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

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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

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Comments

    • 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

    • 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. 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

    • 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

      • 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

      • 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

      • 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

          • 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

    • 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

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

        Reply

        • 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

          • 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. 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

    • 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

      • 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. 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

    • 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

      • 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

  8. 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

    • 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

    • 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

  9. 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. 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. 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

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

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

        Reply

        • 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

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

          • 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

          • 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. 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

    • 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. 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. 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. 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

  19. 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

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

    Reply

    • 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

      • 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

      • 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

        • 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. 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. 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. 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. 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

    • 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

      • 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

        • 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

        • 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. 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

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