VxRail: VxRail and external vCenter interoperability matrix

This article details appropriate external vCenter versions for use with VxRail.

To see specific VxRail versions and each component code level, see the following:     

• VxRail 7.x Support Matrix
• VxRail 4.7.x Support Matrix
• VxRail 4.5.x Support Matrix
• VxRail 4.0.x Support Matrix

VxRail upgrade paths are found in the Upgrade Paths section in the VxRail Release notes. These are found at:    

• VxRail Appliance Software 7.0.x Release Notes
• VxRail Appliance Software 4.7.x Release Notes
• VxRail Appliance Software 4.5.x Release Notes
• VxRail Appliance Software 4.0.x Release Notes

Change to External vCenter version precheck in VxRail Appliance Software 7.0.130 and later for cluster installations or node additions.
Starting with VxRail Appliance Software 7.0.130, VxRail no longer validates if an External supplied vCenter server software version is compatible with the VxRail Appliance Software version on the cluster. Ensure the External vCenter server is upgraded to minimum compatible version before initiating the installation of the cluster or adding a node to the cluster.

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 that are associated with the use of External vCenter 7.0 and earlier VxRail Appliance Software versions. These are documented in KB article 20751: 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
7.0.300	7.0 U3 - 18644231	7.0 U3 (7.0.3)	7.0 U3a (7.0.3.00100) or later
7.0.24128	7.0 U2c - 18426014	7.0 U2 (7.0.2)	7.0 U2d (7.0.2.00500) or later
7.0.240	7.0 U2c - 18426014	7.0 U2 (7.0.2)	7.0 U2c (7.0.2.00400) or later
7.0.210 24	7.0 U2a - 17867351	7.0 U2 (7.0.2)	7.0 U2b (7.0.2.00200) or later
7.0.203 26	7.0 U2a - 17867351	7.0 U2 (7.0.2)	7.0 U2b (7.0.2.00200) or later
7.0.202	7.0 U2a - 17867351	7.0 U2 (7.0.2)	7.0 U2b (7.0.2.00200) or later
7.0.201 23	7.0 U2a - 17867351	7.0 U2 (7.0.2)	7.0 U2b (7.0.2.00200) or later
7.0.200	7.0 U2a - 17867351	7.0 U2 (7.0.2)	7.0 U2 (7.0.2) or later
7.0.132	7.0 U1d - 17551050	7.0 U1 (7.0.1)	7.0 U1c (7.0.1.00200) or later
7.0.131	7.0 U1d - 17551050	7.0 U1 (7.0.1)	7.0 U1c (7.0.1.00200) or later
7.0.130	7.0 U1c - 17325551	7.0 U1 (7.0.1)	7.0 U1c (7.0.1.00200) or later
7.0.101 20	7.0 U1b - 17168206	7.0 U1 (7.0.1)	7.0 U1 (7.0.1) or later
7.0.100 20	7.0 U1 - 16850804	7.0 U1 (7.0.1)	7.0 U1 (7.0.1) or later
7.0.010 20	7.0 b - 16324942	7.0 GA	7.0.0b or later
7.0.000 20	7.0 GA - 15843807	7.0 GA	7.0 GA or later
4.7.540	6.7 P06 - 18828794	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3p or later / 7.0 U2d or later
4.7.536 28	6.7 P05 - 17700523	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3o or later / 7.0 U2d or later
4.7.535	6.7 P05 - 17700523	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3n or later / 7.0 U2c or later
4.7.533 27	6.7 P05 - 17700523	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3n or later / 7.0 U2b or later
4.7.532 25	6.7 P05 - 17700523	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3n or later / 7.0 U2b or later
4.7.531 22	6.7 P05 - 17700523	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3n or later / 7.0 U2b or later
4.7.530	6.7 P05 - 17700523	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3m or later / 7.0 U1 or later
4.7.527	6.7 P18 - 17499825	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3l or later / 7.0 U1 or later
4.7.526	6.7 P04 - 17167734	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3l or later / 7.0 U1 or later
4.7.525	6.7 P04 - 17167734	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3i or later / 7.0 U1 or later
4.7.521	6.7 EP17 - 17098360	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3j or later / 7.0 GA or later
4.7.520	6.7 EP16 - 16773714	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3j or later / 7.0 GA or later
4.7.515 19	6.7 P03 - 16713306	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3j or later / 7.0 GA or later
4.7.511 16	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
4.7.411 14 15 20	6.7 EP14 - 15820472	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3f or later / 7.0 GA or later
4.7.410 15 20	6.7 P01 - 15160138	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3b or later / 7.0 GA or later
4.7.301 12 15 20	6.7 EP13 - 15018017	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3a or later / 7.0 GA or later
4.7.300 15 20	6.7 U3 - 14320388	6.7 U3 / 7.0 GA	6.7 U3 or later / 7.0 GA or later
4.7.212 11	6.7 EP10 - 13981272	6.7 U2	6.7 U2c or later
4.7.211 10	6.7 EP09 - 13644319	6.7 U2	6.7 U2a or later
4.7.210 10	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
4.5.470	6.5 P07 - 18678235	6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA	6.5 U3r or later / 6.7 U3o or later / 7.0 U2d or later
4.5.463 28	6.5 EP24 - 18071574	6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA	6.5 U3q or later / 6.7 U3o or later / 7.0 U2d or later
4.5.462	6.5 EP24 - 18071574	6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA	6.5 U3p or later / 6.7 U3n or later / 7.0 U2b or later
4.5.461 21	6.5 P06 - 17477841	6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA	6.5 U3p or later / 6.7 U3n or later / 7.0 U2b or later
4.5.460	6.5 P06 - 17477841	6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA	6.5 U3n or later / 6.7 U3l or later / 7.0 U1 or later
4.5.452	6.5 EP23 - 17167537	6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA	6.5 U3k or later / 6.7 U3b or later / 7.0 U1 or later
4.5.451	6.5 EP21 - 16901156	6.5 U3 / 6.7 U2a / 7.0 GA	6.5 U3k or later / 6.7 U3b or later / 7.0 U1 or later
4.5.450 18	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 U1 or later
4.5.422 17	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 U1 or later
4.5.420 13	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
4.5.402 13	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
4.5.401 12 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
4.5.400 13	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
4.5.314 10	6.5 EP14 - 13635690	6.5 U2g / 6.7 U2	6.5 U2g or later / 6.7 U2a or later
4.5.311 9	6.5 EP13 - 13004031	6.5 U2c / 6.7 U1	6.5 U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.5.310 9	6.5 P03 - 10884925	6.5 U2c / 6.7 U1	6.5 U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.5.300 9	6.5 P03 - 10884925	6.5 U2c / 6.7 U1	6.5 U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.5.229 8	6.5 EP11 - 10719125	6.5.U2c / 6.7 U1	6.5.U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.5.227 7	6.5 EP10 - 10390116	6.5.U2c / 6.7 U1	6.5.U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.5.225 6	6.5 EP09 - 10175896	6.5.U2c / 6.7 U1	6.5.U2c or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.5.218 5	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
4.5.212 4	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
4.5.210 2	6.5 U2 - 8294253	6.5 U2	6.5 U2 or later
4.5.200 3	6.5 P02 - 7388607	6.5 U1	6.5 U1a or later
4.5.152 2	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
4.0.601 12	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
4.0.524 10	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
4.0.522 8	6.0 EP19 - 10719132	6.0 U3h / 6.7 U1	6.0 U3h or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.0.521 7	6.0 EP18 - 10474991	6.0 U3h / 6.7 U1	6.0 U3h or later / 6.7 U1 or later
4.0.520 5	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
4.0.500 4	6.0 EP14 - 8934903	6.0 U3f / 6.5 U2b	6.0 U3f / 6.5 U2b or later
4.0.402 2	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
3.5 1	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).

