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DAREL_HUANG
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SMBIOS version mismatch between esxi host and virtual machine

Don't know if there's any way to check the version of SMBIOS in ESXi, so here's what I did:

Install RHEL7.2 on Host:

# dmidecode | grep SMBIOS

SMBIOS 2.6 present

Create VM and install RHEL7.2:

#dmidecode | grep SMBIOS

SMBIOS 2.4 present

1. Is that a normal phenomenon? Anyone can help explain the reason of this mismatch?

2. How to make the values consistent? Tried editing the .vmx file <SMBIOS.reflectHost = "TRUE"> but no luck...



Appreciated.

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dariusd
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The host's SMBIOS version is determined by your host's firmware (BIOS or EFI)... it is the responsibility of your hardware vendor, and can only ever change with reconfiguration (upgrade/downgrade) of the host system's firmware.

The virtual machine's SMBIOS version is determined by the virtual machine and its configuration, including its configured firmware (BIOS or EFI) and the version of ESXi on which the VM was booted.

There is no correlation at all between host SMBIOS version and guest SMBIOS version, and it is perfectly normal for them to mismatch.  There is no way to force the SMBIOS version in the guest to be automatically consistent with the host.

The SMBIOS.reflectHost setting only reflects certain pieces of information from the host through to the guest, but it is only a very small subset of the SMBIOS data, and does not include the SMBIOS version.

If there is some particular problem you are trying to solve which is being caused by the SMBIOS version, feel free to provide more details and we'll see if we can solve it!

--

Darius

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hussainbte
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use the below command

smbiosdump

If you found my answers useful please consider marking them as Correct OR Helpful Regards, Hussain https://virtualcubes.wordpress.com/
dariusd
VMware Employee
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The host's SMBIOS version is determined by your host's firmware (BIOS or EFI)... it is the responsibility of your hardware vendor, and can only ever change with reconfiguration (upgrade/downgrade) of the host system's firmware.

The virtual machine's SMBIOS version is determined by the virtual machine and its configuration, including its configured firmware (BIOS or EFI) and the version of ESXi on which the VM was booted.

There is no correlation at all between host SMBIOS version and guest SMBIOS version, and it is perfectly normal for them to mismatch.  There is no way to force the SMBIOS version in the guest to be automatically consistent with the host.

The SMBIOS.reflectHost setting only reflects certain pieces of information from the host through to the guest, but it is only a very small subset of the SMBIOS data, and does not include the SMBIOS version.

If there is some particular problem you are trying to solve which is being caused by the SMBIOS version, feel free to provide more details and we'll see if we can solve it!

--

Darius

DAREL_HUANG
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Is there a way to configure a VM guest with the SMBIOS version 2.6 ?

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dariusd
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ESXi 6 should provide SMBIOS version 2.6 only when the virtual machine is configured with EFI firmware.  (BIOS virtual machines will still have SMBIOS version 2.4.)

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Darius

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