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You are here: Home / Apple / Apple NVMe driver for ESXi using new Community NVMe Driver for ESXi Fling 

Apple NVMe driver for ESXi using new Community NVMe Driver for ESXi Fling 

02.23.2021 by William Lam // 77 Comments

VMware has been making steady progress on enabling both the Apple 2018 Mac Mini 8,1 and the Apple 2019 Mac Pro 7,1 for our customers over the past couple of years. These enablement efforts have had its challenges, including the lack of direct hardware access for our developers and supporting teams due to the global pandemic but also the lack of participation from Apple has certainly not made this easier.

Today, I am happy to share that we have made some progress on enabling ESXi to see and consume the local Apple NVMe storage device found in the recent Apple T2-based mac systems such as the 2018 Mac Mini and 2019 Mac Pro. There were a number of technical challenges the team had to overcome, especially since the Apple NVMe was not just a consumer grade device but it also did not follow the standard NVMe specification that you normally would see in most typical NVMe devices.

This meant there was a lot of poking and prodding to reverse engineer the behavior of the Apple NVMe to better understand how this device works, which often leads to sudden reboot or PSODs. With the Apple NVMe being a consumer device, it also meant there were a number of workarounds that the team had to come up with to enable ESXi to consume the device. The implementation is not perfect, for example we do not have native 4kn support for SSD devices within ESXi and we had to fake/emulate a non-SSD flag to work around some of the issues. From our limited testing, we have also not observed any significant impact to workloads when utilizing this driver and we also had had several internal VMware teams who have already been using this driver for a couple of months now without reporting any issues.

A huge thanks goes out to Wenchao and Yibo from the VMkernel I/O team who developed the initial prototype which has now been incorporated into the new Community NVMe Driver for ESXi Fling.

UPDATE 2 (06/30/2023) - Thanks to reader Spotsygamer, who shared v1.2 of NVMe Fling also works with ESXi 8.x and vSAN ESA

UPDATE 1 (11/21/2021) - v1.2 of NVMe Fling works with ESXi 7.x

Caveats

Before folks rush out to grab and install the driver, it is important to be aware of a couple of constraints that we have not been able to work around yet.

  1. ESXi versions newer then ESXi 6.7 Patch 03 (Build 16713306) is currently NOT supported and will cause ESXi to PSOD during boot up.
  2. The onboard Thunderbolt 3 ports does NOT function when using the Community NVMe driver and can cause ESXi to PSOD if activated.

Note: For detailed ESXi version and build numbers, please refer to VMware KB 2143832

VMware Engineering has not been able to pin point why the ESXi PSOD is happening. For now, this is a constraint to be aware of which may impact anyone who requires the use of the Thunderbolt 3 ports for additional networking or storage connectivity.

With that out of the way, customers can either incorporate the Community NVMe Driver for ESXi offline bundle into a new ESXi Image Profile (using vSphere Image Builder UI/CLI) and then exporting image as an ISO and then installing that on either a Mac Mini or Mac Pro or you can manually install the offline bundle after ESXi has been installed over USB and upon reboot, the local Apple NVME will then be visible for VMFS formatting.

Here is a screenshot of ESXi 6.7 Patch 03 installed on my 2018 Mac Mini with the Apple NVMe formatted with VMFS and running macOS VM

More from my site

  • ESXi 8.0 Update 2 not detecting Apple NVMe on Apple Mac Mini 2018
  • Aquantia/Marvell AQtion (Atlantic) driver now inbox in ESXi 7.0 Update 2
  • Virtually Speaking Podcast: MacOS Virtualization and MacStadium
  • Update on ESXi on Apple Mac Mini 2018 & Mac Pro 2019
  • Retrieving Apple hardware details (Model, Serial, Board & EFI Boot ROM & SMC Version) from ESXi

Categories // Apple, ESXi, vSphere 6.7, vSphere 7.0 Tags // apple, mac mini, mac pro, NVMe

Comments

  1. *protectedPIEL Jayce says

    02/23/2021 at 11:08 am

    Great job. Looking forward to see the caveats fixed.

    Reply
    • *protectedbikoo says

      08/20/2021 at 3:39 am

      Hello,
      i installed 6.7.0 Update 3 (Build 14320388) with Community NVMe Driver for ESXi Fling. but i can only use the external nvme connected to usb port to install the ESXI, but i'm not able to create any datastore or see the internal nvme. any help with this ?

