Install Azure HCI Stack Cluster on VMware Workstation

If you want to install Azure HCI Stack on VMware workstation it IS possible though there are a few issues.

There's a great YouTube video here on installing Azure Stack HCI in general

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12Zoayvrols&t=1837s

And there's a specific article on installing it on VMware

https://virtualg.uk/how-to-install-azure-stack-hci-23h2-in-your-lab

In summary there's a few things to think about in terms of VMware

• Use the latest version of VMware workstation (it has better support for encryption).
  
  
• Encrypt the virtual machines.
  
  
• Enable UEFI and Secure Boot.
  
  
• Use at least 4 cores in the virtual processors (else cluster creation will fail with AzStackHci_MOCStack_CpuCoreCount).
  
  
• Enable Virtualize Intel VT-x/EPT or AMD-V/RVI as you always have to with nested virtualization.
  
  
• Use two NICs
  
  
• Use 3 NVMe drives
  
  
• 200GB (boot)
• 500GB
• 500GB
  
  
• Add a TPM to the hardware
  
  
• Modify the .vmx file for all HCI stack hosts and change ethernet0 and ethernet1 from the e1000e adapter to the vmxnet3 otherwise you will get a out of box driver error.
  
  ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000e"
  ethernet0.virtualDev = "vmxnet3"
  
  
• Use strong passwords for the Administrator account on the HCI stack hosts because it'll be enforced later.
  
  
• Install VMware tools (needed for the VMware network adapter drivers)
  
  
• Install app compatibility so you can get to ncpa.cpl and Device Manager else it'll be a nightmare
  Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name ServerCore.AppCompatibility~~~~0.0.1.0
  
  
• Modify the advanced settings of the network adapters and set them all to VLANID 0 (unless you have proper VLANs set up) else the cluster configuration will fail.
  
  
• Make sure you disconnect the CD-ROM drive (proabably with the VMware tools disk in) otherwise the cluster creation will fail.
  https://david-homer.blogspot.com/2024/09/azure-hci-stack-cluster-creation-error.html
  
  
• The cluster installation will fail on the first day the virtual machines are with a AzStackHci_Hardware_Test_Tpm_Certificate_Properties error - you have to wait a day and try again.
  https://david-homer.blogspot.com/2024/09/solved-azure-hci-stack-deploy-cluster.html
  
  
• When you're configuring the networking in the cluster setup wizard click “Customize Network Settings” and set the RDMA protocol to disabled for all intents.