As of the vSphere 8.0 release, we are announcing the deprecation of the local plug-in architecture.
The legacy local plug-in architecture was introduced with vSphere 6.5 and is compatible with versions 6.7, 7.0 and relevant updates. Since vSphere 7.0 VMware is not investing in new features for the local plug-ins as their evolution is completed.
The remote plug-in architecture was introduced with vSphere 6.7U1 and is compatible with any subsequent version. This is the only architecture that will be supported in future vSphere releases. Starting from version 7.0U1 remote plug-ins have full feature parity with local plug-ins and with vSphere 7.0U3 the capabilities they offer already surpass those of the legacy local plug-ins.
Local plug-ins will continue to function in the current release, but certain considerations apply:
- Local plug-ins will no longer be part of the vSphere Client plug-in certification program.
- Local plug-ins must be FIPS-compliant. See https://developer.vmware.com/docs/13385/preparing-local-plug-ins-for-fips-compliance
- Local plug-ins must bundle third-party libraries and install them in a separate directory. See https://vdc-download.vmware.com/vmwb-repository/dcr-public/77dd6491-bb96-47f3-8c2e-a5a4655f078b/b916bc3c-0168-4487-a9e5-c89b50373c18/Local-Plugins-Library-Isolation.pdf
For more information about the deprecation of local plug-in technology, see the following resources:
