Each version of vSphere Container Storage Plug-in must be compatible with an appropriate vSphere version. In addition, vSphere Container Storage Plug-in has the minimum and maximum Kubernetes version requirement.
vSphere Versions Compatible with vSphere Container Storage Plug-in
As a general rule, when you upgrade your vSphere environment, upgrade vSphere Container Storage Plug-in to a minimum recommended version.
In addition, availability of specific Kubernetes functionality that vSphere Container Storage Plug-in supports might require a combination of specific vSphere and vSphere Container Storage Plug-in versions. Make sure that you follow these requirements. See Supported Kubernetes Functionality.
| vSphere version | Minimum recommended version of vSphere Container Storage Plug-in |
|---|---|
| 8.0 Update 3 | 3.3.0 |
| 8.0 Update 2 | 3.0.0 |
| 8.0 Update 1 | 2.7.1 |
| 8.0 | 2.7 |
| 7.0 Update 3 | 2.4 |
| 7.0 Update 2 | 2.2 |
| 7.0 P05 | 2.6 |
| 7.0 P04 | 2.5 |
| 7.0 P03 | 2.3 |
When you use vSphere Container Storage Plug-in with vSphere, the following considerations apply:
- Make sure that your vCenter Server and ESXi versions match. If you have a newer vCenter Server version, but older ESXi hosts, new features added in the latest vCenter Server do not work until you upgrade all ESXi hosts to the newer version.
- For bug fixes and performance improvements, you can deploy the latest patch version of vSphere Container Storage Plug-in without upgrading vSphere. The driver is backward compatible with older vSphere releases.
Kubernetes Versions Compatible with vSphere Container Storage Plug-in
| vSphere Container Storage Plug-in | Minimum Kubernetes Release | Maximum Kubernetes Release | EOL Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.3.1 | 1.27 | 1.30 | September 2026 |
| 3.3.0 | 1.28 | 1.30 | September 2026 |
| 3.2.0 | 1.27 | 1.29 | March 2026 |
| 3.1.2 | 1.26 | 1.28 | September 2025 |
| 3.1.1 | 1.26 | 1.28 | September 2025 |
| 3.1.0 | 1.26 | 1.28 | September 2025 |
| 3.0.3 | 1.24 | 1.27 | March 2025 |
| 3.0.2 | 1.24 | 1.27 | March 2025 |
| 3.0.1 | 1.24 | 1.27 | March 2025 |
| 3.0.0 | 1.24 | 1.27 | March 2025 |
| 2.7.3 | 1.23 | 1.25 | October 2024 |
| 2.7.2 | 1.23 | 1.25 | October 2024 |
| 2.7.1 | 1.23 | 1.25 | October 2024 |
| 2.7.0 | 1.23 | 1.25 | October 2024 |
| 2.6.4 | 1.22 | 1.24 | July 2024 |
| 2.6.3 | 1.22 | 1.24 | July 2024 |
| 2.6.2 | 1.22 | 1.24 | July 2024 |
| 2.6.1 | 1.22 | 1.24 | July 2024 |
| 2.6.0 | 1.22 | 1.24 | July 2024 |
| 2.5.4 | 1.21 | 1.23 | February 2024 |
| 2.5.3 | 1.21 | 1.23 | February 2024 |
| 2.5.2 | 1.21 | 1.23 | February 2024 |
| 2.5.1 | 1.21 | 1.23 | February 2024 |
| 2.5.0 | 1.21 | 1.23 | February 2024 |
| 2.4.3 | 1.20 | 1.22 | November 2023 |
| 2.4.2 | 1.20 | 1.22 | November 2023 |
| 2.4.1 | 1.20 | 1.22 | November 2023 |
| 2.4.0 | 1.20 | 1.22 | November 2023 |
| 2.3.2 | 1.19 | 1.21 | August 2023 |
| 2.3.1 | 1.19 | 1.21 | August 2023 |
| 2.3.0 | 1.19 | 1.21 | August 2023 |
| 2.2.4 | 1.18 | 1.20 | April 2023 |
| 2.2.3 | 1.18 | 1.20 | April 2023 |
| 2.2.2 | 1.18 | 1.20 | April 2023 |
| 2.2.1 | 1.18 | 1.20 | April 2023 |
| 2.2.0 | 1.18 | 1.20 | April 2023 |
| 2.1.2 | 1.17 | 1.19 | August 2022 |
| 2.1.1 | 1.17 | 1.19 | August 2022 |
| 2.1.0 | 1.17 | 1.19 | August 2022 |
| 2.0.2 | 1.17 | 1.19 | January 2022 |
| 2.0.1 | 1.17 | 1.19 | January 2022 |
| 2.0.0 | 1.16 | 1.18 | January 2022 |
Supported Kubernetes Functionality
Level of support that vSphere Container Storage Plug-in provides to Kubernetes features depends on the vSphere version.
