VMware ESXi 8.0U1c macOS Unlocker & OEM BIOS (Standard Edition and Manufacturer Custom Edition)
ESXi 8.0U1c Standard Edition, Dell HPE Lenovo Inspur Custom Edition
Please visit the original link: https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/ to view the latest version. Original works, please keep the source for reprinting.
Author home page: sysin.org
2023-07-27, VMware vSphere 8.0U1c released.
See: What's new in VMware vSphere 8 Update 1
VMware vSphere is VMware's virtualization platform that transforms a data center into a converged computing infrastructure that includes CPU, storage, and networking resources. vSphere manages these infrastructures as a unified operating environment and provides you with the tools to manage the data centers that join that environment.
The two core components of vSphere are ESXi and vCenter Server. ESXi is a virtualization platform for creating and running virtual machines and virtual appliances. vCenter Server is a service that manages multiple hosts connected in a network and pools host resources.
Feature overview
This version adds the following features to the original version:
- macOS Unlocker: Unlocker 4 from GitHub now supports macOS Ventura
- OEM BIOS: Use the community's most popular OEM BIOS/EFI64, now supports Windows Server 2022
- LegacyCPU support, which allows ESXi 8.0 to be installed on unsupported legacy CPUs
- Limited support for Intel 12th and 13th generation CPU architectures, can boot and run normally
- The size of the ESX-OSData volume is changed to 8G to solve the problem of excessive disk space occupied by the installation starting from ESXi 7.0 (more than 142GB)
- At the same time, provide customized images (sysin) of manufacturers such as Dell, HPE, and Lenovo
Run macOS Ventura directly
ESXi supports creating macOS virtual machines by default, but this feature is only enabled on Apple Mac hardware. This version unlocks support for macOS virtualization, and macOS virtual machines can be run directly on any non-Mac hardware.
⚠️ The macOS virtual machine is very different from the macOS experience on the Mac, it is only for experience. The only platform that unlocks the superior performance of macOS is a Mac with the Apple M chip. Join the Apple camp as soon as possible to start an excellent experience.
Create a new virtual machine directly, select "Apple macOS 11 (64-bit)" or "Apple macOS 12 (64-bit)" as the operating system, and then install and start normally:
There's a small bug here: Apple OS X 10.12 should be Apple macOS 10.12, which doesn't exist in ESXi 7.
macOS Ventura in virtualization:
Attached:
- macOS Big Sur bootable iso download: macOS Big Sur 11.7.6 (20G1231) Boot ISO original bootable image
- macOS Monterey bootable iso Download: macOS Monterey 12.6.8 (21G725) Boot ISO Original bootable image
- macOS Ventura bootable iso download: macOS Ventura 13.5 (22G74) Boot ISO original bootable image
VMware_Dell_2.6_BIOS-EFI64
The latest OEM BIOS/EFI64 from the community, now updated to support Windows Server 2022.
BIOS.440 & EFI64.ROM - Dell 2.6 OEM BIOS: NT 6.0 (Vista/Server 2008), NT 6.1 (7/Server 2008 R2), NT 6.2 (Server 2012), NT 6.3 (Server 2012 R2), NT 10.0 (Server 2016/Server 2019/Server 2022)
Windows Server OVF series:
- Windows Server 2008 R2 OVF, updated Jul 2023 (sysin) - VMware Virtual Machine Template
- Windows Server 2016 OVF, updated Jul 2023 (sysin) - VMware Virtual Machine Template
- Windows Server 2019 OVF, updated Jul 2023 (sysin) - VMware Virtual Machine Template
- Windows Server 2022 OVF, updated Jul 2023 (sysin) - VMware Virtual Machine Template
Other OVFs, such as: AlmaLinux 9 x86_64 OVF (sysin) - VMware virtual machine template , Ubuntu 22.04 LTS x86_64 OVF (sysin) - VMware virtual machine template , for more, please search for "OVF" on this site.
Support for older CPUs that are not officially supported
ESXi 8.0 also dropped support for some older CPUs , and the following CPUs will not be supported by ESXi 8.0:
- Intel Family 6, Model = 2A (Sandy Bridge DT/EN, GA 2011)
- Intel Family 6, Model = 2D (Sandy Bridge EP, GA 2012)
- Intel Family 6, Model = 3A (Ivy Bridge DT/EN, GA 2012)
- AMD Family 0x15, Model = 01 (Bulldozer, GA 2012)
The following warning message displayed by the ESX installer in vSphere 7.0 Update 2 and later has been clarified:
CPU_SUPPORT_WARNING: The CPUs in this host may not be supported in future ESXi releases. Please plan accordingly.
Modify the startup parameters, and it can be installed normally on servers with CPUs that are not officially supported.