      Reply
  2. *protectedJames Reynolds says

    02/23/2021 at 1:54 pm

    I'm really hoping someday this gets fixed so I can use current hardware without external thunderbolt. I'm currently using 2012 Mac Mini's.

    Reply
    • William Lam says

      02/23/2021 at 2:28 pm

      James,

      This Fling only applies to T2-based Macs and with this driver, you can take advantage of the local NVMe device without using Thunderbolt. For non T2-based Macs, you can already use the onboard storage devices without any caveats, which many of our customers have been doing for number of years now. Just wanted to make sure that was clear

      Reply
  3. *protectedRyan C says

    02/23/2021 at 3:35 pm

    So I've tried this. I could see the local Apple SSD but when I attempted to clear the partition table ESXi hard rebooted.

    Reply
    • William Lam says

      02/23/2021 at 3:37 pm

      What version/build of ESXi are you using? If reboot is happening suddenly during the install, then it sounds like you might be using something newer than 6.7p03

      Reply
      • *protectedd4rk22 says

        02/23/2021 at 3:47 pm

        Build is 16713306. I installed ESXi 6.7p03 to a USB drive, installed the fling, rebooted then went to wipe the local NVMe Apple SSD. Do I need to install ESXi to the Apple NVMe instead of run off of a USB?

        Reply
      • *protectedRyan C says

        02/23/2021 at 10:30 pm

        I just tried this again:

        1. Used vSphere ESXi Image Builder to build an ISO based on ESXi 6.7 Image Profile-ESXi-6.7.0-20200804001-standard + the NVMe Community fling
        2. Flashed the above ISO to a USB drive
        3. Attempted to install to internal SSD using USB drive

        During the install ESXi doesn't PSOD but instead just hard reboots. Have you guys tested with 1TB drives? Maybe something is different with them? I'm happy to help collaborate in any way.

        Screenshot of install screen: https://f000.backblazeb2.com/file/dropshares/CleanShot-2021-02-24-at-00.29.25.png

        Reply
        • William Lam says

          02/24/2021 at 2:32 am

          Can you grab boot rom / smc version? https://www.williamlam.com/2018/10/retrieving-apple-hardware-details-model-serial-board-efi-boot-rom-smc-version-from-esxi.html

          Boot it up, don’t install and enable SSH via Alt+F1 to get IP. User is root and blank pass

          Reply
          • William Lam says

            02/24/2021 at 12:32 pm

            Ryan - Can you try ESXi 6.7 P02 (Build 16075168)? I have some suspicions but I'd also want to capture boot room before and after applying latest update and trying this again

          • *protectedRyan C says

            02/24/2021 at 4:15 pm

            Model Identifier: Macmini8,1
            Board ID: Mac-7BA5B2DFE22DDD8C
            Boot ROM Version: 1554.3.0 (1554.80.3.0.0 (iBridge: 18.16.14346.0.0,0))

            I am guessing SMC number is now iBridge?

            I also have this info if you need it:

            Controller Information:
            Model Name: Apple T2 Security Chip
            Firmware Version: 18P4346

            Apple T2 Bus:

            Host Controller Driver: AppleUSBVHCIBCE

            Headset:

            Product ID: 0x8103
            Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
            Version: 2.05

            Apple T2 Controller:

            Product ID: 0x8233
            Vendor ID: 0x05ac (Apple Inc.)
            Version: 2.01

          • *protectedRyan C says

            02/24/2021 at 4:16 pm

            Creating a new installer and testing with ESXi 6.7 P02 (Build 16075168)

          • *protectedRyan C says

            02/24/2021 at 4:38 pm

            So I tried ESXi 6.7 P02 (Build 16075168) and it's working as expected. So fast!

