ESXi Version Support with CWMS

[ablomfield]

What is the support policy for ESXi updates? I know with the rest of the UC apps if it says it supports 5.5 then it supports 5.5 GA, 5.5 U1 and 5.5 U2 etc. Is this policy the same for CWMS? I have received conflicting information from TAC and want to get a definitive answer. I can't work out for certain what the rules are from the documentation.

[dpetrovi]

Hi,

At this time, only versions listed in the System Requirements guide are the ones that have been tested and are officially supported. For example, CWMS 2.5 supports the following:

vCenter Server 5.0, 5.0 Update 1, 5.0 Update 2, 5.1, 5.1 Update 1, 5.5

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/collaboration/CWMS/2_5/Planning_Guide/Planning_Guide/Planning_Guide_chapter_00.html#reference_BA7FE746303149E69A845B5D09C44D9A

I am sure as the new releases are coming out, support for new Hypervisor versions will be provided, but at this time, that is all CWMS supports.

I hope this helps.

-Dejan

[ablomfield]

Thanks Dejan. Is there a reason that CWMS hypervisor support always lags so far behind and differs from the rest of the CSR ? 

[dpetrovi]

CWMS solution is a very different solution from all the others. It is a conferencing solution that heavily uses system resources (CPU, RAM, NICs, etc.). Hence, changes in Hypervisor versions also include new drivers and features, and to ensure all these work properly with CWMS and don't cause any issues with audio/video/web sharing quality, we need to do thorough testing with each new version that is released. Hence, we will always be a few months late compared to the release dates of the Hypervisor versions.

I hope this helps.

-Dejan

[ablomfield]

CWMS 2.5 was release 10/17/2014. At that point ESXi 5.5 U1 had been out for over seven months (3/11/14), but I do understand that U2 was very new only having been released on 9/9/14. Why would you choose to certify only 5.5 GA that was over a year old? 

[dpetrovi]

Hi, 

I am not a member of development and QA teams, so I can't comment on this. Maybe there was something in 5.5 U1 that doesn't work well with CWMS.

-Dejan