A VMware Virtual Machine hardware version refers to the configuration of virtual hardware components and features that are available to a virtual machine running on the hypervisor. Each version of VM hardware provides a set of features and capabilities that can be utilized by the virtual machine, including vCPU, memory, network adapters, and storage controllers.
VMware releases new virtual hardware versions with each generation of its virtualization products. To ensure compatibility between a virtual machine and the platform, make sure to choose the appropriate hardware version for the virtual machine. Some VM hardware versions come with performance enhancements so updating them regularly can help to improve performance.
| Version | Introduced | Enhancements |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | ESXi 8.0 U2 | 16 vGPU devices per VM 256 vNVMe disks per VM NVMe 1.3 support for Windows 11 and Server 2022 NVMe support for WSFC |
| 20 | ESXi 8.0 Fusion 13.x Workstation Pro 17.x Workstation Player 17.x | 256 Cores per virtual socket Virtual NUMA Topology 32 PCI passthrough devices Enhanced DirectPath I/O Vendor Device Groups Virtual Hyperthreading DataSets Service vMotion App Notification VMXNet3 Version 8 8 vGPUs WDDM 1.2 Direct3D 11.0 OpenGL 4.3 |
| 19 | ESXi 7.0 U2 Fusion 12.2.x Workstation Pro 16.2.x Workstation Player 16.2.x | 10 PVRDMA endpoints vMotion with PVRDMA native Direct3D 11.0 Microsoft VBS (AMD) VMXNet3 Version 7 OpenGL 4.0 |
| 18 | ESXi 7.0 U1 Fusion 12.x Workstation Pro 16.x Workstation Player 16.x | 768 vCPU 24560 GB RAM 256 MB video memory 8 GB 3D graphics memory PVRDMA native endpoint AMD SEV-ES Virtual I/O MMU (AMD) VMXNet3 Version 6 |
| 17 | ESXi 7.0 | USB 3.1 SuperSpeedPlus 4 GB 3D graphics memory Dynamic DirectPath Virtual Precision Clock device Virtual Watchdog Timer device Virtual SGX device Direct3D 10.1 WDDM 1.1 Direct3D 10.1 |
| 16 | Fusion 11.x Workstation Pro 15.x Workstation Player 15.x | |
| 15 | ESXi 6.7 U2 | 256 vCPU VMXNet3 Version 5 |
| 14 | ESXi 6.7 Fusion 10.x Workstation Pro 14.x Workstation Player 14.x | NVDIMM controller 64 NVDIMM devices Virtual I/O MMU (Intel) Microsoft VBS (Intel) VMXNet3 Version 4 PVRDMA RoCEv2 Virtual PMEM disks Virtual TPM 2.0 |
| 13 | ESXi 6.5 | PVRDMA RoCEv1 Secure Boot 16 PCI passthrough devices PCI Hot Add VMXNet3 Version 3 Virtual NVMe disks Direct3D 10.0 OpenGL 3.3 |
| 12 | Fusion 8.x Workstation Pro 12.x Workstation Player 12.x | 6128 GB RAM |
| 11 | ESXi 6.0 Fusion 7.x Workstation 11.x Player 7.x | 128 vCPU 4080 GB RAM 2 GB 3D graphics memory Virtual TPM Microsoft VBS CPU Hot Add 32 Serial ports VMXNet3 Version 2 |
| 10 | ESXi 5.5 Fusion 6.x Workstation 10.x Player 6.x | Virtual SATA disks |
| 9 | ESXi 5.1 Fusion 5.x Workstation 9.x Player 5.x | 64 vCPU 64 Cores per virtual socket Virtual PMC Nested virtualization Direct3D 9 |
| 8 | ESXi 5.0 Fusion 4.x Workstation 8.x Player 4.x | 32 vCPU 32 Cores per virtual socket 1011 GB RAM USB 3.1 SuperSpeed E1000e networking SVGA 3D hardware acceleration |
| 7 | ESXi/ESX 4.x Fusion 3.x Fusion 2.x Workstation 7.x Workstation 6.5.x Player 3.x Server 2.x | 8 vCPU 8 Cores per virtual socket 256 GB RAM Memory Hot Add Virtual USB VMCI 10 virtual NICs VMXNet3 Virtual IDE Disks VMware Paravirtual SCSI controllers LSI Logic SAS SCSI controllers 10 SVGA displays WDDM 1.0 |
| 6 | Workstation 6.0.x | |
| 5 | ||
| 4 | ESX 3.x ACE 2.x Fusion 1.x Player 2.x | 4 vCPU 64 GB RAM 4 Serial ports 4 virtual NICs VMXNet2 PCNet32 E1000 networking IDE nodes Virtual IDE CD-ROMs Virtual SCSI disks LSI Logic SCSI controllers Bus Logic SCSI controllers SCSI passthrough SCSI hot add support SVGA display Memory ballooning |
| 3 | ESX 2.x GSX Server 3.x | |
| 2 | ||
| 1 | ESX 1.x | Parallel Ports 2 ATA floppy devices |