            Btw here is some more reading on Mac firmware. It doesn't explain what happened to the SMC versions that no longer show in System Information in macOS but it's interesting none the less. https://eclecticlight.co/2020/11/16/which-firmware-should-your-mac-be-using-version-5/

      • *protectedRyan C says

        02/23/2021 at 11:16 pm

        I'm going to guess that this has to do with a recent update to the T2 security chip by Apple. Have you or anyone else on the team that worked on this fling installed macOS Big Sur directly on the Mac mini and then installed all updates? I'm betting that will flash the T2 security chip in a way that you are not seeing. Oh well, at least I have my 1TB Thunderbolt 3 drive arriving tomorrow that I can use for ESXi storage. 😉

        Reply
        • William Lam says

          02/24/2021 at 2:34 am

          Will do this tomorrow and see if there are updates. Will grab before / after boot rom and smc version. https://www.williamlam.com/2018/10/retrieving-apple-hardware-details-model-serial-board-efi-boot-rom-smc-version-from-esxi.html

          If folks can share if they’re hitting dame, useful for Engr

          Reply
          • *protectedAlex K. says

            02/24/2021 at 7:38 pm

            Hello,

            I ran into a similar issue as the previous users. I executed the following:

            Created an ESXi image using the following:

            - ESXi 6.7 P03

            - nvme-community 1.0.1.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922

            - atlantic 1.0.2.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922

            Was able to successfully install ESXi. However, when I tried to add the internal drive as datastore, the host rebooted and the ESXi configuration was wiped, meaning it lost its IP, DNS, etc. It was similar to removing T3 from the host when ESXi is running.

            Additionally I tried installing the ESXi on the internal drive and the same thing happened. Meaning the installation progress Bar got to 5% and then it rebooted.

            Both hosts that I was testing this on had the following BIOS Version

            Macmini8,1

            BIOS version 1037.100.362.0.0 (iBridge: 17.16.14281.0.0,0)

            I will test ESXi 6.7 P02 (Build 16075168) tomorrow in hopes of making it work.

            Lastly, I tried the installation with T3 VMNIC for data. It was successful, but when I tried mounting the drive as a datastore, it went through a reboot again. However this time the ESXi configuration was retained, unlike the time when the 10gb on board nic was used.

            Hope this helps.

            Thank you,

            -Alex

  4. *protectedWelshWizard says

    02/24/2021 at 1:32 pm

    Hi William,

    Any chance this could be a way to get other consumer nvme devices working 6.7+ without having to swap the driver with one from a previous release?

    https://www.williamlam.com/2019/05/quick-tip-crucial-nvme-ssd-not-recognized-by-esxi-6-7.html

    I note the driver will only enable on mac hardware, is there a way to override this setting?

    Reply
    • William Lam says

      02/24/2021 at 2:12 pm

      It’s possible, but would have to know exact device, DID/VID and ultimately there needs to be fair amount of folks asking for the same and team can consider

      Reply
      • *protectedWelshWizard says

        02/24/2021 at 2:37 pm

        Could the DID/VID be configurable in a settings file? Then it would be very flexible.

        Reply
        • William Lam says

          02/24/2021 at 4:29 pm

          It’s not just putting those IDs and things magically work 🙂 There’s actual code behind it, the ID just helps us understand vendor/device

          Reply
          • *protectedWelshWizard says

            02/24/2021 at 4:36 pm

            Wait,what isn't this all just magic 🙂

            Hmm, how about a wrapper driver for nvme devices that can spoof the full 1.3 specification to allow them to work with later exsi nvme drivers that need to see those missing attributes.

  5. *protectedDave says

    02/25/2021 at 10:06 am

    Anybody successfully install this combination on a 2019 Mac Pro? I'm trying the:

    - ESXi 6.7 P03

    – nvme-community 1.0.1.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922

    – atlantic 1.0.2.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922

    combination and getting a hard crash during install... no thunderbolt devices plugged in.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  6. *protectedDave says

    02/25/2021 at 10:54 am

    Also got error on ESXi 6.7U3, here are the goodies:

    Build 16713306:
    https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;image=221270;size=huge

    Build 14320388:
    https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;image=221269;size=huge

    Mac Details:
    https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=gallery;area=browse;image=221271;size=huge

    Reply
    • William Lam says

      02/25/2021 at 3:38 pm

      Can you please try ESXi 6.7 P02 (Build 16075168) and see if the results are the same. I've seen some inconsistencies across several customer setup, some having no issues with p03 but others having and using p02 seems to be more stable.

      Reply
      • *protectedDave says

        03/02/2021 at 8:17 am

        Good morning!

        Sad to say that I just tried the ISO I built (no warnings or errors otherwise), got a hard reboot in the ESXi splash screen on "nvme-community loaded successfully".

        This is on:

        OS build 16075168
        NIC driver MRVL-Atlantic-Driver-Bundle_1.0.2.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922-16081713.zip
        NVMEdriver nvme-community-driver_1.0.1.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922-offline_bundle-17658145.zip

        Thank you!

