OVF Template Deployment Error on Older Versions of VMware ESXi

The following error appears when an OVF template is deployed on an older version of VMware ESXi: The OVF package requires unsupported hardware "Unsupported hardware family vmx-##".

This error is related to the virtual hardware version configured for the OVF template – it is not supported by the vSphere version currently running.

SecureAuth IdP Virtual Appliances running on VMware ESXi versions 4.x - 6.x

Perform these steps as a workaround:

1. Select the SecureAuthIdPAppliance-2012r2-vmware.X.0-vX.X-XXXXXXXX.ova file and use 7-Zip or WinZip to extract its contents to a folder of the same name, without the file extension – that is: SecureAuthIdPAppliance-2012r2-vmware.X.0-vX.X-XXXXXXXX

The folder should contain the following extracted contents:.vmdk files, .ovf file, and .mf file

2. Right-click the .ovf file and edit it in a text editor such as Notepad

3. Find the line <vssd:VirtualSystemType>vmx-##</vssd:VirtualSystemType> and change the vmx-## value

– e.g. change vmx-10 tovmx-09, or to a different hw-version working with the ESXi

4. Save changes to the .ovf file and close the file

5. OPTIONAL: Calculate the SHA-1 hash of the .ovf file and replace the hash value in the .mf file

NOTE: Removing the .mf file from the OVF file structure (folder) typically works

6. Import the OVF template, as customary, in the environment

OVF File Errors on Unsupported VMware ESXi Versions