2021 Flash End of Life & End of Support - vSphare Client Workaround

 As flash is end of life and end of support in 2021 many of you are not able to use the vSphere web client flash-based.

I still have some of my vCenter servers on 6.5 which support the VMware HTML5 web client however to manage some of my NSX 6.3.x task is not supported on it.

I have manged to run vSphere client on my chrome and internet explorer as workaround and below are the steps you need to perform.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/78589

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List of All vCenter Services and their functions

We all perform vCenter validation and troubleshooting based on issues or checks; there are many important and optional services which I want to document though my blog post so we can review them if required.

please feel free to add your comments if you want to discuss more in details.

Below KB article from VMware is very importent for starting / stopping VMware vCenter services.

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2109881

 

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vCenter root password expired

With VMware vCenter appliance 6.5 default root password is set to expire after 365 days and if you don't change it within time you may need to work on troubleshooting on resetting password.

Below is screenshot of commands which you can set the password expire day to 99999 days.

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Newly Cloned VM Getting Disconected From Network

Toady I cloned one Virtual Machine to create another VM but those two new VM's which I cloned were getting disconnected again and again. 

Both VM's were running on diffrent ESXi hosts, everything was good from NSX and DV Switch side.

Both were having different IP address and correct porgroup configure. 

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AWS Certified Solution Architect - Passed!!!

Good News ! Last week I manage to pass AWS Architect Exam and I would like to share my experience which may help you to pass the exam.

Exam is challenging and easy too, if you know all products and features from AWS console it will be very easy for you if not you know the answer.

Preparation - 

I used Pluralsight training to learn and practice all lab practicals, though I have also completed professional training from AWS you will have to perform each and every lab form AWS.

https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate/table-of-contents

https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/aws-certified-solutions-architect-professional/table-of-contents

I will recommend to read and understand Cheat Sheets by 

TutorialsDojo

https://tutorialsdojo.com/aws-cheat-sheets/

Make sure you open AWS account perform all possible labs in your account. DONT FORGET TO DELETE THE RESOURCES AFTER USER OR YOU WILL END UP WITH BIG INVOICE FROM AWS. USE FEATURE CALLED AWS Budget to make sure you are using limited resources.

You can use practice questions and answers to be aware about questions types or test your skills. You will not find single question from dumps in real exam.

Say BIG NO to dumps. AWS exam is something which you can not pass with dumps so please dont believe on anyone who says that just use brain dumps and pass the exam. Its simply not possible.

I will try to create some videos on this if time permits. 

Finally reach out to me if you have any questions.

 

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Network ports for Site Recovery Manager 6.1

Hi All,

Toady I found good KB article about SRM ports which are required for successful implementation and site pairing.

Site Recovery Manager can experience problems if the required network ports are not open.

In a Site Recovery Manager deployment, both the protected site and the recovery site must be able to resolve the vCenter Server instance by name. The correct ports must be open on both sites for uninterrupted communication.

vCenter Server and ESXi Server network port requirements for Site Recovery Manager 6.1

Site Recovery Manager requires certain ports to be open on vCenter Server, Platform Services Controller, and on ESXi Server:

Default Port	Protocol or Description	Source	Target	Description
443	HTTPS	Site Recovery Manager	vCenter Server	Default SSL Web port
443	HTTPS	Site Recovery Manager	Platform Services Controller	Traffic from Site Recovery Manager Server to local and remote Platform Services Controller.
902	TCP and UDP	Site Recovery Manager Server on the recovery site	Recovery site ESXi host	Traffic from the Site Recovery Manager Server on the recovery site to ESXi hosts when recovering or testing virtual machines with IP customization, with configured callout commands on recovered virtual machines, or that use raw disk mapping (RDM). All NFC traffic for updating or patching the VMX files of virtual machines that are replicated using vSphere Replication use this port.

Site Recovery Manager Server 6.1 network ports

The Site Recovery Manager Server instances on the protected and recovery sites require certain ports to be open.

