VMware ESXi 7.x Loses Support as Broadcom Licensing Forces Hard Choices
VMware ESXi 7.x reached end of general support on October 2, 2025, meaning no further security patches or bug fixes will be issued for the widely used hypervisor version. Broadcom's December 2023 elimination of perpetual licenses has compounded the pressure, replacing one-time purchases with mandatory subscriptions that many organizations are struggling to budget for. Some IT teams have responded by freezing on ESXi 7.x and skipping renewals, a move that turns a cost problem into a security risk since unpatched hypervisors expose every workload running above them. Administrators now face three broad paths: upgrade to vSphere 8.x under the new subscription model, migrate to alternatives such as Proxmox VE or Hyper-V, or reduce their VMware footprint and renew a smaller subscription. Experts warn that inaction by default is the most dangerous outcome, urging teams to make a deliberate, time-bound decision rather than drift into running unsupported infrastructure.
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