        Dave

        Reply
  7. *protectedJames Risner says

    03/01/2021 at 12:08 pm

    Before I make an Image Builder CLI installer to incorporate the driver for the nvme, can the system boot from the nvme with the driver incorporated this way? Or should I still be booting from a USB disk? Are there small reliable disks (thumb drive) that are reliable for long term usage as a boot disk?

    Reply
    • William Lam says

      03/01/2021 at 3:48 pm

      Yes. The installer would boot from USB and it’ll be able to see NVMe drive and then you can select it for installation OR you can install it on USB and simply use NVMe for just storage for VMs. Both option works

      Reply
      • *protectedJames Risner says

        03/03/2021 at 7:36 pm

        Well, I'm at an impasse. I can't install the esxi image builder on "power shell core" (the cross platform version) and I don't have a windows machine with powershell nor can I installed one. I'm all Macos, so no access to windows 7/10/etc. I also don't have vcenter, so I can't do it on the vcenter server. Is there any way you could provide a safe link to an image with the VIB already integrated so I could test?

        Reply
        • *protectedChristoph Herdeg says

          06/05/2021 at 9:01 am

          Get up a W10-VM in Fusion?

          Reply
  8. William Lam says

    03/03/2021 at 11:23 am

    During the development of the NVMe driver, I've not had any reboot issues as long as long as ESXi 6.7p03 or lower was used and I could boot from both USB and NVMe device.

    Here is the FW / Boot ROM version:

    Boot ROM Version: 1037.362.0 (1037.100.362.0.0 (iBridge: 17.16.14281.0.0,0))

    I recently perform internet recovery of the Mac Mini and then updated to Big Sur and this is the FW / Boot ROM version:

    Boot ROM Version: 1054.3.0 (1054.80.3.0.0 (iBridge: 18.16.14346.0.0,0))

    Post update, I'm not unsuccessful in booting the ESXi installer whether its 6.7p02 or 6.7p03 which seems to indicate that at least using a newer FW may potentially cause issues. The strange thing is I do see at least one comment above that had prior version, but unclear if user was able to try out 6.7p02 which has consistently worked for me.

    If folks can provide their FW / Boot ROM version on both failed / successes, that would help us narrow down where the issue might be stemming from

    Reply
    • *protectedDave says

      03/03/2021 at 12:26 pm

      On my above problems- I forgot to mention that I'm booting the installer from a CD, which I burnt the custom ISO to... doubt it matters, but I thought I'd mention it just in case.

      As another point of reference, if I omit the nvme-community-driver and include only the NIC driver, I can get to the point where I have to select the destination media (of which I have none, obviously) without crashing.

      Reply
    • *protectedAlexander S Kingston says

      03/08/2021 at 11:02 pm

      Hey,

      I was able to get it working with 6.7p02 with the following Boot ROM Version.

      Macmini8,1

      BIOS version 1037.100.362.0.0 (iBridge: 17.16.14281.0.0,0)

      I was not able to get it to work with 6.7p03

      Reply
      • *protectedLeo says

        11/12/2021 at 8:36 pm

        Hi Alexander,

        Is there a guide or some links I can refer to build the installer and import to USB to launch the ESXi installation process?

        Thanks.

        Reply
        • *protectedAlexander Kingston says

          11/13/2021 at 10:33 pm

          Hey,

          You will have to use the image builder function of the vCenter. William Lam has a page that provides how-to instruction. I hope this helps:

          https://williamlam.com/2021/03/easily-create-custom-esxi-images-from-patch-releases-using-vsphere-image-builder-ui.html

          Reply
  9. *protectedSebastien says

    03/04/2021 at 5:47 am

    Any clue on why versions newer than ESXi 6.7 P03 are crashing with a PSOD ?
    There are some critical updates since P03 which should be installed

    Any news about MacPro 7.1 suported by VMware ? can't wait for this ! 🙂

    Reply
  10. *protectedTed says

    03/08/2021 at 1:39 pm

    I have this working, and booted, but the system isn't taking any updates; we apply the updates, and the updated= lines are updated in bootbase/boot.cfg (1) and altbootbase/boot.cfg (2), but when the system boots, it remains that way, the bootbases aren't swapped to load the new code. Any ideas?

    Reply
  11. *protectedJames Risner says

    03/09/2021 at 2:34 pm

    2019 Mac Mini: 10GBE, 512 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM
    Boot ROM 1037.147.4.0.0 (iBridge 17.16.16610.0.0,0)

    Tried U2 (purple screen of death) and U3 (simply reboots during the installer writing files to disk stage.

    Both included these:
    nvme-community-driver_1.0.1.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922-offline_bundle-17658145.zip
    MRVL-Atlantic-Driver-Bundle_1.0.2.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922-offline-bundle-16081713.zip

    U2: VMware-ESXi-6.7.0.update02-13006603.zip
    U3: VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0.update03-17167734.x86_64.zip

    Do I need to bless the drive or delete Macos before booting the USB disk?

    I used a powershell script to make the disk's like this one for U3:
    Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\VMware-VMvisor-Installer-6.7.0.update03-17167734.x86_64-DellEMC_Customized-A08.zip,.\nvme-community-driver_1.0.1.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922-offline_bundle-17658145.zip,.\MRVL-Atlantic-Driver-Bundle_1.0.2.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922-offline-bundle-16081713.zip
    New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile DellEMC-ESXi-6.7U3-17167734-A08 -Name AppleNVME -Vendor VMware
    Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile "AppleNVME" -SoftwarePackage "nvme-community" -Force
    Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile "AppleNVME" -SoftwarePackage "atlantic" -Force
    Set-EsxImageProfile -AcceptanceLevel CommunitySupported -ImageProfile "AppleNVME"
    Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile AppleNVME -FilePath C:\vmware\AppleNVME.iso -ExportToIso -Force

    Reply
    • *protectedJames Risner says

      03/09/2021 at 2:52 pm

      Oops I noticed I tried with newer than 16713306. Trying that tonight.

      Reply
      • *protectedJames Risner says

        03/09/2021 at 5:39 pm

        Ok just tried with:
        VMware-ESXi-6.7.0.update02-13006603

        Same behavior as 17167734, specifically reboot short saying Installing at 5%.

        Reply
        • *protectedJames Risner says

          03/15/2021 at 9:53 am

          Just tried with 16075168 from this file: ESXi670-202004002.zip. It's working for FreeBSD vm's and Mojave vm's. Yay.

          Installed smartctl from here: https://www.kjctech.net/how-to-monitor-ssd-health-status-on-vmware-esxi-host/

          Reports disk doesn't support smart:
          /opt/smartmontools/smartctl -d sat --all /dev/disks/t10.NVMe____APPLE_SSD_AP0512M__
          _____________________H28048400A7JRRYCJ___00000001
          smartctl 6.6 2016-05-10 r4321 [x86_64-linux-6.7.0] (daily-20160510)
          Copyright (C) 2002-16, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, http://www.smartmontools.org

          === START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
          Device Model: ��� �Ag[�4p�e�B�?����d<�E@�|�$��
          Serial Number: ��=��
          Firmware Version: �z�qo�(�
          Rotation Rate: 35827 rpm
          Form Factor: Unknown (0x5711)
          Device is: Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
          ATA Version is: Unknown(0x4336) (unknown minor revision code: 0x0359)
          Transport Type: Unknown (0xd61a)
          Local Time is: Mon Mar 15 16:35:43 2021 UTC
          SMART support is: Unavailable - device lacks SMART capability.

          A mandatory SMART command failed: exiting. To continue, add one or more '-T permissive' options.

          Reply
          • *protectedJon says

            04/19/2021 at 6:46 pm

            Any chance you could share the snippet you used to create a working installer?

          • *protectedJames Risner says

            04/20/2021 at 5:28 am

            In a windows 10 powershell:
            Add-EsxSoftwareDepot .\ESXi670-202004002.zip,VMware-Tools-11.2.5-core-offline-depot-ESXi-all-17337674.zip,.\nvme-community-driver_1.0.1.0-1vmw.670.0.0.8169922-offline_bundle-17658145.zip,.\MRVL-Atlantic-Driver-Bundle_1.0.2.0-1OEM.670.0.0.8169922-offline-bundle-16081713.zip

            New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile ESXi-6.7.0-20200404001-standard -Name AppleNVME -Vendor VMware

            Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile "AppleNVME" -SoftwarePackage "nvme-community" -Force

            Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile "AppleNVME" -SoftwarePackage "atlantic" -Force

            Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -ImageProfile "AppleNVME" -SoftwarePackage "tools-light"

            Set-EsxImageProfile -AcceptanceLevel CommunitySupported -ImageProfile "AppleNVME"
            Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile AppleNVME -FilePath C:\vmware\AppleNVME.iso -ExportToIso -Force

            .\rufus.exe AppleNVME.iso

          • *protectedLeo says

            11/12/2021 at 8:12 pm

            May I bother to check, what do you mean " It's working for FreeBSD vm's and Mojave vm's"? You have successfully installed this ESXi670-202004002.zip(16075168) and run Free BSD/Mojave VMs on it?

            I bought a MAC mini and just checked my Boot ROM & iBridge version is same with yours(1037.147.4.0.0 &17.16.16610.0.0,0).

            Thank you Sir.

  12. *protectedmirobeka says

    03/14/2021 at 8:44 am

    Hey guys, I just want to chip in. My setup

    mac mini 8.1
    Boot ROM: 1554.80.3.0.0 (iBridge: 18.16.14346.0.0,0)
    Booting ESXi from usb stick

    I was consistent with workflow (install ESXi -> install patch -> reboot -> install fling -> reboot -> format local mac mini ssd). I was experiencing same problems as others. When tried to format (or touch in any other way) local ssd, it suddenly crashed and rebooted (no PSOD).

    I've tried these combinations of versions

    ESXi 6.7 Update 3 + Patch ESXi670-202102001 (Build number 17499825) -> Crash
    ESXi 6.7 Update 3 + Patch ESXi670-202008001 (Build number 16713306) -> Crash
    ESXi 6.7 Update 2 + Patch ESXi670-202004002 (Build number 16075168) -> Working

    I hope this info helps narrow down the issue.

    Cheers,
    Miro

    Reply
    • *protectedJon says

      04/19/2021 at 6:45 pm

      Any chance you could share the snippet you used to create a working installer?

      Reply
  13. *protectedJames Risner says

    03/15/2021 at 3:06 pm

    Another question. Do you think we could get the IOCTL to support querying smartmon stats?
    https://www.smartmontools.org/ticket/1333

    Reply
  14. *protectedAdam says

    04/12/2021 at 8:38 am

    Have you been able to get audio working on a VM in this setup? All I get is static hiss.

    Reply
    • *protectedAdam says

      04/15/2021 at 2:24 pm

      by the by - presently running as ESXi build number:16701467 with nvme Fling and 10GB NIC driver bundled in. Everything appears to work great - only lingering difficulties are with sound as noted above and then getting Fusion to display my VM across multiple monitors.

      Reply
  15. *protectedJean Francois says

    04/19/2021 at 1:21 am

    Macmini8,1 i7 3.2 RAM:32GB SSD:250GB + Hagibis docking station (with hard drive enclosure)

    Here are my own experiments with the NVME community driver:

    ESXi670-202008001.zip archive contains 2 versions
    - ESXi-6.7.0-20200801001s = 16701467
    - ESXi-6.7.0-20200804001 = 16713306

    16701467
    - The installer or ESXi cannot see USB 3 on the docking station, it is also possible to boot an existing key from USB 3 but any configuration change is discarded after reboot (unwritten configuration). USB 2 on the docking station and other Macmini USB ports are working properly read+write.
    - Can access internal SSD and modify partition, create datastores

    16713306

    - Can boot properly from any USB 2 and USB 3 ports on Macmini or docking station
    - Can see the internal SSD and its partitions, but any attempt to modify them instantly crashes the Macmini ("wave crashing")
    - Last but not least, if the SSD has been previously prepared with 16701467, the 16713306 installer will crash during the boot process (during the last part of the process when the modules are loaded, after the nfs41client module: I guess the next one should be nvme in alphabetically order and causes the problem?). If the SSD is restored to APFS partitioning, the boot process completes successfully. It took me a while to figure this out, I thought my USB key was faulty at first.

    I hope it will help, regards.

    Reply
  16. *protectedChristoph Herdeg says

    06/05/2021 at 9:12 am

    So, @all: Great work until now.

    But: It's 2021 - what about support for the NVMe drive and ESXi 7-u2?

    Just got the MacMini '18 for like no money and typing this from macOS - which should die asap on this fine machine.

    Reply
  17. *protectedluckman212 says

    07/27/2021 at 8:28 pm

    I mucked around trying to force my 1TB NVMe SSD (Macmini8,1) to be recognized as "SSD" by using SATP rule. I borked something, and now the drive isn't recognized at all. 6.7 build 16075168 -- it was working before, sort of. But now I think I'm facing a reinstall.

    Is it correct that as per William Lam's comment above we cannot & should not try to force ESXi to recognize the disk as an SSD due to the quirks of the driver?

    Also is it a bad idea to install ESXi directly to the SSD? Should we stick to a USB thumbdrive instead?

    Reply
  18. *protectedMax Pixel says

    09/06/2021 at 6:29 pm

    VMware will no longer pursue hardware certification for the Apple 2019 Mac Pro 7,1 for ESXi.

    OK.

    https://williamlam.com/2021/02/apple-nvme-driver-for-esxi-using-new-community-nvme-driver-for-esxi-fling.html

    Reply
    • *protectedluckman212 says

      09/16/2021 at 8:01 am

      @Max Pixel where did you get that info? I assume this applies to Mac Mini 2018 as well then?

      Reply
      • William Lam says

        09/16/2021 at 8:45 am

        See https://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2021/09/update-apple-2019-mac-pro-71-for-esxi.html

        Reply
        • *protectedluckman212 says

          09/16/2021 at 8:52 am

          Ah, thanks @William Lam. So it looks like the 2018 Mac Mini 8,1 is still listed on the HCL, for now. Hope this means a new fling at some point for the NVMe driver. Stuck on 6.7 for now because of that.

          Reply
          • William Lam says

            09/16/2021 at 8:56 am

            Yes, 2018 Mac Mini is still on HCL as blog posts mentions.

            There's been no further progress on the NVMe Fling for ESXi 7.x for Macs

  19. *protectedTim Rider says

    04/02/2022 at 2:50 pm

    William, I wish you updated this blog post, as the most recent v1.2 of NVMe Fling now provides support for ESXi7. I wasted several hours mucking around with ESXi 6.7, based on the Caveats still listed in this post.

    🙁

    https://flings.vmware.com/community-nvme-driver-for-esxi#changelog

    Nov 10, 2021 - v1.2

    nvme-community_1.0.1.0-3vmw.700.1.0.15843807-component-18902434.zip
    md5: 693f692d10811c52e9261c18db4337a5

    What's New:
    Support for ESXi 7.0 or newer for Apple NVMe devices

    Reply
    • *protectedjohn Cleary says

      06/21/2022 at 7:07 am

      Tim - did you actually get this to work?

      Reply
      • *protectedTim Rider says

        06/21/2022 at 1:35 pm

        Yes, all works with v1.2 since April.

        Reply
  20. *protectedSpotsygamer says

    06/22/2023 at 5:59 pm

    The driver also works with ESXi 8.01…no issues so far. Does not support vSan though….

    Reply
    • *protectedSpotsygamer says

      06/29/2023 at 6:44 pm

      Actually it does support vSAN using the fling driver. I did have to manually mark the built-in 1TB SSD Drive as an SSD and I was then able to use the steps provided by William (many thanks!) to create the vSANdatastore in ESA mode. Works nice! Windows 10 VM loads in 6 seconds including launching Server Manager. Memory usage is heavy with vSAN ESA ..but the VMs fly.

      Reply
      • William Lam says

        06/30/2023 at 5:35 am

        Very cool, thank you for sharing! I've updated the blog to also mention this works with ESXi 7.x/8.x for those still interested in running ESXi on Mac 🙂

        Reply
      • *protectedDave Thurlby says

        06/30/2023 at 5:27 pm

        The memory usage struggle is real I had no idea at first. I was trying to do rough math and none of it made sense and then I turned off the vSan for a little bit and then it clicked. Lol.

        Reply
        • *protectedSpotsygamer says

          07/05/2023 at 11:18 am

          Yea...its a memory hog, but hopefully in future versions we can trim that down a little...vSAN ESA is nice and simplistic for the homelab setup.

          Reply
  21. *protectedSteveSimon says

    06/28/2023 at 1:57 pm

    Does the fling driver v1.2 (nvme-community_1.0.1.0-3vmw.700.1.0.15843807-component-18902434.zip) still cause a crash w/ ESXi 7.x if thunderbolt is accessed, or have all the issues been resolved?

    Reply
  22. *protectedSpotsygamer says

    07/05/2023 at 11:17 am

    Quick update and correction....my 6 second VM boot is for Windows Server 2019...not Windows 10 (I am a dork). Setting up vSAN ESA was easy via the GUI when installing vCenter 8.x, once I got the drives marked as SSD via the esxi CLI using the command:

    esxcli storage hpp device set --device="YOUR APPLE SSD DEVICE NAME" --mark-device-ssd=TRUE

    I got the ssd device name via the vdq -q command.

    Willam...a million thanks for this blog....MacMini's are stellar for a Home Lab setup...I finally have my dream home lab setup without breaking the bank.

    Reply
  23. *protectedtom says

    09/18/2023 at 11:46 am

    hello, i use a late 2012 i7 mac mini with esxi 7. now i can get a mac mini 2018 i7 for a good price, thinking it will boost my vms a lot and running more at the same time. although it can have up to 64 gb ram.

    can i run the latest esxi 8 with this nvme driver on the 2018 mini? the intern ssd is only 512 gb. or would it be a better idea with a thunderbolt drive on the back?

    Reply
  24. *protectedRobW says

    09/25/2023 at 1:11 pm

    Greetings....update on NVMe Fling for Mac-Mini and ESXi 8.0 Update 2. The existing driver loads, sees the controller, but it is not detecting any storage. I am starting to troubleshoot the issue...but be cautious of upgrading to 8.0 Update 2. If you have any words of wisdom on what might be causing this issue....please share!

    Will update the group if I get a resolution or more info.

    Reply
    • *protectedSemoTech says

      10/01/2023 at 1:25 pm

      Having the same issue, and have documented it here for easier discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/vmware/comments/16oy98n/comment/k2741bw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

      Very eager for a fix so I can update to ESXi 8.0U2 on 2018 Mac mini w/ the community nvme fling...

      P.S. One thing I changed while running ESXi 8.0U1c and before the upgrade attempt was marking the on-board Apple nvme as a "Flash Disk" i.e. SSD, using vCenter. Not sure is this had any adverse effect but thought to mention it...

      Reply
      • *protectedAmnesia says

        11/12/2023 at 1:42 pm

        I have 2 Mac mini i3 from 2018, one running 8.0.0 with the fling drivers and NVMe datastore works just fine along the NVMe via Thunderbolt. The other one running 8.0.2, fling driver installed as well, NVMe controller is visible, but no storage is detected.

        Reply
        • *protectedSemoTech says

          11/12/2023 at 3:10 pm

          Yes, the NVMe Fling Driver does not seem to work beyond 8.0U1c on the 2018 Mac Mini with the on-board Apple PCIe NVMe SSD Datastore. It does however work on 8.0U2 with 3rd party TB3 Enclosures like the OWC Envoy using almost any NVMe blade inside them.

          Really hope someone finds a fix for using the on-board PCIe NVMe Datastore on the 2018 Mac Mini with 8.0U2 and beyond....

          Reply
        • *protectedSemoTech says

          11/12/2023 at 3:14 pm

          No problems with "queue depth = 4" that I can see, only that we are all stuck with unable to update to 8.0U2 or newer, without loosing the on-board Apple PCI NVMe SSD Datastore on the 2018 Mac Mini. Such a shame!

          Reply
  25. *protectedEric says

    10/15/2023 at 9:41 pm

    I have installed the drive successfully in 8.0U1. I also make the nvme as SSD manually. However, I found that the following setting that different from my current running WD nvme SSD, would it cause problems? especially the queue depth = 4, No of outstanding IOs with competing worlds and Thin Provisioning Status: unknown. FYI: https://imageupload.io/en/FBbFB9GmHXnJvsA Thank you!

    Reply
  26. *protectedWojtek says

    10/14/2024 at 7:09 am

    The fling is gone along with the archive.org hack. Any way to download the 1.2 version from somewhre?

    Reply
    • William Lam says

      10/14/2024 at 7:33 am

      VMware Flings are available at https://community.broadcom.com/flings (login required using free BCOM community account)

      Reply
      • *protectedWojtek says

        10/14/2024 at 10:06 am

        Oh, thank you! Had to logoff and log back on to the Broadcom site. Done downloading.

        Reply

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William is Distinguished Platform Engineering Architect in the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) Division at Broadcom. His primary focus is helping customers and partners build, run and operate a modern Private Cloud using the VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) platform.

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