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Programmatically accessing the Broadcom Compatibility Guide (BCG)

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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.

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

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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? 🤔

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Enhancements to Hybrid Linked Mode (HLM) in VMC using the new vCenter Cloud Gateway

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It has been almost a year since VMware introduced the Hybrid Linked Mode (HLM) capability, which provides customers with a consistent operating experience for managing and consuming resources from both their on-premises and VMware Cloud on AWS (VMC) environments. Feedback from customers on HLM has been fantastic, especially when new or prospective VMC customers learn about HLM for the very first time. Customers were pleasantly surprised at how seamless the experience was when consuming VMC resources, using a familiar interface, the vSphere UI.

Here is a quick recap of what HLM provides today:

  • HLM allows customers to link a single VMC instance to a single on-prem SSO Domain which can contain one or more vCenter Servers (Enhanced Linked Mode) while maintaining separate administrative domains (e.g. on-prem user is Administrator while VMC user is CloudAdmin only)
  • SSO Domains will be different between on-prem and VMC, however it is a 1:1 relationship
  • A trust is established where the on-prem vCenter Server trusts the incoming connections from VMC as they share the same Active Directory identity source. Data is sync'ed uni-directionally from on-prem to VMC
  • Can be configured at any point in the on-prem vCenter Server lifecycle, no restrictions to initial install and can easily be un-linked unlike ELM
  • Both Embedded & External vCenter Server deployments are supported
  • HLM supports different versions of vCenter Server between on-prem (6.5d+) and VMC, especially as VMC will almost always run a newer version of vSphere
  • Users MUST login to VMC vCenter Server for single-pane of glass management (H5 Client supported only), logging into on-prem vCenter Server will NOT show VMC vCenter Server
  • Roles are NOT replicated due to the restrictive access model in VMC

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