Microsoft Cluster Server is supported with VMware ESX 3.5 Update 1. Support is similar to ESX 3.0.1 with the following additions:

• Both 64 bit and 32 bit Windows 2003 guests are supported with MSCS.
• Boot from SAN for VMs using MSCS is now supported.
• Majority Node Set clusters with application-level replication (for example, Microsoft Exchange 2007 Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR)) is now supported.

For details regarding MSCS support, including a number of important restrictions, please see the document “Setup for Microsoft Cluster Service.” For information concerning supported storage arrays, refer to the Storage/SAN Compatibility Guide for ESX Server 3.5 and ESX Server 3i.

Besides this they’ve also ditched the “server” part in VMware ESX Server, for more info check out the blog by John Troyer!

VMware ESX 3.5 Update 1
Latest Version: 3.5 | 4/10/2008 | Build: 82663

VMware VirtualCenter 2.5 Update 1
Latest Version: 2.5 | 4/10/2008 | Build: 79820

VMware ESXi 3.5 Installable Update 1
Latest Version: 3.5 | 4/10/2008 | Build: 82664

Unfortunately the iso’s aren’t available for download yet and the release notes aren’t updated. I guess someone just made a mistake updating this page cause the release date isn’t for another 10 days. We will just have to wait and see.

Source: http://vmreference.com/

Here is version 1.1 in all its shining glory.

I’ve made several corrections (thanks everyone), added a few extra snippets and dusted it with a sprinkling of handy tips and tricks.

The biggest change is a small 3i section. I have been wanting to do this for a while, but I haven’t had a chance to play with it since its beta. There is quite lot of information around about 3i now, but I just wanted to add the sort of stuff people would actual use.

1. Log in to your ESX Server 3i at the console.
2. Press Alt+F1 to switch to the console window.
3. Enter unsupported to start the Tech Support Mode login process. Note that no text will appear on the console window.
4. Enter the password for the root user. Tech Support Mode is now active.
5. Complete tasks in Tech Support Mode.
6. Enter the command exit to exit Tech Support Mode.
7. Press Alt+F2 to return the server to DCUI mode.

For more info check the KB article. I will be checking out this feature over the next couple of days to see what’s possible in this mode.

The patch for ESX 3i fixes the following:

• ESX Server 3i hosts using more than two processor sockets cannot be licensed when using host-based licensing.
• VMware Virtual Center does not properly record the number of processors on Dual-Core Intel Xeon processor 7200 series based hosts.
• An issue with the BCM5709 firmware where ping requests sometimes fail after loading and unloading the bnx2 driver.
• An issue with the bnx2 driver where a device using the bnx2 driver fails to connect to the a 100 Mbps network during the network autonegotiation period after system boot.

The patches for ESX 3.5 contain the following:

• Update to the bnx2 Driver
• Security Update to the Samba Package
• Security Update to the util-linux Package
• Security Update to the Perl Package
• Security Update to the openssl Package
• Daylight Saving Time Update
• vmkernel-vmnix Update for the bnx2 Driver
• Intel Xeon Processor 7200 Series Based Servers Licensing Issues
• Multi-processor Licensing Issues, VMotion Assert Failure

I’m glad VMware released this fixes, now I can finally test the Update Manager for my ESX Hosts.

EULA Update—The reissued version of ESX Server 3i Installable incorporates an updated, corrected version of the EULA.
Licensing Fix—The reissued version of ESX Server 3i Installable lets you apply appropriate host-based licenses to servers that have more than two CPUs.

Support for VMware High Availability (HA) is experimental and expected to be fully supported in an upcoming patch or update.

You can read more about it in this PDF about 3i and HA. But is it me or is almost every single interesting new feature experimental. I hope that VMware will support all the new features when the patches/updates are released

1. Set the maximum number of allowed console connections (0 to 100) to all virtual machines.
2. Close all “Getting Started” tabs at once.