VMware Tools and Hardware Compatibility status shows "Unknown" in the Updates tab for Windows 11 VMs on ESXi 8.0 U3 hosts.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• Windows 11 Virtual Machines (VMs) do not report the VMware Tools version or Hardware Compatibility status accurately.

• Navigating to VM > Updates Tab shows the status as "Unknown" for both VMware Tools and VM Hardware Compatibility.

 

• Clicking "Check Status" fails to populate any versioning information for VMware Tools or Hardware Compatibility.

 

 

Environment

VMware ESX

Cause

• The root cause is a compatibility mismatch between the Virtual Hardware version and the ESXi host's reporting capabilities for Windows 11.
• While Hardware Version 19 is compatible with ESXi 7.0 U2, it does not fully support the advanced metadata reporting required by the ESXi 8.0 U3 "Updates" interface for Windows 11 guests.

Resolution

• To resolve this reporting discrepancy, the Virtual Hardware of the VM must be upgraded to Hardware version 21 align with the ESXi host version 8.0 U3.

1. Identify a maintenance window as the VM must be powered off.

2. Gracefully shut down the Windows 11 Guest OS.

3. Right-click the VM in the vSphere inventory.

   • Select Compatibility > Upgrade VM Compatibility.

   • Select ESXi 8.0 and later (Hardware Version 21).

4. Once the upgrade is complete, power the VM back on.

5. Navigate back to the Updates tab and click Check Status. The VMware Tools and Hardware Compatibility versions should now display correctly.

Additional Information

• Reference Links:

  • Verify the VMware Tools Inter-operability with ESXi host version :- VMware Interoperability Matrix

  • Verify the Virtual Hardware version with the ESXi host version :- Broadcom KB: Virtual Machine Hardware Versions

  • To verify the Guest OS version Windows 11 with ESXi host version :- Guest OS version compatibility with ESXi host