VMware fully supports features listed as GA.
In addition, VMware provides support to GA (Kubernetes Beta) features that have been declared as GA with vSphere Container Storage Plug-in, but are still at a Beta stage with Kubernetes. Note that because feature details might change after they transition to the GA status with Kubernetes, you might need to perform additional configuration steps during the vSphere Container Storage Plug-in upgrade. For information about Kubernetes feature stages, see https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/feature-gates/#using-a-feature.
Some features might be supported only at Alpha or Beta level. Alpha and Beta features do not receive sufficient testing and are not recommended for production use. VMware Support team does not support issues reported for these features. Upgrades from Alpha to Beta and from Beta to GA are not supported, because each subsequent release might introduce incompatible changes.
Alpha and Beta features are not documented in the Getting Started with VMware vSphere Container Storage Plug-in documentation. For information about Alpha and Beta features, see https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/vsphere-csi-driver/tree/master/docs/book/features.
| Feature | Support Status | Minimum Required vSphere Container Storage Plug-in Version | vSphere 7.0 and Later | vSphere 6.7 Update 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deploy Workloads on a Preferential Datastore in a Topology-Aware Environment | GA | 2.6.1 | Yes | Yes |
Topology-Aware Volume Provisioning (ReadWriteOnce access) |
GA | 2.4.1 | Yes | Yes
The following requirements must be met:
|
Topology-Aware Volume Provisioning (ReadWriteMany access) |
GA | 3.2.0 | Yes Minimum vSphere version is 7.0 Update 3. |
No |
| WaitForFirstConsumer binding mode | GA | 2.4.0 | Yes | Yes |
| vsphere-csi-controller multi replica feature | GA | 2.4.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Thick volume provisioning | GA | 3.0 | Minimum vSphere version is 8.0 Update 1. | No |
| Windows based Kubernetes nodes | GA | 3.0 | Yes | No |
| Enhanced object health in vSphere Client for vSAN datastores | GA | 2.0.0 | Yes | Yes |
Dynamic block PV support (ReadWriteOnce access) |
GA | 2.0.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Virtual Volume (vVols) PV support | GA | 2.0.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Static PV provisioning | GA | 2.0.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Kubernetes multi-node control plane support | GA | 2.0.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Offline volume expansion (block volume only) | GA (Kubernetes Beta. Minimum required Kubernetes version is 1.16.) |
|
Yes Minimum vSphere Container Storage Plug-in version is 2.0.0. |
Yes
The following requirements must be met:
|
| Encryption support via VMcrypt (block volume only) | GA | 2.0.0 | Yes | No |
Dynamic file PV support (ReadWriteMany access mode) through vSAN File Services on vSAN datastores |
GA | 2.0.0 | Yes | No |
| In-tree vSphere volume migration to CSI | GA (Kubernetes Beta) | 2.2.4 | Yes Minimum required vSphere version is 7.0 Update 2. |
Yes For versions 2.3.2 and later, minimum required vSphere version is 6.7 Update 3 P06*. |
| Online volume expansion support (block volume only) | GA (Kubernetes Beta. Minimum required Kubernetes version is 1.16.) | 2.2.0 | Yes Minimum required vSphere version is 7.0 Update 2. |
No |
| XFS file system support | GA | 3.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Raw block volume support | GA | 3.0 | Yes | Yes |
Volume snapshot support (ReadWriteOnce access) |
GA | 2.5.0 | Yes Minimum required vSphere version is 7.0 Update 3 |
No |
Persistent volume support on vSAN stretched clusters (ReadWriteOnce access) |
GA | 2.4.0 | Yes Minimum required vSphere version is 7.0 Update 3d |
No |
Persistent volume support on vSAN stretched clusters (ReadWriteMany access) |
GA | 2.7.0 | Yes Minimum required vSphere version is 7.0 Update 3 |
No |
| Deploying vSphere Container Storage Plug-in with Multiple vCenter Server Instances | GA | 3.0.0 | Yes | Yes |
Upgrading vSphere Container Storage Plug-in
- You can upgrade vSphere Container Storage Plug-in from any lower version to a higher version.
- vSphere Container Storage Plug-in is backward and forward compatible to vSphere releases.
- Features added in the latest vSphere releases do not work on the older vSphere Container Storage Plug-in.
- For more information about upgrading vSphere Container Storage Plug-in, see Upgrading vSphere Container Storage Plug-in.
