Windows 11 in-place upgrade fails with “The processor is currently not supported”

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• When performing an in-place upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 on virtual machines running on VMware ESXi, the upgrade fails with the following error message:

The processor is currently not supported for Windows 11


• The physical CPU model installed on the ESXi host is listed in Microsoft’s Windows 11 supported Intel processors documentation, but the OS upgrade is still blocked.
• EVC is enabled on the cluster with Intel "Haswell" Generation.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

Under the Intel "Haswell" Generation, the CPU features presented to the VM do not meet the Windows 11 upgrade requirements, resulting in a processor compatibility error.

Resolution

Adjust the cluster’s EVC mode to Intel “Skylake” Generation or later：

1. Log in to the vCenter web client.
2. Select the cluster > Configure > VMware EVC > EDIT. 
3. Change the CPU Mode to Intel “Skylake” Generation or later.
4. Power off the affected virtual machine.
5. Power on the virtual machine to apply the new EVC baseline (a full power cycle is required).
6. Retry the Windows 11 in-place upgrade.