Note: Site Recovery Manager Server at the recovery site must have NFC traffic access to the target ESXi servers.

Default Port	Protocol or Description	Source	Target	Endpoints or Consumers
443	HTTPS	Site Recovery Manager	vCenter Server	Default SSL Web Port for incoming TCP traffic
443	HTTPS	Site Recovery Manager	Platform Services Controller	Traffic from Site Recovery Manager Server to local and remote Platform Services Controller.
902	TCP and UDP	Site Recovery Manager Server on the recovery site	Recovery site ESXi host	Traffic from the Site Recovery Manager Server on the recovery site to ESXi hosts when recovering or testing virtual machines with IP customization, with configured callout commands on recovered virtual machines, or that use raw disk mapping (RDM). All NFC traffic for updating or patching the VMX files of virtual machines that are replicated using vSphere Replication use this port.
1433	TCP	Site Recovery Manager	Microsoft SQL Server	Site Recovery Manager connectivity to Microsoft SQL Server (for Site Recovery Manager database)
1521	TCP	Site Recovery Manager	Oracle Database Server	Site Recovery Manager database connectivity to Oracle
1526	TCP	Site Recovery Manager	Oracle Database Server	Site Recovery Manager database connectivity to Oracle
9086	HTTPS	vSphere Web Client	Site Recovery Manager	All management traffic to Site Recovery Manager Server goes to this port. This includes traffic by external API clients for task automation and HTTPS interface for downloading the UI plug-in and icons. This port must be accessible from the vCenter Server proxy system. Used by vSphere Web Client to download the Site Recovery Manager client plug-in.

Network ports that must be open on Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication Protected and Recovery sites

Site Recovery Manager and vSphere Replication require that the protected and recovery sites can communicate.

Port	Protocol or Description	Source	Target	Endpoints or Consumers
31031	Initial replication traffic	ESXi host	vSphere Replication appliance on the recovery site	From the ESXi host at the protected site to the vSphere Replication appliance at the recovery site.
44046	Ongoing replication traffic	ESXi host	vSphere Replication appliance on the recovery site	From the ESXi host at the protected site to the vSphere Replication appliance at the recovery site.
8043	HTTPS	Site Recovery Manager	vSphere Replication appliance on the recovery and protected sites	Management traffic between Site Recovery Management instances and vSphere Replication appliances.

Note: Newly configured replication will use only 31031, existing replications will continue to use 44046 until reconfigured.

Site pairing port requirements

Port	Source	Target	Description
9086	vCenter Server	SRM server target site	vCenter and target SRM communication
9086	SRM server	SRM server on target site	SRM to SRM communication
443	SRM	PSC and vCenter	SRM to vCenter communication – local and remote

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vCloud Air now acquired by OVH

Juts got to know from VMware website that vCloud Air is acquired by OVH

If you want to know more you can go on link below.


http://ir.vmware.com/overview/press-releases/press-release-details/2017/OVH-Announces-Intent-to-Acquire-VMware-vCloud-Air-Business/default.aspx


About OVH
OVH is a global, hyper-scale cloud provider that offers businesses industry-leading performance and value. Vertically integrated to own its network, server technology and green data centers, OVH operates more cost effectively and passes these benefits back to customers. Controlling each step in the global solution allows OVH to provide the best performance, price, security, and customer service in the industry. OVH US is a subsidiary of OVH Group, the largest European hosting provider, with more than one million customers across 138 countries and four continents. OVH US customers join a global network with 26 data centers, 32 points of presence, and thousands of miles of dark fiber. Learn more about OVH US.

About VMware
VMware, a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, helps customers accelerate their digital transformation. VMware enables enterprises to master a software-defined approach to business and IT with VMware Cross-Cloud Architecture™ and solutions for the data center, mobility, and security. With 2016 revenue of $7.09 billion, VMware is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA and has over 500,000 customers and 75,000 partners worldwide.
VMware, vCloud, vCloud Air, vSphere and Cross-Cloud Architecture are registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other jurisdictions.


