6.7

Table Of Contents
Procedure
u
Select a host, cluster, or data center in the inventory.
Option Action
Host a Click the Configure tab, and under Virtual Machines, select Default VM
Compatibility.
b Click Edit.
The Edit Default VM Compatibility dialog box opens.
c From the Compatible with drop-down menu, select the compatibility and
click OK.
Note You can set the compatibility only on hosts that are not part of a cluster.
Cluster a Click the Configure tab, and under Configuration, select General.
b In the Default VM Compatibility section, click Edit.
c From the Compatible with drop-down menu, select the compatibility and
click OK.
When you change the compatibility for a cluster, the compatibility for all hosts in
the cluster changes as well.
Data Center a Right-click the data center and select Edit Default VM Compatibility.
b From the Compatible with drop-down menu, select the compatibility and
click OK.
Important You can set a default compatibility setting on a data center only in the
vSphere Web Client.
When you create a virtual machine on one of these objects, the default compatibility setting is used.
Schedule a Compatibility Upgrade for a Single Virtual Machine
The compatibility level determines the virtual hardware available to a virtual machine, which corresponds
to the physical hardware available on the host machine. You can upgrade the compatibility to make the
virtual machine compatible with the latest version of the host.
To schedule an upgrade for multiple virtual machines, see Schedule a Compatibility Upgrade for Virtual
Machines.
Prerequisites
n
Create a backup or snapshot of the virtual machines.
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Upgrade to the latest version of VMware Tools. On Microsoft Windows virtual machines, if you
upgrade the compatibility level before you upgrade VMware Tools, the virtual machine might lose its
network settings.
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Verify that all .vmdk files are available to the ESX/ESXi host on a VMFS5, or NFS datastore.
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Verify that the virtual machine is stored on VMFS5 or NFS datastores.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
VMware, Inc. 82