Dell VRTX Shared PERC 8 Not Available on VMware ESXi 8

Hello, thanks for choosing Dell. It looks like

https://dell.to/3ErXsDV

it can support ESXi 7.X only, I'm afraid.

Thanks. I did see that is is not listed. What are Dell's plans to support VMware ESXi 8 and future editions?

The reason I ask is it appears that the VRTX is still being sold and supported.
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/povw/poweredge-vrtx

Download VMware vSphere - VMware Customer Connect Hi, maybe this could help.

Thank you. It sounds like there is no information on whether this will be supported or not in future releases. I'll wait it out, which is unfortunate.

Thanks, but as I mentioned, I installed VMware ESXi 8 Custom Dell ISO on the M630. It does not recognize the Shared PERC 8 controller for the direct attached storage.

Very strange! The M640 for VRTX blades are on the HCL from VMware ESX 8. (see here: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=server&details=1&partner=23&releases=589&keyword=VRTX&page=1&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc )

But the Chassis - the VRTX not. This is only supported up to 7.03. (see: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=san&productid=35094&releases_filter=578&deviceCategory=san&details=1&releases=578&keyword=vrtx&isSVA=0&page=1&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc)

Who runs blades without modular infrastructure?

Hi,

sorry I did not understand your problem.

Could you please explain to me your exact failure with your PERC?

Or do you only ask outside of this thread topic how other users use their VRTX?

Did you have any other questions?

Regards Martin

Martin,

He is stating that there are drivers for the M640 but do not include the Shared PERC 8 drivers for the VRTX chassis. Since the M640 only runs on a chassis, it's not useful when the chassis drivers are not available in vSphere 8. The failure is in the lack of drivers from Dell.

Thanks! I'm glad to see an official removal of support document. Before, it was a guess.

Sorry I do not understand.

EOL of VMware 7.x is 2nd April 2025. We have support for some of our VRTX till 2026 how will that work? Shall I use an unsupported and unsafe OS on our VRTX's? We have several of them.

unsupported workaround which seems to work

copy the driver file from a esxi7.0 (latest) installation from /bootbank/dellshar.v00 to the esxi8 installation on the vrtx blade server and add it to /bootbank/boot.cfg in the modules line after s.v00 module, then reboot.

NOT SUPPORTED, not update safe - just for testing purpose.

@HannesF​ 

Thank you for the possible work-around.

Would you be willing to put together a more detailed version/explanation of this - I'd love to give it a test - but I'm not super familiar with the exact commands needed to pull this off.

Thank you,

--Micah

more detailled steps for my workaround:

grap the shared perc driver from an esxi 7.0.3 with latest dell addon host-> login by ssh and copy the file dellshar.v00 from /bootbank folder. (i used scp for download)

place that driver-file on your new esxi 8.0.x in the same folder (/bootbank/dellshar.v00), i used ssh and scp

then edit the /bootbank/boot.cfg config file with an text editor (i used VI) and add the driver in the modules line to be loaded between following two modules:

--- s.v00 --- dellshar.v00 --- bnxtnet.v00

optional make the same two steps (driver file and config insertion) in the backupfolder /altbootbank/ too

reboot your host -> driver should then be loaded and vrtx storage should reappear.

regards

hannes

ps: i hope dell will change their mind an bring back the driver/module in a later dell-addon for esxi8 with support again.