Hello,

This is possibly an odd situation and question.

I currently have an HPE server (DL360p Gen 8 that is EOL and the latest version that I can put on it is 6.5.0 U3 and I have 6.5.0 U2 installed.

I also have a VCSA with 7.0.3 (build 20845200).

We are getting a new server (HPE DL360 Gen 10) and I would like to put the latest version of ESXi on it (8.0.1 Build 21813344). 

The problem and or question is: How to upgrade the VCSA/vSphere if the server is on 8, it's not compatible with ESXi 6.5. Doesn't the upgrade process contact the server?

I thought about installing ESXi 7.0 on the new server and upgrading from there but I didn't know what kind of problems I would run into either.

So the question is how do I put in the new server with ESXi 8.0.1 and upgrade the existing VCSA/vSphere to 8.0.1?

Does the VCSA need a compatibility change as it currently shows: ESXi 5.5 and later (VM version 10)?

Any help and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Rusty