VxRail: VxRail and external vCenter interoperability matrix
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Created by: Srinath Ramachandran
Modified on: Mon, 21 Sep, 2020 at 11:23 AM
Summary: List appropriate external vCenter versions for use with VxRail
rticle Content
Instructions | This article details appropriate external vCenter versions for use with VxRail.
To see specific VxRail versions and each component code levels, refer to the following: VxRail upgrade paths are found in the Upgrade Paths section in the VxRail Release notes. These are found at:
External vCenter 7.0 support External vCenter 7.0 is natively supported with VxRail Appliance Software 7.0.xxx releases.
Support is added to earlier VxRail Appliance Software releases starting with:
- VxRail Appliance Software version 4.5.400 and later 4.5 releases
- VxRail Appliance Software version 4.7.300 and later 4.7 releases
Note: There are additional considerations and known issues associated with the use of External vCenter 7.0 and earlier VxRail Appliance Software versions. These are documented in KB article 544040: (Only Customers can access the content on the following link, via Dell.com/support) Dell EMC VxRail: External vCenter 7.0 considerations with VxRail Appliance Software releases 4.5.x and 4.7.x and should be reviewed before considering upgrading vCenter to 7.0.
Matrix of supported external vCenter versions with VxRail
VxRail Release | ESXi (Version - Build #) | External vCenter versions | | Minimum | Recommended | 7.0.010 | 7.0b - 16324942 | 7.0 GA | 7.0.0b or later | 7.0.000 | 7.0 GA - 15843807 | 7.0 GA | 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.51519 | 6.7 P03 - 16713306 | 6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA | 6.7 U3j or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.51116 | 6.7 EP15 - 16316930 | 6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA | 6.7 U3g or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.510 | 6.7 P02 - 16075168 | 6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA | 6.7 U3g or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.41114 15 | 6.7 EP14 - 15820472 | 6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA | 6.7 U3f or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.41015 | 6.7 P01 - 15160138 | 6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA | 6.7 U3b or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.30112 15 | 6.7 EP13 - 15018017 | 6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA | 6.7 U3a or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.30015 | 6.7 U3 - 14320388 | 6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA | 6.7 U3 or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.7.21211 | 6.7 EP10 - 13981272 | 6.7 U2 | 6.7 U2c or later | 4.7.21110 | 6.7 EP09 - 13644319 | 6.7 U2 | 6.7 U2a or later | 4.7.21010 | 6.7 EP09 - 13644319 | 6.7 U2 | 6.7 U2a or later | 4.7.200 | 6.7 U2 - 13006603 | 6.7 U2 | 6.7 U2 or later | 4.7.111 | 6.7 EP07 - 13004448 | 6.7 U1 | 6.7 U1 or later | 4.7.110 | 6.7 EP06 - 11675023 | 6.7 U1 | 6.7 U1 or later | 4.7.100 | 6.7 EP06 - 11675023 | 6.7 U1 | 6.7 U1 or later | 4.7.001 | 6.7 EP05 - 10764712 | 6.7 U1 | 6.7 U1 or later | 4.7.000 | 6.7 EP05 - 10764712 | 6.7 U1 | 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.45018 | 6.5 P05 - 16576891 | 6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA | 6.5 U3k or later / 6.7 U3b or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.5.42217 | 6.5 EP20 - 16389870 | 6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA | 6.5 U3f or later / 6.7 U3b or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.5.42013 | 6.5 P04 - 15256549 | 6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA | 6.5 U3f or later / 6.7 U3b or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.5.40213 | 6.5 EP18 - 15266363 | 6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2 / 7.0 GA | 6.5 U3d or later / 6.7 U3a or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.5.40112 13 | 6.5 EP17 - 14990892 | 6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2 / 7.0 GA | 6.5 U3d or later / 6.7 U3a or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.5.40013 | 6.5 U3 - 13932383 | 6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2 / 7.0 GA | 6.5 U3 or later / 6.7 U2a or later / 7.0 GA or later | 4.5.31410 | 6.5 EP14 - 13635690 | 6.5 U2g / 6.7 U2 | 6.5 