Rated 4.6/5 based on 12892 reviews

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Getting VM's list which has snapshot

Snapshot feature is awesome; it helped administrators and developed in many difficult situation.

For troubleshooting and doing testing many VMware administrators get requests for creating snapshots.

With above features it has many disadvantages and biggest one is described below.
As snapshot disks has no limitations they can grow up to entire datastore size. and if you dont have proper monitoring set it will take you ti the situation where VM's become unresponsive.

To get the list of VM's which has snapshots you just run below command on powercli and it will get you list of VM's which has snapshots created.

get-vm | get-snapshot | format-lis

I dont have any output screenshot to show you but I will get uploaded as soon as possible.

There are many switch we can use with above command to export output with multiple format.

Thanks for reading...


Rated 5/5 based on 89222 reviews

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VMworld 2017 in Las Vegas

Hi Guys.

Hope you are rocking!!!

VMworld 2017 in Las Vegas registration is open & I have just completed my registration process.

Yes, Inshaallah I am going to Las Vegas for VMworld 2017. Thanks to VMware for providing me this opportunity as blogger.

I will be sharing all details with my blogs and youtube channel.

Below is link which you can use to register for VMworld 2017.

https://reg.rainfocus.com/flow/vmware/vmworldus17/reg/account?src=so_590b899c53598&cid=70134000001K6I4. 

If you want to convenes your organization for VMworld conference use letter provide by VMware and update your project details and send email.

Keep visiting to my blog for latest update on VMworld 2017.



Rated 5/5 based on 2875 reviews

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VMUG Virtual User Conference 2017

Hello Friends,

One of my friend (Dipesh Rajpal) told me about "VMUG Virtual User Conference 2017" registration is open.

Below is link to register for VMUG.
Register

Date:

Thursday, June 8, 2017

Time:

9 AM – 5 PM Central Standard Time

With easy admission from your desk or home office, VMUG Virtual Event 6.0 will provide you with keynote and breakout sessions, a virtual trade show floor, and opportunities to engage with other attendees at the click of a button. Not to mention access to webcasts, white papers, and case studies available for download. For more information and event details please visit:

https://www.vmug.com/Attend/VMUG-UserCon/VirtualEvent

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is All-Day event with agenda listed below

10:00 AM - 10:45 AM

Morning Keynote: VMware R&D: What’s on the Horizon? - VMware

Chris Wolf, VP and Chief Technology Officer, Global Field & Industry

10:45 AM - 10:55 AM

Break

10:55 AM - 11:40 AM

Upgrading to vSphere 6.5 - VMware

Emad Younis, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer

VMware Cloud on AWS – Technical Overview - VMware

Frank Denneman, Senior Staff Architect

11:40 AM - 11:50 AM

Break

11:50 AM - 12:35 PM

The Impact of Hyper-converged Infrastructure on the IT Landscape - Dell EMC

William Leslie, Technical Marketing Manager, Jason Maques, Technical Marketing Consultant

The Modern DataPlatform for vSphere Hybrid Cloud Infrastructures - Cohesity

Rawlinson Rivera, Chief Technology Officer, Global Field

The Evolving Data Center and the Cost of Flexibility - Trend Micro

Keith Tarantino, Principle Engineer

12:35 PM - 12:45 PM

Break

12:45 PM - 1:30 PM

Cloud-Native, Containers, Docker, Microservices, DevOps, Squirrel! - VMware

Steve Tegeler, Director, Technical Product Management and Systems Engineering, Cloud Native Apps

Operationalizing VMware NSX - VMware

Chris McCain, Director, Technical Certification

1:30 PM - 1:40 PM

Break

1:40 PM - 2:25 PM

Addressing Virtual Infrastructure Complexity with the Nimble Solution for VMware vSphere - Nimble Storage

Michael Harding, Senior Solutions Marketing Manager

How to Back Up and Restore VMware vCenter Server Appliance (vCSA) and Platform Controllers Properly - Veeam

