Host-Level Hardware Compatibility Checks

You can run a hardware compatibility check for any host to determine which ESXi version the host hardware is compatible with. The hardware compatibility check ensures that the host hardware, that is server model and I/O devices, is certified for use with a selected ESXi version. Host-level hardware compatibility checks are performed against the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG), even if the host is in a vSAN cluster.

You can check the hardware compatibility of any host, whether it is in a cluster that uses a single image or baselines. You can also check the hardware compatibility of a standalone host. Host-level hardware compatibility checks don't validate the firmware on the host, even if it is part of a cluster that you manage with a single image or if it is a standalone host that you manage with a vSphere Lifecycle Manager image.

After the hardware compatibility check, vSphere Lifecycle Manager shows the compliance status for the server and hardware devices. The server and devices might have one of the three different states: compatible, incompatible, and unknown. For more information about compatibility statuses, see Hardware Compatibility Report for a Host.

If the server status is incompatible, vSphere Lifecycle Manager does not proceed with checking the compatibility for the hardware devices.

Check the Hardware Compatibility of a Host

You can check the hardware compatibility of a host to determine whether the host hardware is certified for use with a selected ESXi version. The hardware compatibility check is performed against the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG) or, if the host is in a vSAN cluster, against the vSAN Hardware Compatibility List (HCL)

Prerequisites

If needed, synchronize hardware compatibility data. See Sync Hardware Compatibility Data.
Verify that the Customer Experience Improvement Program is enabled.
Verify that vCenter Server is connected to the Internet.
Verify that the host is not part of an VxRail environment.
Verify that you have the proper privileges. See vSphere Lifecycle Manager Privileges For Using Images.

Procedure

In the vSphere Client, navigate to a standalone host or a host in a cluster.
On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Hardware Compatibility.
In the Hardware Compatibility pane, select your task.
- To run a hardware compatibility check for the host for the first time, select a target ESXi from the drop-down menu and click Apply.
- To check the hardware compatibility between the host and the already selected target ESXi version, click Re-run Checks.
- To choose a new target ESXi version for the hardware compatibility check, click Edit and select a new target ESXi version.
- To export the hardware compatibility report in a CSV format, click the Export button.

Results

vSphere Lifecycle Manager displays the result from the compatibility check. You can see a list of the compatible, incompatible, and unknown devices. For each device, you can see full details by clicking the expand button.

Hardware Compatibility Report for a Host

The hardware compatibility report gives you information whether for a selected server model and hardware devices, vSphere Lifecycle Manager finds records for a target ESXi version in the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG).

Server Hardware Compatibility

Host Model is Not Compatible

This compatibility status indicates that there are no records for the selected ESXi version in the VCG. If the host is not compatible with the selected ESXi version, vSphere Lifecycle Manager does not proceed to checking the compatibility of the devices.

In the Host Model Compatibility card, you can see details about the host: server model name, CPU model, and the BIOS version running on the host. At the bottom of the card, you see a list of all certified CPU series for the target ESXi version.

Host Model is Compatible

This compatibility status indicates that the host is certified for use with the selected ESXi version as per VCG. When the host is compatible, vSphere Lifecycle Manager proceeds with the device validation.

In the Host Model Compatibility card, you can see details about the host: server model name, CPU model, and the BIOS version running on the host. Because in VCG the information about CPUs is based on CPU series, and not specific models, you might need to manually check if the CPU of the host is part of the supported CPU series. You might also need to manually check if the BIOS version on the host matches any of the compatible BIOS versions for the CPU series as per VCG.

Hardware Compatibility Checks Not Supported for the Host Vendor Model

When the server model is not part of the list of certified OEMs, vSphere Lifecycle Manager does not perform a hardware compatibility check and you do not see a hardware compatibility report for the selected host.

Device Hardware Compatibility

The compatibility statuses for devices are: compatible, incompatible, and unknown.

Unknown: Unknown devices are devices for which no records exist in VCG. When you click the expand button for the device, you see the following device information: device IDs, driver and firmware currently running on the device. No compatibility data is generated and displayed.
The unknown status might also indicate that multiple matches exist in the VCG for the respective device. In such cases, use the device ID to manually check if the hardware device matches any of the supported devices for the target ESXi version in the VCG.

Incompatible: The incompatible status indicates that no records exist in the VCG for the selected ESXi version. When you click the expand button for the device, you see information about the ESXi versions that are compatible with the device as per VCG.

Compatible: The compatible status indicates that the device is compatible with the selected ESXi version as per VCG. When you click the expand button for the device, you see the following device information: device IDs, driver and firmware currently running on the device. For compatible devices, you might need to manually confirm that the driver-firmware combination running on the device is supported as per VCG.

Sync Hardware Compatibility Data

To initiate a hardware compatibility check for a host, the hardware compatibility data from VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG) must become available to vSphere Lifecycle Manager.

Synchronizing compatibility ensures that the compatibility information from VCG becomes available to vSphere Lifecycle Manager. The synchronization task is not automated. When no compatibility data is available for use to vSphere Lifecycle Manager, you must trigger the compatibility data synchronization manually.

vSAN HCL data is not updated through synchronization. If you want to check the hardware compatibility of a host that is in a vSAN cluster, you must first verify that vSAN HCL data is up to date. For more information about updating vSAN HCL data, see the vSAN documentation.

Prerequisites

Verify that vCenter Server can access the following sites:

vvs.esp.vmware.com
auth.esp.vmware.com

Procedure

In the vSphere Client, navigate to a standalone host or a host in a cluster.
On the Updates tab, select Hosts > Hardware Compatibility.
In the Hardware Compatibility pane, click Sync compatibility data.
In the Sync hardware compatibility data dialog box, click Go to Lifecycle Manager.
You are redirected to the vSphere Lifecycle Manager home view.
Select Actions > Sync HCL.
The Update HCL data task appears in the Recent Taks pane.

Results

After the Update HCL data task finishes, the compatibility data from the VCG becomes available to vSphere Lifecycle Manager.

What to do next

Check the hardware compatibility of your hosts against VCG before you update or upgrade them to a later ESXi version.