As far as I know, vendor-customized images like the HPE ISO aren't available through the free ESXi download portal anymore only the generic ISO is offered. Broadcom's current model restricts access to partner builds (like Dell, HPE, Lenovo) to customers with an active support contract or partner agreement.
If you're using the free license, there's no official way to get the vendor image unless the vendor publishes it independently and most stopped doing that publicly after the Broadcom acquisition.
One workaround: you can start from the generic ISO and manually add the needed drivers (e.g., using esxcli or by building a custom image with vib/offline bundle if the driver is available from HPE). Not ideal, but it works in most cases.
Original Message:
Sent: Apr 29, 2025 08:37 PM
From: Oleg Andrainov
Subject: Vendor-specific images for Free edition of VMware ESXi 8.0U3e
Specifically looking for HPE-image, but free downloads are limited to only generic version.
Is there any plan to make those images available?