ESXi 6.0 -> ESXi 6.5 upgrade MacPro6,1(Late 2013)

[mikey_u]

I tried updating from 6.0 to 6.5 and the installation hung each time. From the logs it seemed there was an issue reading from one of the partitions on the disk. I decided to reinstall 6.0 and try updating via the CLI as outlined here:

http://www.vladan.fr/how-to-upgrade-esxi-6-0-to-6-5-via-cli-on-line/

The upgrade was successful, so I rebooted for the changes to take effect. Unfortunately the boot process stalls at "Starting service vmtoolsd". Here are the log messages:

The messages about AHCI make me wonder if there is a driver issue with the particular SSD that came with my Mac Pro. Anyone have an idea what the issue might be and whether I can work around it?

[netisopl]

I ran into the exact same issues on the exact same hardware.

[Channingbrw90]

Same here

[wila]

Hello,

William Lam (VMware employee plus avid blogger about mac plus vSphere - among others) already put out the message a few times that vSphere 6.5 is not yet compatible with the Mac Pro 6,1.

See also:

https://twitter.com/lamw/status/811943660434518016

The Mac Pro 6,1 is currently not supported w/vSphere 6.5, team is working on testing it but it may take some time. Stay on 6.0u{1,2} for now

Hope this helps,

--

Wil

[Channingbrw90]

Many Thanks for the quick reply!

Will the MacMini7,1 be supported as well? I have a smallish setup for macOS management with a couple MacPros in our primary site and 4 remote sites with high spec minis. 

[wila]

Hi,

Will the MacMini7,1 be supported as well?

Sorry I don't know.

It would make sense from my POV and reading between the lines seems to suggest that, but I have no answer on that question.

--

Wil

[wila]

Hi,

FYI, there is now a workaround...

http://www.virtuallyghetto.com/2017/01/esxi-6-5-support-for-apple-mac-pro-61.html

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Wil