Virtual machine configured on ESXi host and booted in WinPE-based boot environment recognizes the device added to the boot environment

Summary

WinPE/RE-based boot environment built without adding ESXi driver does not recognize the devices of VMXNET3 in ESXi, VMware Paravirtual, LSI Logic Parallel.
WinPE/RE-based boot environment allows to add device drivers. However, since obtaining ESXi drivers is troublesome, you are recommended to temporarily add the device driver that can be recognized by default.

Workaround

Please edit the device settings as follows while the virtual machine is stopped.

• If SCSI controller is VMware Paravirtual or LSI Logic Parallel, please replace it with LSI Logic SAS.
• If network adapter is VMXNET3, please replace it with E1000e, or otherwise add network adapter of E1000e.

Thereafter, please use WinPE/RE-based boot environment.
When booting WinPE/RE-based boot environment, stop the virtual machines, undo the above changes and boot up OS.

When booting Linux-based boot environment, NIC or storage interface used on ESXi are recognized.

Target Product

- ActiveImage Protector 2022