ESXi patch download entitlement

[marcussf]

Hi,

I am running the 'free' 7.0 Dell customized ESXi on two machines. Due to the recent CVEs I wish to update to the latest version. After a long search on the support portal I was able to locate the offline bundle here Home - Support Portal - Broadcom support portal but I was not able to download anything due to missing entitlements.

How can I get that entitlement or is the 'free' version practically unusable nowadays?

Thanks!

Support Portal		remove preview
Home - Support Portal - Broadcom support portal Please be advised the Broadcom Support Portal will be undergoing maintenance and will be unavailable between August 9th 9:30 PM PST to 11:30PM PST. We apologize for the inconvenience. For urgent matters during this time please phone support: View this on Support Portal >

 

[pcgeek2009]

Free ESXi has been discontinued. If you do not have a current support contract or agreement, I do not believe they allow you to get the latest ISO. Dell has also moved the custom ones to the Broadcom website except for 8.0 and above. Those can be downloaded from Dell. 

[TedChurch]

You can still get all the VMware vSphere product installer downloads if you join VMUG "Advantage" membership. ($200/year but you can usually find discount codes on www.vmug.com ) and you get 365 day licenses for everything.  Their download forum for Advantage members is easier to access. 

Broadcom is giving away free VMware Workstation 17 Pro as a belated consolation.  https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=VMware+Workstation+Pro     You'll need to use your customer connect login. 

[marcussf]

Thanks for the advice!

@TedCrunch: Just one remark for other readers, the VMUG licenses conver personal use, but not professional use

[dbutch1976]

Hi TedCrunch,

Wondering if you could help me understanding something. I've read this guide here for VMUG Advantage members and frankly I find it borderline gibberish. I just want to know where to go to download patches and ISOs, as far as I understand I am entitled to do this via my VMUG advantage membership (at least I could previously), but this guide appears to indicate that a certification is also required at which point my VMUG login ID and my Broadcom ID can be linked, then I will be able to download patches, ISOs, and view licenses on the Broadcom portal:

VMUG Advantage Home Lab License Guide - VMware {code}

Can I still download software for my personal lab from from elsewhere solely via my VMUG advantage subscription, and if so, do you have a link?

Thanks!

[CNIdog]

Essentially as of November 2024, you have to pass the exam be a certified VCF to be able to get downloads or lab Lics via VMUG.  I do not know any reason why or agree with Broadcom stopping this.  From my 35 years in IT certification training, I regard using home labs is a big part of the learning process for certification enablement.   Making the software needed for home lab unavailable until after a candidate has passed the VCF exam makes no sense.  It's not a reward, it is a needed component to support the learning process to prepare for the VCF exam.

[William Bon Durant]

Our hosting provider sent us a "complaint" that our ESXi needs a patch.
Looking at the instructions for first login since the VMWare+Broadcom deal, it seems we cannot get the patch because our old VMWare support userid is locked out.
Read on if you like Catch-22 situations:
We created this support account long ago with VMWare. It was used to download a few versions of ESXi, some updates etc..  After some time, our domain, at which our VMWare userid email address lived, was allowed to expire (!) by a former associate.  By that time we were using a different domain for most other purposes.

Then came the Dream Time, when we could still log into VMWare as the old user to get patches etc..  VMWare did not provide a path to change our email address in their system, but Since VMWare did not challenge us with MFA etc, we thanked our stars and kicked the can down the road (the only option available as far as we could tell.)

Recap:  We can't receive email at the old account address, and I've found no Broadcom mechanism for updating our account information to change the email address.

Solution:  We finally gave up on Broadcom and found a third party download relay site which will not be named here, because we may need them again and it would be even more tragic if Broadcom shut them down.  Fortunately Broadcom's website doesn't require "entitlement" to get just the checksums, and our download-of-a-download passed.  Please don't "fix" this!  Patch support is hanging on this thread.

Wouldn't it be great if the "Support" team made just a little more effort to be helpful?