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With the new vSphere 6.5 the legacy Windows vSphere Client is finally dead! Was supposed also during the beta of vSphere 6.0, but in the RC a new C# client has appear to avoid this kind of transition.

But also to avoid the new limits dictated by the vSphere Web Client, like the huge depency from Acrobat Flash!

With version 6.5 there are some interesting changes in the clients for VMware vSphere:

vsphere-ui

The primary management UI for vCenter Server is vSphere Web Client, but it’s still based on Adobe Flex, like the previous version. There is no more any C# client, so the only option to manage (graphically) a standalone ESXi host or to manage it when vCenter is not available, is the new Host Client a robust interface for managing ESXi hosts directly through a web browser with simple HTML pages. It was already introduced in vSphere 6.0 Update 2.

There are also other three user interfaces for vSphere graphical management:

  • vSphere Client: this will be the future successor of the vSphere Web Client and based on totally on HTML5. Available also for version 6.0 as a Fling, now has partial functionality with the 6.5 release.
    webclient
  • Appliance Management UI: contains basic health information along with the ability to reboot, shutdown, and collect support bundles. Accessed via port 5480.
  • PSC UI: allows for basic SSO configuration as well as certificate management. Available only on embedded or external PSC nodes.

Another news for 6.5 is that the Client Integration Plugin (CIP) for vSphere Web Client is no longer required!

In version 6.0 was required for certain functions, like the integrated authentication of the file upload. To replace it in version 6.5 there are simple native browser functions except for the integrated authenticatin where will be an optional plugin called Enhanced Authentication Plugin.

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Virtualization, Cloud and Storage Architect. Tech Field delegate. VMUG IT Co-Founder and board member. VMware VMTN Moderator and vExpert 2010-24. Dell TechCenter Rockstar 2014-15. Microsoft MVP 2014-16. Veeam Vanguard 2015-23. Nutanix NTC 2014-20. Several certifications including: VCDX-DCV, VCP-DCV/DT/Cloud, VCAP-DCA/DCD/CIA/CID/DTA/DTD, MCSA, MCSE, MCITP, CCA, NPP.