Each workflow is the recommended upgrade path while upgrading your vCenter Server 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0 environment, that contains one or more host profiles with version 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0.

Upgrade Support Matrix

When you upgrade your vCenter Server from version 6.7 or 7.0 to version 8.0, you can keep your current ESXi host version and host profiles version. To ensure the best possible performance, when you upgrade the ESXi host, also upgrade the host profile. The host profile version must match the ESXi host version.
Note: vCenter Server instances and ESXi hosts of versions 6.5 or earlier are not supported in vCenter Server 8.0. You can use the Recommended Host Profiles Upgrade Workflows in the vSphere Host Profiles 6.7 guide as intermediate upgrade steps.
Table 1. Upgrade Support Matrix
Upgrade Workflow vCenter Server ESXi host Host Profiles
earlier than 6.5 → 7.0
Note: You must first upgrade your vCenter Server and ESXi hosts to versions 6.5 or 6.7. You can use the Recommended Host Profiles Upgrade Workflows in the vSphere Host Profiles 6.7 guide as intermediate upgrade steps.
Requires an upgrade Requires an upgrade Requires an upgrade
6.5 → 7.0 Requires an upgrade An optional upgrade An optional upgrade
6.7 → 7.0 Requires an upgrade An optional upgrade An optional upgrade
6.5/6.7/7.0 → 7.0 Update 3
Note: If you want to validate or edit a 7.0 GA host profile, you might need to keep an ESXi host of version 7.0 GA.
Requires an upgrade An optional upgrade An optional upgrade
6.5 → 8.0
Note: You must first upgrade your vCenter Server and ESXi hosts to versions 6.7 or 7.0. You can use the Recommended Host Profiles Upgrade Workflows in the vSphere Host Profiles 7.0 guide as intermediate upgrade steps.
Requires an upgrade Requires an upgrade Requires an upgrade
6.7/7.0 → 8.0 Requires an upgrade An optional upgrade An optional upgrade

vCenter Server and ESXi Version Interoperability

Starting with vSphere 7.0 Update 3, a major-version vCenter Server instance supports any ESXi Update release version of the corresponding major release. That is, a vCenter Server 8.0 instance can manage ESXi 6.7, ESXi 7.0, ESXi 8.0, and any Update release of ESXi 8.0.

For more information about vCenter Server and ESXi Version Interoperability, you can refer to the VMware Product Interoperability Matrix.