Installation guide

Table Of Contents
Table 13-1 lists virtual machine hardware versions, the ESX/ESXi versions on which they can be created, edited,
and run, the vCenter Server versions on which they are fully supported, and a brief description of the hardware
version’s capabilities.
Table 13-1. Virtual Machine Hardware Versions
Version 7 Version 4 Version 3
Compatible with vCenter
Server version
ESX/ESXi 4.x create, edit, run create, edit, run run vCenter Server 4.x
ESX Server 3.x create, edit, run run VirtualCenter Server 2.x and
higher
ESX Server 2.x create, edit, run VirtualCenter Server 1.x and
higher
NOTE Virtual machine hardware version 4 may be listed as VM3 in documentation for earlier versions of ESX
and ESXi. Virtual machine hardware version 3 may be listed as VM2 in documentation for earlier versions of
ESX.
Determine the Hardware Version of a Virtual Machine
You can determine the hardware version of a virtual machine by looking in the Summary tab for the virtual
machine or the Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.
Procedure
1 Select the virtual machine in the inventory.
2 Select one of the two methods for viewing the version information.
Option Description
Select the Summary tab.
The virtual machine hardware version appears at the top right corner of the
Summary tab.
Right-click and select Edit Settings.
The virtual machine hardware version appears at the top right corner of the
Virtual Machine Properties dialog box.
Virtual Machine Properties Editor
The Virtual Machine Properties editor allows you to change nearly every characteristic that you selected when
you created the virtual machine.
Edit an Existing Virtual Machine Configuration
You can edit almost all of the configuration for a virtual machine with the Virtual Machine Properties dialog
box.
Some properties of a virtual machine can be changed only while it is powered off, but you can open the
properties editor regardless of the power state. Some of the controls are read-only if the virtual machine is not
powered off.
NOTE If a virtual machine is on a host managed by vCenter Server, be sure to connect to vCenter Server when
adding or modifying virtual hardware for the virtual machine. If you connect the vSphere Client directly to
the host, add hardware operations might fail with the error message Cannot complete operation due to
concurrent modification by another operation.
Procedure
1 From the vSphere Client, click Inventory in the navigation bar.
vSphere Basic System Administration
144 VMware, Inc.