U2g or later / 6.7 U2a or later | 4.5.3119 | 6.5 EP13 - 13004031 | 6.5 U2c / 6.7 U1 | 6.5 U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.3109 | 6.5 P03 - 10884925 | 6.5 U2c / 6.7 U1 | 6.5 U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.3009 | 6.5 P03 - 10884925 | 6.5 U2c / 6.7 U1 | 6.5 U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.2298 | 6.5 EP11 - 10719125 | 6.5.U2c / 6.7 U1 | 6.5.U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.2277 | 6.5 EP10 - 10390116 | 6.5.U2c / 6.7 U1 | 6.5.U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.2256 | 6.5 EP09 - 10175896 | 6.5.U2c / 6.7 U1 | 6.5.U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.2185 | 6.5 U2C - 9298722 | 6.5.U2c / 6.7 U1 | 6.5.U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.215 | 6.5 EP07 - 8935087 | 6.5 U2b / 6.7 U1 | 6.5 U2b or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.5.2124 | 6.5 EP07 - 8935087 | 6.5 U2b | 6.5 U2b or later | 4.5.211 | 6.5 U2 - 8294253 | 6.5 U2 | 6.5 U2 or later | 4.5.2102 | 6.5 U2 - 8294253 | 6.5 U2 | 6.5 U2 or later | 4.5.2003 | 6.5 P02 - 7388607 | 6.5 U1 | 6.5 U1a or later | 4.5.1522 | 6.5 EP06 - 7967591 | 6.5 U1g | 6.5 U1g or later | 4.5.150 | 6.5 P02 - 7388607 | 6.5 U1 | 6.5 U1a or later | 4.5.070 | 6.5 EP04 - 6765664 | 6.5 U1 | 6.5 U1a or later | 4.5.000 | 6.5 U1 - 5969303 | 6.5 U1 | 6.5 U1 or later | Matrix of supported external vCenter versions with older VxRail releases VxRail Release | ESXi (Version - Build #) | External vCenter versions | | Minimum | Recommended | 4.0.603 | 6.0 EP25 - 15517548 | 6.0 U3i / 6.5 U2g / 6.7 U2a | 6.0 U3j or later / 6.5 U2g or later / 6.7 U2a or later | 4.0.602 | 6.0 EP23 - 15169789 | 6.0 U3i / 6.5 U2g / 6.7 U2a | 6.0 U3j or later / 6.5 U2g or later / 6.7 U2a or later | 4.0.60112 | 6.0 EP22 - 15018929 | 6.0 U3i / 6.5 U2g / 6.7 U2a | 6.0 U3j or later / 6.5 U2g or later / 6.7 U2a or later | 4.0.600 | 6.0 P08 - 14513180 | 6.0 U3i / 6.5 U2g / 6.7 U2a | 6.0 U3j or later / 6.5 U2g or later / 6.7 U2a or later | 4.0.52410 | 6.0 EP21 - 13635687 | 6.0 U3i / 6.5 U2g / 6.7 U2a | 6.0 U3i or later / 6.5 U2g or later / 6.7 U2a or later | 4.0.523 | 6.0 EP20 - 13003896 | 6.0 U3h / 6.7 U1 | 6.0 U3h or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.0.5228 | 6.0 EP19 - 10719132 | 6.0 U3h / 6.7 U1 | 6.0 U3h or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.0.5217 | 6.0 EP18 - 10474991 | 6.0 U3h / 6.7 U1 | 6.0 U3h or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.0.5205 | 6.0 EP15 - 9313334 | 6.0 U3h / 6.7 U1 | 6.0 U3h or later / 6.7 U1 or later | 4.0.510 | 6.0 P07 - 9239799 | 6.0 U3g | 6.0 U3g or later | 4.0.5004 | 6.0 EP14 - 8934903 | 6.0 U3f / 6.5 U2b | 6.0 U3f / 6.5 U2b or later | 4.0.4022 | 6.0 EP13 - 7967664 | 6.0 U3e / 6.5 U1g | 6.0 U3e / 6.5 U1g or later | 4.0.401 | 6.0 P06 - 6921384 | 6.0 U3 / 6.5 U1 | 6.0 U3d / 6.5 U1e or later | 4.0.400 | 6.0 P06 - 6921384 | 6.0 U3 / 6.5 U1 | 6.0 U3c / 6.5 U1 or later | 4.0.310 | 6.0 P05 - 5572656 | 6.0 U3 / 6.5 U1 | 6.0 U3b / 6.5 U1 or later | 4.0.302 | 6.0 EP11 - 6765062 | 6.0 U3 | 6.0 U3b or later | 4.0.301 | 6.0 P05 - 5572656 | 6.0 U3 | 6.0 U3b or later | 4.0.300 | 6.0 P05 - 5572656 | 6.0 U3 | 6.0 U3b or later | 4.0.200 | 6.0 EP07a - 5224934 | 6.0 U3 | 6.0 U3 or later | 4.0.132 | 6.0 U3 - 5050593 | 6.0 U3 | 6.0 U3 or later | 4.0.100 | 6.0 U2 P04 - 4600944 | 6.0 U2 | 6.0 U2a or later | 4.0.001 | 6.0 U2 P04 - 4600944 | 6.0 U2 | 6.0 U2a or later | 4.0 | 6.0 U2 P03 - 4192238 | 6.0 U2 | 6.0 U2 or later | 3.51 | 6.0 U2 - 3620759 | 6.0 U2 | 6.0 U2 or later | 3.0 | 6.0 U1b - 3380124 | N/A | N/A |
To cross reference vCenter versions with build numbers, see VMware KB: Build numbers and versions of VMware vCenter Server (2143838)
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Notes | VxRail upgrades and External vCenter When upgrading VxRail to a later build, verify the current external vCenter build is already at the minimum version required for the VxRail build you are planning to upgrade to.
If a vCenter upgrade is required, it is a requirement to upgrade an External vCenter before upgrading the VxRail appliance software.
Refer to the VxRail Appliance Software Release Notes above for details on supported upgrades and upgrade paths.
External vCenter versions 'Minimum' section The Minimum section in External vCenter versions details the minimum supported vCenter build that is used with a VxRail release.
