I’m writing this What’s New post for HCX-R142 in parts simply to emphasize this exciting functionality addition – I’ll catch up on everything else later in the week.

This latest HCX release includes preview support for environments that use vSphere 7.0 with NSX-T 3.0.1 !  

Releasing this functionality In Preview allows our users earlier access to the functionality. It also means there are functionality caveats (Like the limited functionality with vSphere 7.0 as a source) and known issues are still being fixed to make HCX for vSphere 7.0 Generally Available… please plan any usage with this in mind!

This feature preview is for user environment that can tolerate earlier code, and for users that can engage the VMware team with feedback. Other users should stay tuned for the upcoming General Availability of these features. I intend to update this post with any currently known issues.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

—
Gabe

HCX for vSphere 7.0 Summary (Preview)

• Users can leverage HCX to adopt VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0 as the destination environment via workload and network migration.
  
• Users can also leverage HCX with private environments based on vSphere 7.0 with NSX-T 3.0.1.
  
• With the preview release, there is limited functionality for vSphere 7.0 based source environments (This restriction is good to keep in mind for architects working on multi-vendor cloud projects, or any HCX Cloud-to-Cloud architectures, and vSphere 7.0 test labs fully built on vSphere 7.0 (meaning vSphere 7.0 is potentially the HCX source).

HCX for vSphere 7.0 Related Migration Enhancements (Preview)

HCX has been updated to enable virtual machine migrations in the following vSphere 7.0 scenarios:

• All HCX migration operations from vSphere 5.5 – 6.7  to destinations (HCX Cloud) that use VMware Cloud Foundation 4.0.

• All HCX migration operations from vSphere 5.5 – 6.7 to destinations (HCX Cloud) that use vSphere 7.0 with NSX 3.0.1.

• Limited migration operations from vSphere 7.0 source environments  to any valid destination:
  • All HCX migration operations for virtual machines with Hardware version 9 – 15.
  • Bulk migration only for virtual machines with Hardware version 17.

HCX for vSphere 7 Network Extension Enhancements (Preview)

HCX has been updated to enable Network Extension in the following vSphere 7.0 scenarios:

• vSphere VDS 5.1 – 6.7 networks can now be extended to vSphere 7.0 HCX clouds.    
• vSphere VDS 7.0 networks can now be extended to vSphere 7.0 HCX clouds. 
• NSX-T VLAN and Overlay segments can now be extended to vSphere 7.0 HCX clouds.
• Caveats:
  • The HCX Network Extension service always creates overlay segments at the destination. (Actually this is less of a caveat and more of a fact with HCX network extensions..still true with the addition of vSphere 7.0 network extension scenarios.)
  • The Network Extension Mobility Optimized Networking feature is not available for vSphere 7.0 based HCX deployments. 

HCX for vSphere 7.0 Service Mesh Enhancements (Preview)

HCX Service Mesh appliances can be deployed using vSphere 7.0 objects and NSX-T networks.