Also, I'm quickly explaining the options to workaround the crypto64.efi issue.

Read More »VMware ESXi 7.0 Update 2 on Intel NUC

VMware ESXi 7.0 - IO Devices not certified for upgrade

Beside Server Hardware, also double check if your IO Devices (eg. NIC, HBA,..) are supported when updating ESXi hosts from VMware vSphere 6.7 to 7.0. The following devices were supported in vSphere 6.7 but are according to VMware's HCL not (yet) supported in vSphere 7.0.

  • 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.
  • In vSphere 7.0, VMKLinux driver compatibility has been deprecated and removed.

Read More »VMware ESXi 7.0 - IO Devices not certified for upgrade

VMware ESXi 7.0 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade

Double-check your vendor support when updating ESXi hosts to vSphere 7.0. Some systems have not been certified by their vendor yet. The following servers were supported in vSphere 6.7 but are according to VMware's HCL not yet supported in vSphere 7.0.

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.
  • The list only contains systems by the following vendors: Cisco, DELL, Fujitsu, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi, IBM, Lenovo, and Supermicro

Read More »VMware ESXi 7.0 - Hardware not yet certified for upgrade

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 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

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

VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 (vCSA) Enhancements

migrate2vcsavCenter Server Virtual Appliance (vCSA) is the future. If you are still running the Windows-based vCenter, it's time to migrate to the appliance with vSphere 6.5.

Since vSphere 6.0, the appliance offers the same feature and scale as the windows based vCenter. vSphere 6.5 adds an X-Large deployment size, the update manager and a fully supported migration assistant to the appliance.Read More »VMware vCenter Server Appliance 6.5 (vCSA) Enhancements