Typically, upgrade the vCenter version to at least the minimum version before installing or upgrading to the required VxRail release.
Note: Dell EMC strongly recommends using the vCenter builds noted in the Recommended section. These later releases may include security fixes or additional functionality which are not present in the build noted in the Minimum section. The minimum supported version may expose the environment to risks that are not present in the Recommended releases.
External vCenter versions 'Recommended' section The Recommended section in External vCenter versions details the recommended vCenter builds for use within a VxRail release.
If a version mentions a build number or later, then it means all later builds of that major version are supported (exceptions will be documented).
For example: "6.5 U1g or later" would imply 6.5 U1g is the minimum but all later external vCenter builds whether they be 6.5 U1, 6.5 U2, 6.5 U3 and so on are also supported.
Essentially all external vCenter builds of 6.5 later than 6.5 U1g are supported.
Note: A statement such as "6.5 U1g or later" does not imply another major version of vCenter such as 6.7 is automatically supported. Each vCenter major version has its own list of support versions for a VxRail Release.
Notes for specific VxRail Releases This section will cover any notes (highlighted by a subscript number) associated with a VxRail release. - 1 For 3.5, the version of VxRail manager after a data-in-place upgrade from 3.0 to 3.5 is 3.5.0-3992530. If the appliance as configured is using MBS, the VxRail manager version will be 3.5.0.3936871.
- 2 Spectre/Meltdown patches require later minimum vCenter version due to functionality dependencies created as part of the resolution of those security issues.
- 3 4.5.200 is a factory only release (new nodes ordered from Dell EMC ship with this version) and is not available for regular user upgrades. VxRail Appliance software 4.5.152 is the recommended version for VxRail 4.5.x users who want to upgrade.
- 4 Speculative Store Bypass patches (VMSA-2018-0012) require later minimum vCenter version to ensure the system is adequately protected against this security issue. See VMware KB: 55111 for more information.
- 5 L1 Terminal Fault - VMM (VMSA-2018-0020) requires later minimum vCenter version to ensure the system is adequately protected against this security issue. See VMware KB: 55806 for more information.
- 6 Fix for a potential in-guest data consistency issue that may be experienced by VxRail 4.5.x systems following a disk extend operation. See Dell EMC Technical Advisory (Only Customers can access the content on the following link, via Dell.com/support) DTA 525859: VxRail: Virtual Machines (VM) running VxRail 4.5.x may report in-guest data consistency issues following a disk extend operation, which may result in potential data integrity issues for more information.
- 7 Fix for vSAN disk group with deduplication enabled may be marked as in permanent disk error with disk reporting out of space, even though the group has free blocks. See VMware 6.5 EP10 Release Notes for more information.
- 8 vmxnet3 uninitialized stack memory usage (VMSA-2018-0027). See VMSA-2018-0027 article for more information.
- 9 vCenter 6.5 U2d (VxRail 4.5.3xx) was released after vCenter 6.7 U1 hence, to upgrade to a VxRail 4.7 release from 4.5.3xx, the minimum vCenter version must be 6.7 U2 or later. For appliances with internal vCenter, all components are upgraded automatically during the regular upgrade process.
- 10 Microarchitectural Data Sampling (MDS) speculative-execution vulnerability (VMSA-2019-0008). See VMSA-2019-0008 article for more information. Requires vCenter to be at versions 6.5u2g or 6.7u2a to be protected against the security issue described in the article.
- 11 Linux kernel vulnerabilities in TCP Selective Acknowledgement (SACK) (VMSA-2019-0010). See VMSA-2019-0010 article for more information. Requires vCenter to be at version 6.7u2c to be protected against the security issue described in the article.
- 12 Machine Check Error on Page Size Change (MCEPSC) Denial-of-Service vulnerability and TSX Asynchronous Abort (TAA) Speculative-Execution vulnerability (VMSA-2019-0020). See VMSA-2019-0020 article for more information. Note: There are additional manual steps required to fully enable the MCEPSC fix. See VMware KB: 59139 for more information.
- 13 The Minimum External vCenter version in VxRail releases 4.5.400 - 4.5.420 is changed from VC 6.5U2g to 6.5U3 to align with an updated support statement from VMware for vSAN.
- 14 VMware Directory Service (vmdir) vulnerability (VMSA-2020-0006). See VMSA-2020-0006 article for more information.
- 15 If planning to use with and External vCenter 7.0, refer to the KB article 544040: (Only Customers can access the content on the following link, via Dell.com/support) Dell EMC VxRail: External vCenter 7.0 considerations with VxRail Appliance Software releases 4.5.x and 4.7.x before upgrading the vCenter version.
- 16 See KB article 544058: DSA-2020-136: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Improper Authentication Vulnerability See KB article 544662: DSA-2020-158: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third-Party Component Vulnerabilities.
- 17 See KB article 545128: DSA-2020-174: Dell EMC VxRail Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities.
- 18 See KB article 545807: DSA-2020-193: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third-Party Component Vulnerabilities.
- 19 See KB article 546282: DSA-2020-213: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third-Party Component Vulnerabilities.
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Srinath is the author of this solution article.
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