A nice dark-mode view of the TinkerTry Datacenter, consisting of 3 Xeon D-1500 systems and 1 Xeon D-2100 system.
This is a placeholder, where I'll be describing the process of install, featuring most walk-through video for now.
If you've done these updates before, this library of walk-through videos below will give you a look at how the process of upgrading to vSphere 7 works, doing your vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) first, then your ESXi host(s) next.
Quick-and-easy, but you really must do an image backup of your ESXi itself since this method doesn't really have a robust roll-back. This is crucial if you're in a home lab and you have no official VMware support. Having a USB clone of your boot device will ensure you that you can absolutely roll back to your prior ESXi 6.x release, should things not work out on 7.0 for you for whatever reason, before considering an upgrade, see also ESXi Hardware Requirements and the VMware Compatibility Guide.
Step-by-step video showing me upgrading my SYS-5028D-TN4T Bundle based on the Xeon D-1541, going from 6.7U3 to 7.0 in my home lab.
How to update any 6.x VMware ESXi Hypervisor to 7.0 using ESXCLI for easy download and install
Future articles?
Fresh install of vSphere 7
Step 1 - Installing ESXi 7.0 Coming soon, on Xeon D-1500 definitely and on Xeon D-2100 maybe.
Step 2 - Installing VCSA 7.0 TBD, but pretty much the similar to my update video.
Changed title from: How to smoothly upgrade from VMware vSphere 6.7 to vSphere 7.0
to: How to upgrade from VMware vSphere 6.7 to vSphere 7.0, vCenter/VCSA first, then ESXi host(s) next
ESXi 7.0 GA (Build 15843807) first became available just a week ago, and I've heard from another 7.0 home lab enthusiast who is also experiencing this GPU-passthrough-configuration-not persisting-through-reboots issue, a behavior that wasn't there with the same hardware on 6.7.x. At least we now have a documented work-around, with this video produced on the Win10 VM/Hardware 17 you just watched me fix.
My upgrade of my 4 Xeon D hosts to 7.0 has actually gone quite well overall, this GPU use case is likely a corner case.
The net of it is that if you also experience your GPU passthrough configuration not sticking through reboots, you're not alone.
I also noticed that the vSphere Client behavior for PCI Devices didn't match up with the ESXi Host Client behavior, which is a bit disconcerting. That issue I was also gladly able to work around.
I am attempting to share these GPU passthrough issues with VMware Support, which isn't possible with 3 of the 4 download/licensing options in my vSphere 7.0 download article. I'm working on coming up with the best way forward.
If you ever disabled default VMware AHCI drivers due to performance issues, then you have an issue with not seeing datastores/SATA drives after upgrading to VMware ESXi 7.0, see @anthonyspiteri’s easy fix!
TinkerTry - PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency and more, including virtualization. My opinions here. IT Professional offering part-time consulting.
These systems still work great for many even 9+ years later, mine included, even with (unsupported) vSphere 8 and Windows 11 Version 21H2. But unless you added the optional TPM module, it may be the end of the line as far as repurposing them for running the latest Windows 11 Version 24H2 and beyond.
After 6 successful years testing then shipping well over 1,000 Xeon D Bundles, Wiredzone had to stop SuperServer bundles in mid-2021 due to cost, supply, and logistics challenges. Bare bones system sales continued for years longer.
What's next in 2025? I don't yet have my answer for my home lab, especially now that VCF certification is required to keep non-production home lab licenses going, even as a vExpert and VMUG Advantage EVALExperience customer.
As for a SuperServer follow-on, the Xeon D-1700/2700 (Ice Lake D) was a minor refresh for 2023, with Xeon D-1800/2800 (Granite Rapids D) refresh slightly better in 2024, and hopefully Xeon 6 (Granite Rapids-D) much better in 2025 featuring PCIe Gen5, MCRDIMMs, and 100GbE networking, wow! Feb. 27 2025 update update looks promising, but pricey. Infortunately, it's become clear to me that Supermicro is less focuses on the mini-tower form factor these days.
As for the CPU industry, it's unfortunate that Pat Gelsinger was apparently ousted from Intel's helm in these challenging times, but I'm also grateful to have had the honor of working at VMware when he was the CIO there. I'll leave it at that, given the whole Broadcom thing.
These systems still work great for many even 9+ years later, mine included, even with (unsupported) vSphere 8 and Windows 11 Version 21H2. But unless you added the optional TPM module, it may be the end of the line as far as repurposing them for running the latest Windows 11 Version 24H2 and beyond.