Michael White, Technical Evangelist

Lightning-Fast Virtual Machine Recovery - Arcserve

Stacey Budd, Principal Pre-Sales Consultant

2:25 PM - 2:35 PM

Break

2:35 PM - 3:20 PM

4 Steps to Deliver Enterprise Cloud Right - Tintri

Chuck Dubuque, VP, Products and Solutions

Enhance VMware Data Protection with Cloud - Druva

Jesse Kachapis, Sr. Technical Architect,  

Bill Kleyman, Expert Contributor Data Center Knowledge

Looking Across the Silos to Add Business Value: Unleashing the Power of Machine Learning Analytics - SIOS Technology

Jim Shocrylas, Director of Product Management

3:20 PM - 3:30 PM

Break

3:30 PM - 4:15 PM

Community Presentations - VMUG

VMUG Community Presenters

VVOLs 2.0 to the rescue! Unlock the power of array native snapshots and replication - Pure Storage

Cody Hosterman, Technical Director

Ransomware Jail, Is There Any Way Out? (Asking for a friend.) - Rubrik

Andrew Miller, Technical Marketing Director

4:15 PM - 4:25 PM

Break

4:25 PM - 5:00 PM

What’s New - PowerCLI 6.5.1 - VMware

Kyle Ruddy, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer

vRealize Automation and NSX - VMware

Jad El-Zein, Principal Architect

  

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I am now "Rahim Shaikh" The VMware vExpert 2017

Hello Guys, Its been long time & I was super busy with my office work.

I have a good news for everyone, I got VMware vExpert batch for 2017; few months back I had written blog post on vExpert application as well and today I got email from VMware that they have granted me VMware vExpert Award 2017.

I also confirmed on VMware site & my name is there listed as "Rahim Shaikh" with my twitter id 'rahimras' https://twitter.com/RahimRas.

https://blogs.vmware.com/vmtn/2017/02/vexpert-2017-award-announcement.html

I feel good now & finally my efforts are getting visible to VMware.

Thanks for Reading.

Rahim Shaikh

VCAP, vExpert 2017.

Rated 4.7/5 based on 3232 reviews

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VCIX Beta Exam Experience (3V0-623: VMware Certified Advanced Professional 6 - Data Center Virtualization Deployment Exam Beta)

Exam 3V0-623: VMware Certified Advanced Professional 6 - Data Center Virtualization Deployment Exam Beta:

Last week I got chance to attempt VMware VCIX 6 certification exam & I just want to share my experience with my blog readers.

Last month I received special invite for VCIX 6 Beta Certification as I am already VCAP 5; I had only 2 and half week to study and refresh my skills on VMware vSphere 6. I was very busy with my office work and personal life but I was able to manage some extra efforts for preparation.

I downloaded Blueprint from VMware website and started reading. VMware has came up with lost of new goodies with vSphere 6. I will encourage you all to study hard with each and every point form blueprint.

I have signed VMware N.D.A. so I will not be sharing any questions from exam so please dont ask for questions or dumps because this exam is based on implementation and troubleshooting skills.

Do & Don't to become VCIX. or How to Pass VCAP Certification?

Attempting VCIX is very easy but passing VCIX is very hard, you need skills with hand on experience in VMware vShepre and vCenter.
This exam can not be passed with the help of dumps or questions so no dumps will help you... LOL

• Study Hard with Blueprint
• Build the lab and make sure you perform all practicals atelast once or twice in your lab.
• Read for difficult Network & storage concepts
• Fallow the best practice from VMware
• Clear your knowledge on HA and DRS concepts and also configure advance options in your lab. 
• Read listed below point carefully and fallow tips if you want to pass your examination.
• Read all documents form VMware (Free available)
• Register for CBT Nuggets or Plural Site training and take advantage from trainers skills
• Try gaining some knowledge on Storage and Networking concepts
• Learn power-shell scripting & VMware PowerCLI
• Learn VMware Update Manager
• Study about VDP
• Schedule Your Exam to nearest location of your place.
• Eat enough Breakfast also there is no break in exam for washroom. (It will be 270 minutes exam without break)
• Take care of your health from week before your test; dont fall sick before exam
• Reach exam center before time.