According to VMware vSphere 7.0 Release Notes, the following CPUs are no longer supported (cannot install or upgrade ESXi 7.0)
Comparing the processors supported by vSphere 6.7, vSphere 7.0 no longer supports the following processors:
- Intel Family 6, Model = 2C (Westmere-EP)
- Intel Family 6, Model = 2F (Westmere-EX)
The author installs and runs well (sysin) on a server released in 2010: HP DL 380 G7, Intel® Xeon® CPU E5606
Note: This screenshot is version 7.0
The ESX-OSData volume size is changed to 8G
The storage capacity requirements of ESXi 8.0 have not changed significantly, and the following descriptions of ESXi 7.0 basically apply.
⚠️ It is recommended to drop the use of USB/SD cards as system storage media in ESXi 8.0 (although SD cards and USB media continue to receive limited support, see KB85685 for details ).
Starting with ESXi 7.0, the disk space requirements have changed:
- 8GB SD card + 32GB local disk
- 32GB local disk
- 142G or larger local disk
Usually we install ESXi on a local disk with hundreds of GB or more, the system partition disk space will occupy more than 142GB, and the entire system partition (kernel parameter: systemMediaSize) requires 138GB and 4GB of free space, of which ESX-OSData volume is about 120GB of disk space is required, and there may be some waste (sysin) in the case of tight disk space. After modification, the disk space occupied by the system after installation does not exceed 16GB (especially for personal experiments, without wasting too much storage capacity).
Figure: The new partition architecture in Sphere 7, only the system boot partition is fixed at 100 MB, and the rest of the partitions are dynamic, which means that the partition size will be determined according to the size of the boot media.
systemMediaSizeBeginning with vSphere 7.0 Update 1c, you can limit the size of the system storage partition on the boot media using the ESXi installer boot option . If your system has a small footprint and does not require a maximum system storage size of 128 GB, you can limit it to a minimum of 32 GB. systemMediaSizeThe parameter accepts the following values:
- min (32 GB for single disk or embedded server)
- small (64 GB for servers with at least 512 GB of RAM)
- default（128 GB）
- max (consume all available space, for multi-terabyte servers)
Even if the setting value is min, the required storage capacity is still much larger than the previous version.
Limited support for Intel 12th and 13th generation CPU architectures
ESXi is geared towards datacenter virtualization and is often run on desktop PCs as well for testing and learning.
It is reported that ESXi 8.0 does not currently support Intel 12th generation CPUs, and PSOD will appear during normal booting. This time, by loading the kernel parameters, Intel 12th generation CPU can be limitedly supported, that is, it can be booted and installed normally, and it can also run normally (sysin), but it cannot distinguish or identify the two cores, and the hyperthreading of the P core cannot be recognized, such as i5 -1240P with 4P + 8E is shown as 16 cores in desktop system, but only recognized as 12 cores in ESXi. As for how virtual machines are allocated on P and E, performance differences and other issues need to be shared by readers.
It has been verified to support Intel's 12th generation CPU, and the 13th generation CPU has also been verified many times, looking forward to your feedback.
The 12th generation Intel Core desktop processor consists of N performance cores (P core, Performance-core) and N energy efficiency cores (E core, Efficient-core). The hybrid architecture of performance cores and energy efficiency cores is the 12th generation Core The biggest innovation in processors. This architecture or commonly known as PE size core.
Intel 12th and 13th generation CPUs need to further configure kernel parameters after ESXi has been successfully installed, please contact the author for details.
Provide standard version and manufacturer customized version image
The standard version and customized version image iso files of Dell, HPE, Lenovo, Inspur, etc. are provided. The customized version integrates the driver of the corresponding manufacturer, and it is recommended to use the product of this manufacturer first.
- Standard (Standard Edition)
- Dell Custom Edition
- HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) Custom Edition
- Lenovo (Lenovo) Custom Edition
- Inspur (Inspur) customized version
- Cisco (Cisco) Customized Edition
- Hitachi Custom Edition
- Fujitsu (Fujitsu) customized version
- NEC (Japanese Electric Power) customized version
Dell Server Compatibility
Welcome to provide model and configuration (CPU, RAID Controller, network card) to inquire.
Please visit the original link: https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) Server Compatibility
Welcome to provide model and configuration (CPU, RAID Controller, network card) to inquire.
Please visit the original link: https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Please visit the original link: https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
download link
VMware ESXi 8.0U1c macOS Unlocker & OEM BIOS (Standard Edition and Manufacturer Custom Edition) :
- Standard (Standard Edition) : https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
- Dell Custom Edition : https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
- HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) Custom Edition (ProLiant) : https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
- Lenovo (Lenovo) customized version : https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
- Inspur (Inspur) customized version : https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
- Customized version of other manufacturers : https://sysin.org/blog/vmware-esxi-8-u1-oem/
Integrated driver version, please visit:
Official original, please visit:
For the previous version, please visit: