n Compare a specific property of the VIBs by using a comparison operator such as -eq, -lt, -le, -gt or -ge.
if ($vib1.VersionObject -lt $vib2.VersionObject) {
Write-host "Successfully verified that both the VIBs are equal."
} else {
Write-host "Failed to verify that the VIBs are equal."
}
Working with Acceptance Levels
Hosts, image profiles, and individual VIBs have acceptance levels. VIB acceptance levels show how the VIB was tested. Understanding what each acceptance level implies, how to change levels, and what a change implies is an important part of installation and update procedures.
Acceptance levels are set for hosts, image profiles, and individual VIBs. The default acceptance level for an ESXi image or image profile is PartnerSupported.
Host acceptance levels The host acceptance level determines which VIBs you can install on a host.
You can change a host's acceptance level with ESXCLI commands. By default, ESXi hosts have an acceptance level of PartnerSupported to allow for easy updates with PartnerSupported VIBs.
NOTE VMware supports hosts at the PartnerSupported acceptance level. For problems with individual VIBs with PartnerSupported acceptance level, contact your partner's support organization.
Image profile acceptance levels
The image profile acceptance level is set to the lowest VIB acceptance level in the image profile. If you want to add a VIB with a low acceptance level to an image profile, you can change the image profile acceptance level with the Set-EsxImageProfile cmdlet. See “Set the Image Profile Acceptance Level,”
on page 156.
The vSphere Update Manager does not display the actual acceptance level.
Use vSphere ESXi Image Builder cmdlets to retrieve the acceptance level information for VIBs and image profiles.
VIB acceptance levels A VIB's acceptance level is set when the VIB is created. Only the VIB creator can set the acceptance level.
If you attempt to provision a host with an image profile or VIB that has a lower acceptance level than the host, an error occurs. Change the acceptance level of the host to install the image profile or VIB. See “Change the Host Acceptance Level,” on page 155. Changing the acceptance level of the host changes the support
The acceptance level of a host, image profile, or VIB lets you determine who tested the VIB and who supports the VIB. VMware supports the following acceptance levels .
VMwareCertified The VMwareCertified acceptance level has the most stringent requirements.
VIBs with this level go through thorough testing fully equivalent to VMware in-house Quality Assurance testing for the same technology. Today, only IOVP drivers are published at this level. VMware takes support calls for VIBs with this acceptance level.
VMwareAccepted VIBs with this acceptance level go through verification testing, but the tests do not fully test every function of the software. The partner runs the tests and VMware verifies the result. Today, CIM providers and PSA plug-ins are among the VIBs published at this level. VMware directs support calls for VIBs with this acceptance level to the partner's support organization.
PartnerSupported VIBs with the PartnerSupported acceptance level are published by a partner that VMware trusts. The partner performs all testing. VMware does not verify the results. This level is used for a new or nonmainstream technology that partners want to enable for VMware systems. Today, driver VIB technologies such as Infiniband, ATAoE, and SSD are at this level with nonstandard hardware drivers. VMware directs support calls for VIBs with this acceptance level to the partner's support organization.
CommunitySupported The CommunitySupported acceptance level is for VIBs created by
individuals or companies outside of VMware partner programs. VIBs at this level have not gone through any VMware-approved testing program and are not supported by VMware Technical Support or by a VMware partner.
Change the Host Acceptance Level
You can lower the host acceptance level to match the acceptance level for a VIB or image profile you want to install.
The acceptance level of each VIB on a host must be at least as high as the acceptance level of the host. For example, you cannot install a VIB with PartnerSupported acceptance level on a host with VMwareAccepted acceptance level. You must first lower the acceptance level of the host. For more information on acceptance levels, see “Acceptance Levels,” on page 143.
Changing the host acceptance level to CommunitySupported affects the supportability of your host and might affect the security of your host.
Prerequisites
Install vCLI or deploy the vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) virtual machine. See Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces. For troubleshooting, run esxcli commands in the ESXi Shell.
Procedure
1 Retrieve the acceptance level for the VIB or image profile.
Option Description
View information for all VIBs esxcli --server=server_name software
sources vib list --depot=depot_URL View information for a specified VIB esxcli --server=server_name software
sources vib list --viburl=vib_URL
Option Description View information for all image
profiles
esxcli --server=server_name software
sources profile list --depot=depot_URL View information for a specified
image profile
esxcli --server=server_name software
sources profile get --depot=depot_URL --profile=profile_name
2 View the host acceptance level.
esxcli --server=server_name software acceptance get 3 Change the acceptance level of the host.
esxcli
--server=server_name software acceptance set --level=acceptance_level The value for acceptance_level can be VMwareCertified, VMwareAccepted, PartnerSupported, or CommunitySupported. The values for acceptance_level are case-sensitive.
NOTE If the host has a higher acceptance level than the VIB or image profile you want to add, you can run commands in the esxcli software vib or esxcli software profile namespace with the --force option. When you use the --force option, a warning appears because you enforce a VIB or image profile with lower acceptance level than the acceptance level of the host and your setup is no longer consistent. The warning is repeated when you install VIBs, remove VIBs, or perform certain other operations on the host that has inconsistent acceptance levels.
Set the Image Profile Acceptance Level
If you want to add a VIB to an image profile, and the acceptance level of the VIB is lower than that of the image profile, you can clone the image profile with a lower acceptance level or change the image profile's acceptance level.
You can specify VMwareCertified, VMwareAccepted, PartnerSupported, or CommunitySupported as an acceptance level of an image profile. If you lower the acceptance level, the level of support for the image profile and hosts that you provision with it changes. For more information, see “Acceptance Levels,” on page 143.
Prerequisites
Install vSphere PowerCLI and all prerequisite software. See “Install vSphere ESXi Image Builder and Prerequisite Software,” on page 147.
Procedure
1 In a vSphere PowerCLI session, run the Add-EsxSoftwareDepot cmdlet for each depot you want to work with.
Option Action
Remote depot Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl depot_url.
ZIP file a Download the ZIP file to a local file system.
b Run Add-EsxSoftwareDepot -DepotUrl C:\file_path\offline-bundle.zip
The cmdlet returns one or more SoftwareDepot objects.