I have already collected all VMware training books (Free from VMware) thanks to VMware which you can download form here.

Apart from this I found there were some problem with the lab which I have already reported to VMware, which will not be there in actual live exam so nothing to worry.

All the beast!!

Let me know if you need any help... I am happy to help.

Thanks for Reading.

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All VMware vCenter related services were not starting after VMware tools installation.

Hi Reader,

Hope you are doing good..
Today I found strange problem with VMware vCenter.

Problem:

All VMware vCenter related services were not starting after VMware tools installation.

Description:

I was doing VMware SRM test in my lab, I install the windows 2012R2 VM and forgot to install VMware tools on the box and started
the VMware vCenter installtion. After finish vCenter instllation I found that VMware tools are missing.

I Added one host to cluster & began with Vmware tools installation.
After scuseedull installation of VMware tools I saw VMware webclient is not working, after cheking VMware Services in Services.msc
i found non of the Vmware service  is running, I tried all of them mnaually. I cheecked the dependuncey even registorey.

I searched all event logs but nothing I found related the issue.

I even rebooted system twice and also left the system ideal for 12 hrs but still the same.

No Vmware vCenter Service is running.

Solution:

I came accross with this problme only after installation of VMware tools and fresh Reboot, I decided to remove Vmware tools and rebooted the server.

And Wallaaaaa Server is Up with all services running.



I was shocked with this result but I was happy to see server is up and working fine.

I am still running my lab vCenter without tools.

I am working with VMware to find the root cause.

Hope you may resolve your prblem with this same.


Thanks for Reading

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vCenter 6.0 Installation Video

Hope you are doing good,

Today I was installing vCenter 6.0 for my lab purpose so I though of creating video for the same.

Please have just 8 minutes to see how to install VMware vCenter 6.0.

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Automation for - perennially-reserved=true

My friend Vinod Balakrishnan  & I worked on automation for perennially-reserved please see the details below.

A.) Create file with name list and save all "lun" id into it.  Create list based on clusters and luns specific to those clusters.

===========================================================================================

B.) CHECK IF All LUNS ARE PRESENT. rUN THIS ON SPECIFIC CLUSTERS AND LUN LIST

cat list | while read line
do
if ! esxcli storage core path list | grep "LUN: $line" >/dev/null
then
echo "Rahim LUN $line IS MISSING"
fi
done

===========================================================================================


C.) RUN THIS COMMAND TO SET RESV ON LISTED LUNS IN FILE list on the respective Clusters/ESXI hosts.

cat list | while read line
do
naa=`esxcli storage core path list | egrep -B5 "LUN: $line"  | grep "Device:"  | head -1`
echo $naa
esxcli storage core device setconfig -d "$naa" --perennially-reserved=true
done

============================================================================================


D.) Check if resv has been set on specified luns or not

TO CHECK IF PERENNIAL RESERVATION HAS BEEN SET ON WHICH NAA

esxcli storage core device list | egrep -B18 "Is Perennially Reserved: true" | grep " Device:"  | awk '{print $NF}' | while read line
do
 lunid=`esxcli storage core path list | egrep -A6 "$line" | grep -i lun | head -1`
 echo "$line $lunid"
done


cat list | while read line
do
if ! esxcli storage core path list | grep "LUN: $line" >/dev/null
then
echo "Rahim LUN $line IS MISSING"
fi
done

==============================================================================================

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The VMRC Console has Disconnected.. Trying to reconnect

If you came accross the error The VMRC Console has Disconnected.. Trying to reconnect on your virtual machine console here is a sollution you can use.

1. Log off from vSphere client from your laptop
   
2. open the task manager & kill vmware-vmrc.exe*32 process.
   
