This article provides information about deprecated devices in ESXi 8.0 and implications for support.

Support for a number of I/O devices has been removed in ESXi 8.0 as a result of the devices being EOL'd by the device vendors. These devices will not be listed on the ESXi 8.0 VMware Compatibility Guide, and VMware GSS will not accept support requests for customer issues involving these devices on 8.0.

Although these are not supported on ESXi 8.0, the device drivers supporting them will still be installed on the ESXi 8.0 host when upgrading, and the devices will be recognized, with the following exceptions:

• All devices previously supported by the nmlx4_en driver. The driver does not exist in ESXi 8.0.
• A portion of devices previously supported by the lpfc driver. These devices have been removed from the driver.

If you proceed to upgrade to ESXi 8.0 from a host with a device supported by the nmlx4_en driver, or a device removed in the lpfc driver, the following non-recoverable consequences can occur:

• You may lose access to storage / data-stores
• You may lose network access
• You may lose previous configuration on the host

Prior to upgrading to ESXi 8.0, you should replace devices previously supported by the nmlx4_en driver or devices that have been removed in the 8.0 lpfc driver. Other devices not supported in ESXi 8.0 should be replaced at the earliest availability to insure there is no gap in support.

See the attachment for a full list of devices no longer supported in ESXi 8.0