

 CUS
STOMER
R CONNE
ECT

 Produucts and Accoounts
 A All ProductsBeeta ProgramssProduct RegiistrationTriall and Free SollutionsProducct PatchesVM
Mware
Puurchasing Proogram (VPP)Online Store Knowledge
 K Knowledge BaaseVMware DocsVMware
D e Code Comm munities
 C Communities HomeSuppor
H rt
 Su upport Offeriings Learning
g
 Learning Hom meVMware Leearning OvervviewLearning g On-Demand & Lab CouursesLearning g
W
Webinars Certtification Prep
paration CourrsesPurchase VMware Learning Start w with Connectt
Learning Basicc SubscriptionEnterprise L
Learning Sub bscriptionLoggin
 Regisster

Virrtuaal maachiine hard

h dwarre
verrsionns (1
100337466)
Symptooms

 A vvirtual machine does not po

ower on.
 So
ome virtual ma achine operatio
ons are greye d out and una
available.
 Yo
ou experience unexpected behavior
b in a g
guest operating system.

Purpose
This arrticle guides you
y through the process of ddetermining if your virtual machine's hardwware version is the
most uup to date for the
t VMware product that yoou are using. The
T article also o explains whyy a virtual machine
createdd with one prooduct may not power on from
m another prooduct.

If you a
are experiencing a problem related to a vvirtual machine
e's hardware version,
v follow
wing this article
e resolves
the pro
oblem.

For infformation speccific to:

 Mware Fusion,, see Virtual machine ha rdware vers

VM sions for Fus
sion (10220660).
 VM o AWS, see Correlating
Mware Cloud on C V
VMware Clo oud on AWS S with Compponent Relea
ases.

Resoluttion

VMwa
are productts and theirr virtual harrdware vers
sion

This ta
able lists VMw
ware products and
a their virtu al hardware version:
v

Virtu
ual Hardwaare
Pro
oducts
Versiion
 ESXi 7.0 U2
19
(7.0.2)

ESXi 7.0 U1
(7.0.1)
Fusion 12.x
18 Workstation Pro
16.x
Workstation
Player 16.x

17 ESXi 7.0 (7.0.0)

Fusion 11.x
Workstation Pro
16 15.x
Workstation
Player 15.x

15 ESXi 6.7 U2

ESXi 6.7
Fusion 10.x
Workstation Pro
14
14.x
Workstation
Player 14.x

13 ESXi 6.5

Fusion 8.x
Workstation Pro
12 12.x
Workstation
Player 12.x

ESXi 6.0
Fusion 7.x
11
Workstation 11.x
Player 7.x

ESXi 5.5
Fusion 6.x
10
Workstation 10.x
Player 6.x

ESXi 5.1
9
Fusion 5.x
 Workstation 9.x
Player 5.x

ESXi 5.0
Fusion 4.x
8
Workstation 8.x
Player 4.x

ESXi/ESX 4.x
Fusion 3.x
Fusion 2.x
7 Workstation 7.x
Workstation 6.5.x
Player 3.x
Server 2.x

6 Workstation 6.0.x

ESX 3.x
ACE 2.x
4
Fusion 1.x
Player 2.x

ACE 1.x
Lab Manager 2.x
Player 1.x
3 and 4
Server 1.x
Workstation 5.x
Workstation 4.x

ESX 2.x
3
GSX Server 3.x

Consider this information about virtual hardware versions when dealing with related problems:

 Warning: Upgrading a VM's HW version is not recommended unless features in the new version are
needed. Upgrading a Virtual Machine to the latest hardware version is the physical equivalent of swapping
the drive out of one system and placing it into a new one. Its success will depend on the resiliency of the
guest operating system in the face of hardware changes. VMware does not recommend upgrading virtual
hardware version if you do not need the new features exposed by the new version. For more information,
see Upgrading a virtual machine to the latest hardware version (multiple versions)
(1010675).
 ESXi 6.7u2 introduces hardware version 15. This new hardware version allows for the creation of a VM
with up to 256 vCPUs. It is important to note that a hardware version 15 VM cannot be vMotioned to a host
on a prior version of ESXi, including ESXi 6.7u1, ESXi 6.7, ESXi 6.0 etc, as these prior ESXi versions are
not compatible with the new hardware version. Similarly, vCenter 6.7 or vCenter 6.7u1 can be used to
manage ESXi 6.7u2 hosts as long as hardware version 15 VMs are not in use. For customers looking to
create, run, and manage hardware version 15 VMs, both the ESXi hosts in the cluster and vCenter need to
be upgraded to at least 6.7u2.
 A VMware product cannot power on a virtual machine with a virtual hardware version that is higher than
what it supports.

Note: If a virtual machine is created on a VMware product that supports a given virtual hardware version
 and is then migrated to a VMware product that does not support this level of virtual hardware, it does not
power on. Consult the chart above. Virtual machines created by VMware products and versions located
higher up in the chart cannot be powered on by products lower on the chart.

 A VMware product can power on a virtual machine with a virtual hardware version that is lower than what it
supports, but functionality may be lost. Lost functionality results in menu items related to virtual machine
operations being grayed out and unavailable.

 A virtual machine's hardware version can be downgraded only by Workstation 6.x or later, Converter 3.x or
later, and Fusion 2.x or later.

 Any VMware product in the chart above, with the exception of VMware Player, is able to upgrade the
version of a virtual machine's hardware to the highest version that it supports.

Upgrading the virtual hardware

To upgrade the virtual hardware:

Note: For Lab Manager virtual machines, they must be undeployed, have their virtual hardware version
upgraded from their configuration, then redeployed.

1. Power on the virtual machine.

2. Install VMware Tools.
3. Power off the virtual machine.
4. Change the hardware setting:

In Workstation 8, navigate to VM > Manage > Change Hardware Compatibility.

In ESXi/ESX, Server, Lab Manager, or GSX, depending on the version in use, right-click the entry for the
virtual machine, then select:

 Upgrade or Change Version

 Upgrade Virtual Machine

5. In VMware Player, open the virtual machine's .vmx file using a text editor.

For more information on editing, see Editing the .vmx file of a VMware Workstation and VMware
Player Virtual machine(2057902).

6. Locate the entry virtualHW.version = "8".

7. Change the above entry to:

virtualHW.version = "11"

8. Save and close the .vmx file.

Note: Changes made to the .vmx file do not take effect until the next time VMware Workstation or
VMware Player is opened.

Related Information
Reactivation of a Windows guest operating system is not needed after upgrading the virtual hardware version.
Update the VMware Tools version on the virtual machine for better performance, if prompted.

For information on virtual hardware versions and limitations, see Virtual machine memory limits and
hardware versions (1014006).

Virtual machine hardware version compatibility for Fusion

For translated versions of this article, see:
  Ve
ersões de ha
ardware da máquina virt
rtual
 虚拟机硬件版本 本
 仮想マシンのハ ハードウェア ア バージョ ン
 Ve
ersiones de hardware pa
ara máquina
as virtuales

Related
d Products and Versio
ons

 VM
Mware Workstaation Player
 VM
Mware Workstaation
 VM
Mware vSpherre ESXi
 VM
Mware VirtualC
Center
 Mware vCenter Lab Manage
VM er
 VM
Mware Server
 VM
Mware Player
 VM
Mware GSX Se erver
 VM
Mware Fusion
 VM
Mware ESX Se erver
 VM
Mware Converrter
 VM
Mware ACE

Languaages
English
h
Spaniish
Japannese
Portug
guese (Euroopean)
Chine
ese (Simplified)

Categorry
Informational

Last Up
pdated
2021-0
05-19 22:59:04
4

Total V
Views
871798
8

Upvotes
83






Copyright © 2021 VMware, Inc. All rights reserved.

 Terms of Use
 Your California Privacy Rights
 Privacy
 Accessibility
 Cookie Settings