Cisco custom ESXi Images

[Ross Stevenson]

Can someone advise where you're supposed to obtain the older cisco custom images for ESXi please?

Seems the only available one on Broadcom site is the latest, i.e 8.0u3 4.3.6 where as I need 8.0u3 4.3.2 for UCS compatibility.

The ReadMe on 4.3.6 states this, however if I go to Cisco, they say Broadcom would supply it?!  Confused and going round in circles.

For each version of vSphere (major and update releases, e.g. 8.0, 8.0U1, 8.0U2, 8.0U3, 9.0), Broadcom only hosts the single, most recent OEM Custom ISO and Addon that was certified by Broadcom.  OEMs are responsible to host any older certified Custom ISO and Addon for any version of vSphere.

Please refer to the OEM’s web site for any Custom ISO or Addon not listed here.  As OEM web sites are not under Broadcom control, exact URL locations are not tracked.  For questions, please contact your OEM representative. 

[Shen88]

@Ross Stevenson,
Please note, Broadcom only hosts the latest OEM custom ISO per vSphere version (e.g., 8.0U3 4.3.6). and Cisco, as the OEM, is responsible for hosting older custom ISOs (like 8.0U3 4.3.2)

Well, what you could do is maybe 

• Cisco UCS Hypervisors & Operating Systems page and search for your specific UCS model and ESXi version. Sometimes older ISOs are tucked away in model-specific documentation or firmware bundles.

• Use the UCS HCL Tool The Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility List can help confirm which ESXi versions are supported for your UCS hardware and may link to matching ISO versions.
  
  Or Use a Previous ISO + Patch If you can’t get 4.3.2, consider installing the closest available Cisco custom ISO (e.g., 8.0U2 4.3.2 if available) and then patching it to 8.0U3 using the VMware offline bundle. This is a supported path and often works fine for UCS compatibility.
  
  Lastly, you open a TAC case or reach out to your Cisco account manager. They could provide a direct download link or internal access to the ISO you need.

[Carl Power]

When I need to download my custom HPE images, I cannot get them from HPE anymore - I suspect this is the same issue.

I get my HPE images doing the following:

1. Login to Broadcom Support, and go to My Downloads
2. Select VMware vSphere and my version (8)
3. Up the top, you should now see a menu starting with Primary Downloads, and ending in Custom ISOs - select Custom ISOs
4. The page now lists vendor ISOs including my HPE ISOs, but this is also where I can get Cisco ISOs - I select my ISO from here, then I can download it.

Try this and see if you have access to your ISOs