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anupama1
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-23-2022 01:18 AM

Nested virtualization support with ESXi

Hi

 

We are trying  to deploy bhvye on a FreeBSD VM deployed in ESXi,  Here bhyve is a FreeBSD hypervisor.  

Using this nested hypervisor , our plan is to deploy a Linux VM

Following information is seen in bhyve documentation , https://wiki.freebsd.org/bhyve


Can I run multiple bhyve hosts under VMware nested VT-x EPT?
A: Yes, but you must enable it: look for the GUI or vhv.allow or vhv.enable options, depending on your version of VMware. VMware Fusion: Processors & Memory: Advanced options: Enable hypervisor applications in this virtual machine

Does ESXi supports this ?  We have seen KB article saying that running third party hypervisors are not supported with in a VM. 

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2009916.

Please confirm on this

 

Thanks

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lamw
Community Manager
Community Manager
‎11-23-2022 05:45 AM

Yes, you can enable Virtual Hardware Virtualization (VHV) in both Type-1 Hypervisor products like ESXi and Type-2 Hypervisors like Fusion/Workstation/Player. In ESXi, the setting is under CPU and you need to expand drop down and simply check the box.

VMware does NOT officially support use of Nested Virtualization outside of one specific use case which is for running Windows/VBS which requires the use of VHV. We do not even support running our own Hypervisor :winking_face: but with that said, it works great and ESXi has been able to run other Hypervisors for number of years but it is not officially supported and YMMV for any potential issues you may or may not see

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anupama1
Contributor
Contributor
‎11-24-2022 12:44 AM

Thanks for the explanation.

 

Regards

Anupama

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