VxRail upgrades and External vCenter
When upgrading VxRail to a later build, verify the current external vCenter build is at the minimum version that is required for the VxRail build you are upgrading to.

If a vCenter upgrade is required, it is a requirement to upgrade an External vCenter before upgrading the VxRail appliance software.

See 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 that is 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 are documented).

For example:      
"6.5 U1g or later" implies 6.5 U1g is the minimum but all later external vCenter builds such as 6.5 U1 or 6.5 U2, 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 covers 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 is 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 that are 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 that 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 that 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, using Dell.com/support) article 2684: 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 Acknowledgment (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 that are 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, see the KB article 20751: (Only Customers can access the content on the following link, using 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 153604: DSA-2020-136: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Improper Authentication Vulnerability and see KB article 1670: DSA-2020-158: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third-Party Component Vulnerabilities.
• ¹⁷ See KB article 1784: DSA-2020-174: Dell EMC VxRail Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities  
• ¹⁸ See KB article 153681: DSA-2020-193: Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third-Party Component Vulnerabilities  
• ¹⁹ See KB article 153703: DSA-2020-213: VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Component Vulnerabilities   
• ²⁰ There is a known issue when deploying a new VxRail cluster using an External vCenter 7.0 U2. See KB article 185996 (Only Customers can access the content on the following link to Dell.com/support) Dell EMC VxRail: Initial configuration with external vCenter 7.0 Update 2 fails with error: Failed to add host to VDS VMware HCIA Distributed Switch
• ²¹ See KB article 187812: DSA-2021-112 : Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities
• ²² See KB article 187919: DSA-2021-111 : Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities
• ²³ See KB article 188042: DSA-2021-110 : Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities
• ²⁴ 7.0.210 is a factory only release (new nodes that are ordered from Dell EMC ship with this version) and is not available for regular user upgrades. VxRail Appliance software 7.0.202 is the recommended version for VxRail users who want to upgrade.
• ²⁵ See KB article 190267: DSA-2021-157 : Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities
• ²⁶ See KB article 190344: DSA-2021-159 : Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities
• ²⁷ See KB article 191001: DSA-2021-174 : Dell EMC VxRail Appliance Security Update for Multiple Third Party Component Vulnerabilities
• ²⁸ See KB article 191710: VxRail: Information on VMSA-2021-0020 and VxRail environments