Transition from vmware-iso to vsphere-iso: Current license or ESXi version prohibits execution of the requested operation.

[nafmo]

Hi!

I am using a stand-alone ESXi (pegged at version 6.7 for reasons) to build OVF images. I am trying to transition to the vsphere-iso builder, and I get this far:

2026-03-04T08:19:20Z: ==> vsphere-iso: Retrieving ISO
2026-03-04T08:19:20Z: ==> vsphere-iso: Trying image.iso
2026-03-04T08:19:20Z: ==> vsphere-iso: Trying image.iso
2026-03-04T08:19:20Z: ==> vsphere-iso: image.iso => /home/peter/proj/kslight-ovf/image.iso
2026-03-04T08:19:20Z: ==> vsphere-iso: Uploading image.iso to [ssd4tb] packer-iso...
2026-03-04T08:22:57Z: ==> vsphere-iso: Creating virtual machine...
2026-03-04T08:22:57Z: ==> vsphere-iso: Closing sessions...
2026-03-04T08:22:57Z: Build 'vsphere-iso' errored after 3 minutes 37 seconds: error creating virtual machine: ServerFaultCode: Current license or ESXi version prohibits execution of the requested operation.

I'm not entirely sure what "the requested operation is", so it's hard to figure out how to proceed.

I am using a stand-alone ESXi server, so I just set the host variable in the configuration. That gave me the following error:

Error: Failed to prepare build: "vsphere-iso"
1 error(s) occurred:
* 'vcenter_server' is required

so I added a vcenter_server key with the same host name as host. Maybe it is trying to use an API end-point that requires a vCenter installation?

[tenthirtyam]

Yes, this plugin requires the use of a licensed endpoint instance as it uses the vSphere APIs with write access.

Ref: #221

Ryan Johnson

[nafmo]

Yes, this plugin requires the use of a licensed endpoint instance as it uses the vSphere APIs with write access.

So it's not an usable replacement for the vmware-iso builder, then.

I hope #221 can get fixed soon, then. Meanwhile, I'm sticking to an older vmware-iso plugin.

[tenthirtyam]

At this time, there are no plans to address #221. The message you’re encountering is generated by the API based on the current requirements for write access.

If you have a licensed edition of ESXi, we recommend refactoring your builds to use vmware/vsphere.

If that’s not feasible, you have the following options:

• Continue using vmware/vmware@v1 with your version and edition of ESXi. Please note, however, that v1 will no longer receive updates.
• Refactor your builds to use a desktop hypervisor and transition to vmware/vmware@v2 to take advantage of its latest capabilities and updates.

We recognize that this may present challenges for your current setup, and we deeply appreciate your understanding as you evaluate the best path forward. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

[nafmo]

At this time, there are no plans to address #221

That's too bad. Another reason to try to migrate away from ESXi, then. :-/

Thanks for the reply.