VMware ESXi: Quick Boot for VMware ESXi on PowerEdge Servers

VMware Quick Boot is a new type of "soft" reboot mechanism introduced in vSphere 6.7. Unlike a regular host reboot operation (warm or cold), Quick Boot does not involve going through the hardware reboot process. When you initiate a Quick Boot, ESXi restarts in a way similar to normal reboot operation. The hardware, however, does not go through the normal process of reboot operations such as POST, firmware load, re-initialization of hardware resources, and reloading ACPI/SMBIOS tables.

This feature helps to speed up server management workflows which do not require a hardware reboot. For example, applying an ESXi security patch or upgrading the ESXi hypervisor does typically not require you to have the host/hardware rebooted. See vSphere Update Manage Installation, and Administration Guide for instructions on configuration/ use this feature.

Dell EMC and VMware have worked together to enable Quick Boot on the following platforms.

• PowerEdge R740
• PowerEdge R740xd
• PowerEdge R640
• PowerEdge R730
• PowerEdge R730xd
• PowerEdge R630

The following script verifies that the hardware and software configuration of a given host supports Quick Boot. Dell Technologies recommends end users to run this script manually to make sure that the configuration is compatible for Quick Boot. 

$ /usr/lib/vmware/loadesx/bin/loadESXCheckCompat.py

Note: See VMware KB 52477 , Installation Instructions and Important Information Guide and vSphere Update Manager Installation and Administration Guide  to ensure that your host meets the minimum requirements to support Quick Boot. 

See Dell Technologies White paper on vSphere Quick Boot support stance in detail.