3. Logoff form your system & login back.
   
4. Open the VM console & you should be able to see the VM screen.
   
5. If its still shows you same error wait for 5 minutes precisely & you will be able to see the screen.

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Linux VM template deployment with Guest Customization

Yesterday I was facing some problem with RHEL 6 64bit VM template to be deployed with guest customization later i found out that the resolution



The fix is (at least works for me):
Convert your template back to a VM and power it on.
Login and get root (or login as root)
edit "/etc/udev/rules.d/70-persistent-net.rules" with your fave text editor
remove ALL lines near the bottom of the file after the top block of comments. These will all start with a line like:

          "# PCI device...." & "SUBSYSTEM...."
          delete all of these
   5. Save and exit the file
   6. Shutdown the VM and convert it to template again. DO NOT BOOT THE VM AGAIN before conversion to template. If you do, it will "discover" the NIC again and add a new line to the file and then your clones will be with eth1 again.

The clones from you template should now discover thier newly created NIC and add one set of lines to the file. This will be eth0. 

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VMware tools install from command line.

Installation of VMware tool with GUI is very very painful process with slow mouse movement & keyboard long key press... and if you are connected to the environment from VPN with slow connection you are dead. :-)

to overcome this issue best way to run only 2 commands get the VMware tools installed.

1) To Mount the VMware tools ISO to VM with with VMware powercli

a) open power CLI

b) run the command 

connect-viserver VCENTER_NAME

c) run the below command

Mount-Tools [[-Guest] <VMGuest[]>] [<CommonParameters>] 

Mount-Tools [[-VM] <VirtualMachine[]>] [[-Server] <VIServer[]>] [<CommonParameters>]

Example: Mount-Tool -VM Rahim_VM1

Note: this will require the interactive installation of VMware tools inside of VM (Windows /Linux)

2) To start the installation of VMware in windows machine you can run one single command with command line, it will install the VMware tools on VM silently & reboot the server.

For 64bit system: 

D:\Setup64.exe /S /V"/qn

For 32 bit system;

D:\Setup.exe /S /V"/qn

Wthis 2 small command you can automate the instillation of VMware tools on multiple VM.

Put you thought in comments.

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What is Perennial Reservation?

I had a problem with MSCS cluster when I rebooted one of the ESXi host & found that ESXi host was stopped responding at the time of boot / discovery.

Then I got to know that there were 32 RDM were mapped to VM which were causing the issue

What are perennial reservations and why are they needed? Whenever a LUN is participating in a MSCS cluster, the active node has ownership of that device(s) using permanent SCSI reservations. Now, whenever you rescan for devices on an ESXi host, or are booting an ESXi host, the host tries to query all devices that it can see, including the devices used for MSCS. Now, I'm not exactly sure what takes place during the query process, but because the MSCS device(s) are already have a permanent SCSI reservation, the ESXi query to the device fails, and will continue to fail until the host decides to move on

To solve the problem of of ESXi trying to query MSCS owned devices, a flag has been introduced on a device called Is Perennially Reserved. By default this flag is set to false. By setting this flag to true it lets the ESXi host know to essentially, NOT query this device during rescans/boot time.  Here's VMware KB 1016106 that describes that problem/resolution

Read the KB from VMware which talks about more

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1016106

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ESXi/ESX hosts and compatible virtual machine hardware versions

ESXi/ESX version	Hardware version					Compatible with vCenter Server version
	Version 10	Version 9	Version 8	Version 7	Version 4
ESXi 5.5	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	vCenter Server 5.5
ESXi 5.1	Not Supported	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	vCenter Server 5.1
ESXi 5.0	Not Supported	Not Supported	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	Edit, Run	vCenter Server 5.0
ESXi/ESX 4.x	Not Supported	Not Supported	Not Supported	Create, Edit, Run	Create, Edit, Run	vCenter Server 4.x
ESX 3.x	Not Supported	Not Supported	Not Supported	Not Supported	Create, Edit, Run	vCenter Server 2.x and later

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