VMware vSphere 4.0
VMware ESX 4.0 Update 1 and later
VMware vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1 and later

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VMware vSphere 4.0 offers three server versions — ESX, ESXi Installable, and ESXi Embedded. The documents on this page cover ESX and vCenter Server. There are separate documentation pages for the ESXi Installable / vCenter Server and ESXi Embedded / vCenter Server combinations.

Deutsch, 简体中文, and 日本語 sites offer localized documentation for Release Notes and the main documentation set as available.

Release Notes

Hardware and Software Compatibility Information

         Hardware, Host, and Guest Operating System Compatibility Guides
         VMware Product Interoperability Matrix
         Configuration Maximums for VMware vSphere 4.0 (Updated 9/23/2009)
         VMware vSphere Compatibility Matrixes(deprecated as of 10/26/2011)

System Administrator Documentation

Read the documentation below to learn about installing, configuring, and using vSphere products.

Main Documentation Set

    Published on 11/19/09 for the following builds:
       ESX 4.0 Update 1 Build 208167 and later
       vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1 Build 208111 and later

• View a Documentation Roadmap to learn about using the main documentation set

• Search an HTML library of all books in the main documentation set for the information you need

• Download PDF versions of all books in the main documentation set

• Read individual books in the set:

              Introduction to VMware vSphere
              Getting Started with ESX (Updated 01/27/2012)
              ESX and vCenter Server Installation Guide (Updated 01/27/2012)
              Upgrade Guide (Updated 05/05/2011)
              Basic System Administration (Updated 02/10/2011)
              vSphere Web Access Administrator's Guide (Updated 02/10/2011)
              ESX Configuration Guide (Updated 11/17/2011)
              Resource Management Guide (Updated 02/10/2011)
              Availability Guide (Updated 02/10/2011)
              Fibre Channel SAN Configuration Guide (Updated 10/08/2010)
              iSCSI SAN Configuration Guide (Updated 6/10/2010)

Additional Resources

              Setup for Failover Clustering and Microsoft Cluster Service (Updated 6/28/2010)
              vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Reference Guide
              Legacy Host Licensing with vCenter Server 4.x
              ESX 4 Patch Management Guide (Updated 2/17/2011)
              VMware vCenter Server 4.x Database Sizing Calculator for Microsoft SQL Server(.xls)
              VMware vCenter Server 4.x Database Sizing Calculator for Oracle(.xls)
              SAN System Design and Deployment Guide
              Guest Operating System Installation Guide (HTML)

Optional vSphere Products and Modules

              VMware vCenter Update Manager Documentation page
              VMware vCenter Converter Documentation page
              VMware vCenter Orchestrator Documentation page
              VMware Consolidated Backup Documentation page

For Automators and Customizers

vSphere Automation & Customization Resources page

For Developers

vSphere SDK & API Developer Resources page

VMware vSphere 4.0 VMware ESX 4.0 Update 1 and later VMware vCenter Server 4.0 Update 1 and later