Frequently Asked Questions on Deprecation and End of Support (EOS) for VMFS-3 in VMware vSphere 6.0.x

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information on the deprecation and End of Support (EOS) for VMFS-3 in VMware vSphere 6.0.x.

Resolution

Frequently Asked Questions:

 

Q: What does deprecation and End of Support (EOS) for VMFS-3 in VMware vSphere 6.0.x mean?

Existing VMFS-3 datastores can still be seen and accessible to the VMware ESXi 6.0.x ESXi hosts.

Note: The creation of new VMFS-3 datastores is no longer available in VMware vSphere 6.0.x. VMFS-5 is the only available option when provisioning new datastores.

 

Q: What can I do about my current virtual machines that are still running on VMFS-3 datastores?

There is currently no immediate need for intervention. Although it is recommended that existing VMFS-3 datastores are upgraded to VMFS-5.

It is also recommended to migrate virtual machines from existing VMFS-3 datastores to new or existing VMFS-5 datastores.

 

Q: Can I upgrade VMFS-3 datastores to VMFS-5 datastores?

Yes. You can upgrade existing VMFS-3 datastores to VMFS-5.

 

Q: What if I need to perform testing against a VMFS-3 datastores?

It is not recommended to create a VMFS-3 datastores in VMware vSphere 6.0.x. Support for VMFS-3 will no longer be available in future versions of vSphere.