How-To
Technical how-tos and learning along the way.
ESXi 9.1 installer reboots in a loop on a Skylake host (CPU_SUPPORT OVERRIDEWARNING)
Skylake-SP is supported in Deprecated Mode for VCF 9.1.x, but an unattended install still loops without --forceunsupportedinstall. Discontinued from 9.2.
Verified against ESXi 9.1.0.0200 (build 25557999) on Xeon Platinum 8168 (Skylake-SP)VCF 9.1 password rules: why one lab password cannot work everywhere (and NSX forbids full stops)
vCenter root wants 15 to 20 characters, SDDC Manager more than 13, and NSX bans most punctuation including the full stop. Pick a password NSX accepts and the rest follow.
Verified against VCF 9.1.0VCF Installer says "User is not authorized" and your password is correct (admin@local is locked)
LOCAL_ACCOUNT_LOCKED surfaces in the UI as an authorization error, not a lockout. The lockout does not expire. Reboot the appliance, or restart commonsvcs.
Verified against VCF Installer 9.1.0Where to find the VCF 9.1 offline depot metadata (when you don't have an activation code for automated download)
vcf-9.1.0.0100-offline-depot-metadata.zip is on the Broadcom Support Portal under VCF Installer 9.1.0, not 9.1.0.400.
Verified against VCF 9.1.0.0100