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Programmatically accessing the Broadcom Compatibility Guide (BCG)

05.06.2025 by William Lam // 1 Comment

The Broadcom Compatibility Guide (formerly VMware Compatibility Guide) is where users would go to check hardware (new or existing) compatibility with VMware software.


There are a number of different compatibility guides that you can search through from CPU processors to servers to the various of I/O devices including accelerators and graphics cards. For users with a small number of hardware devices, search is pretty straight forward but if you have a variety of different hardware to check, the web interface may not be the quickest.

One thing that I was pleasantly surprised to learn was that the Broadcom Compatibility Guide (BCG) could easily be consumed programmatically, unlike the previous VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG) which had a different backend system.

While there is not an official BCG API, which would include documentation, support and backwards compatibility, users can interact with the BCG using the same API as the BCG web interface.

[Read more...]

Categories // Automation, ESXi, VSAN Tags // ESXi, hcl, vcg, VSAN, vSphere

Dynamically generate custom vSAN ESA HCL JSON for VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.1

12.06.2023 by William Lam // 6 Comments

I recently shared on how you can deploy the latest VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.1 release with vSAN Express Storage Architecture (ESA) using Nested ESXi and leveraging a custom vSAN ESA HCL JSON file, which I had created to workaround the required vSAN ESA pre-check during the VCF Bringup process.

I will admit, I actually did not the create the custom vSAN ESA HCL JSON file manually, it was auto-generated using automation 😉

My initial goal was to make it easier for anyone to play with VCF 5.1 using both Nested ESXi as well any physical system that is capable but may is not on the official VMware vSAN ESA HCL. After a lot of trial and error testing with Nested ESXi, I finally had a functional PowerCLI script that can then be used to run against a standalone ESXi host to dynamically generate a compatible custom vSAN ESA HCL JSON file that can then be used with both VCF 5.1 with vSAN ESA or even a standalone vCenter Server deployment for vSAN ESA enablement.

[Read more...]

Categories // Automation, VMware Cloud Foundation Tags // hcl, VMware Cloud Foundation, vSAN ESA

How to configure VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG) database for vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) in an air-gapped environment?

12.01.2022 by William Lam // 3 Comments

I was setting up another vSphere 8 environment in my homelab using my handy Automated vSphere & vSAN 8 Lab Deployment Script and I was reminded of another vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) question that I had received during VMware Explore Barcelona 2022.

The question was about configuring vCenter Server that would include full vLCM functionality in an air-gapped environment, where internet connectivity would not be available directly or in-directly through the use of a network proxy. Today, the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG) database that is integrated with vLCM can only be synchronized when when your vCenter Server is connected to VMware's online repository when VMware's Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) is enabled.


To synchronize the VCG database using the vSphere UI, navigate to the vLCM administrator page and under Actions, select the Sync HCL operation, which will download the latest VCG database from VMware's online repo. You can also automate this using the vLCM REST API with the Update Compatibility Data Task API.

Here is a quick PowerCLI snippet performing the same operation but using the API instead:

Connect-CiSServer -Server vcsa.primp-industries.local -user administrator[at]vsphere[dot]local -Password VMware1!
$hclCompatDataService = Get-CisService -Name com.vmware.esx.hcl.compatibility_data
$hclLastUpdateOnline = $hclCompatDataService.get().updated_at

$hclCompatDataService.'update$task'()

However, for environments that can not connect to VMware's online repo, this poses a big operational challenge, especially for those looking to transition from vSphere Update Manager (VUM) to vLCM. For the vSAN HCL, we already provide a solution for air-gapped environments by providing an offline copy of the vSAN HCL database which detailed in VMware KB 2145116.

If a connected vCenter Server can download the VCG that vLCM uses, I figure it should also be possible to replicate that behavior for an air-gapped environment? 🤔

[Read more...]

Categories // Automation, ESXi, vSphere 7.0, vSphere 8.0 Tags // hcl, vcg, vSphere 7.0, vSphere 8.0, vSphere Lifecycle Manager

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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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Recent

  • VMware Flings is now available in Free Downloads of Broadcom Support Portal (BSP) 05/19/2025
  • VMUG Connect 2025 - Minimal VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 5.x in a Box  05/15/2025
  • Programmatically accessing the Broadcom Compatibility Guide (BCG) 05/06/2025
  • Quick Tip - Validating Broadcom Download Token  05/01/2025
  • Supported chipsets for the USB Network Native Driver for ESXi Fling 04/23/2025

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