Warning: "UNSUPPORTED_DEVICES WARNING: This host has unsupported devices" when installing or upgrading ESXi

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0

Issue/Introduction

• Installing or upgrading ESXi reports a warning related to unsupported devices
• When performing an interactive installation or upgrade of ESXi, the following appears:
  
  Error(s)/Warning(s) Found During System Scan
The system encountered the following warning(s).
Warning(s)
<UNSUPPORTED_DEVICES_WARNING: This host has unsupported devices <i style="COLOR: ">device_information >
  
  
• When performing a scripted installation or upgrade of ESXi, the following appears:
  
  The following warnings were encountered while inspecting the system
<UNSUPPORTED_DEVICES WARNING: This host has unsupported devices <span style="COLOR: #000000">device_information >
  
• When performing a ESXi host upgrade using Update Manager, the following appears:
  
  Unsupported devices device_information found on the host.
  
  
• The Update Manager logs contain entries similar to:
  
  'VciClusterRemediateCheckTask.VciClusterRemediateCheckTask{59}' 9328 INFO] [vciTaskBase, 538] Task started...
'VciClusterRemediateCheckTask.VciClusterRemediateCheckTask{59}' 9328 ERROR] [vciClusterRemediateCheckTask, 167] Found incompatible hardware config on host: 10.10.201.121, host Id: host-27, error: integrity.fault
'VciClusterRemediateCheckTask.VciClusterRemediateCheckTask{59}' 9328 ERROR] [vciTaskBase, 556] Task execution has failed: integrity.fault.HostUpgradeIncompatibleHardware

Cause

This is an expected behavior. Support for several device drivers is deprecated in vSphere 5.5 and 6.x.

For more information, refer to Devices deprecated and unsupported in ESXi 6.5.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, ensure to use the supported hardware. To determine the devices that are compatible with ESXi, refer to the VMware Compatibility Guide.

Workaround

Use the Remove installed third-party software that is incompatible with the upgrade, and continue with the remediation option within vSphere Update Manager:

1. Select the ESXi host in the Hosts and Clusters view in vCenter Server.
2. Select the Update Manager tab.
3. Click Attach and attach the ESXi Upgrade baseline.
4. Click the Remediate button on the ESXi host
5. Select the ESXi Upgrade baseline.
6. Click Next.
7. Accept the EULA.
8. Click Next.
9. In the Upgrade screen, select the Remove installed third-party software that is incompatible with the upgrade, and continue with the remediation option.
10. Click Next.
11. In the Schedule page, select Immediately.
12. Click Next.
13. In the Host Remediation Options, edit the options according to the environment.
14. Click Next.
15. Click Finish.