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Broadcom has officially released vSphere ESXi 8.0 U3e, and the great news is – it’s still free to download for lab and evaluation use! This update includes important security patches, performance enhancements, and improved hardware compatibility. A must-have for sysadmins and IT pros running test environments or homelabs.
Support for Communication Device Class Network Control Model (CDC-NCM) in the ESXi USB driver:
Starting with ESXi 8.0 Update 3e, the ESXi USB driver supports the CDC-NCM protocol for compatibility with HPE Gen12 iLO Virtual NIC and interoperability with HPE Agentless Management (AMS), Integrated Smart Update Tools (iSUT), the iLORest config tool, Intelligent Provisioning, and DPUs.
ESXi 8.0 Update 3e adds support for vSphere Quick Boot to:
Intel vRAN Baseband Driver
Intel Platform Monitoring Technology Driver
Intel Data Center Graphics Driver
AMD Instinct MI Series Driver
https://lnkd.in/g5EXTwFi
You Should Know:
Essential ESXi Commands:
Check ESXi version vmware -v List all VMs esxcli vm process list View hardware information esxcli hardware platform get Check network adapters esxcli network nic list View storage devices esxcli storage core device list Check CPU usage esxtop List all installed VIBs (VMware Installation Bundles) esxcli software vib list Put host in maintenance mode esxcli system maintenanceMode set --enable true Reboot host reboot
vSphere Quick Boot Commands:
Check if Quick Boot is available esxcli system settings advanced list -o /UserVars/QuickBoot Enable Quick Boot esxcli system settings advanced set -o /UserVars/QuickBoot -i 1 Perform Quick Boot esxcli system quickboot start
USB Driver Management:
List USB devices esxcli hardware usb passthrough list Check CDC-NCM driver status esxcli system module list | grep vmkusb
Update and Patch Management:
Check for available updates esxcli software sources profile list -d https://hostupdate.vmware.com/software/VUM/PRODUCTION/main/vmw-depot-index.xml Install update from offline bundle esxcli software vib install -d /path/to/update.zip
Hardware Monitoring:
Check HPE iLO status esxcli hardware ilo get Monitor DPU status esxcli hardware dpu list
What Undercode Say:
The release of ESXi 8.0 Update 3e brings significant improvements for homelab enthusiasts and enterprise environments alike. The enhanced USB driver support for CDC-NCM protocol opens new possibilities for hardware management, particularly in HPE environments. The Quick Boot feature extensions to additional drivers will noticeably reduce downtime during maintenance windows.
For optimal use of these new features, consider automating your ESXi management with PowerCLI:
Connect-VIServer -Server your_esxi_host Get-VMHost | Get-VMHostPatch -Refresh Install-VMHostPatch -HostPatch (Get-VMHostPatch -HostPatchBundle /path/to/update.zip)
Remember to always back up your ESXi configuration before applying updates:
vim-cmd hostsvc/firmware/backup_config
For those working with AMD Instinct MI Series, new GPU commands are available:
Check GPU status esxcli hardware gpu list Monitor GPU utilization nvidia-smi For NVIDIA GPUs rocm-smi For AMD GPUs
The improved hardware compatibility in this update means better support for newer server platforms. Verify your hardware compatibility with:
esxcli hardware compatibility matrix get
Expected Output:
VMware ESXi 8.0.3e build-22348816
References:
Reported By: Phuong Nguyen – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅
