Windows 11 upgrade is failing with “The processor isn't currently supported for Windows 11”

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

When performing an upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, the upgrade fails with the following error message:

EVC Mode is enabled on the vSphere ESXI cluster with Intel "Haswell" generation, however host CPUs are Xeon Gold 6346 which is Intel "Ice Lake" generation:

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

Enhanced vMotion Compatibility (EVC) baselines older than Skylake mask CPU instructions (SSE4.2, POPCNT, RDRAND) required by the Windows 11 kernel, so the virtual CPU features presented to the VM do not meet the Windows 11 upgrade requirements, resulting in a processor compatibility error

EVC mode is a cluster setting that masks the features of newer CPUs, thus preventing the use of those features and allowing VMs to vMotion between ESXi hosts with different generations of CPUs.  The cluster EVC mode should be set to the lowest generation ESXi CPU across the cluster, in this case Haswell is 4 generations behind Ice Lake.  The upgrade error occurs even when physical CPUs (like Ice Lake) are on the Microsoft compatibility list, but are being masked by older EVC baselines (like Haswell or Merom)

Resolution

Verify vTPM configuration, which may be a secondary upgrade failure point once the EVC mode is corrected to allow the full CPU feature set required by Windows 11

Fix Windows 11 In-Place Upgrade Error: "Your processor isn't supported for this Windows version"

The precise CPU feature set requirements for Windows 11 are beyond the scope of Broadcom VMware support, however if all cluster host CPUs are identical then EVC mode is not required for vMotion compatibility within the cluster

Option 1:

Disable EVC mode if all ESXi CPUs are identical across the cluster

1. Log in to the vSphere Client
2. Disable EVC (ESXi cluster > Configure > VMware EVC and change the mode to Disabled)
3. Restart the virtual machine (select Power > Reset as a full power cycle is required for the VM)

Option 2:

Adjust the cluster EVC mode to Intel “Ice Lake” generation matching the current CPU in use across all ESXi hosts in the cluster, or to the minimum required feature set for Windows 11 support tracked in the following Microsoft documentation:

Windows Processor Requirements

1. Log in to the vSphere Client
2. Select the ESXi cluster > Configure > VMware EVC > select EDIT and change the CPU Mode to the appropriate CPU generation
3. Restart the virtual machine (select Power > Reset as a full power cycle is required for the VM)

Additional Information

EVC functionality and modes are detailed in the following knowledge base article:

VMware EVC and CPU Compatibility FAQ