VMware vSphere 9.0.1 Download & Complete vSphere 9 Guide
vSphere 9 is VMware’s biggest platform overhaul since vSphere 8 — a renamed hypervisor (ESX, not ESXi), NVMe memory tiering, 960-vCPU Monster VMs, and a licensing shift that folds standalone vSphere into VMware vSphere Foundation. This guide covers vSphere 9.0.1 specifically — the September 2025 maintenance release — plus the full vSphere 9 release timeline, what changed from vSphere 8, and where to get it.
⚙️ vCenter Build: 24957454
🌐 Language: Multi-language
🖥️ Upgrades From: vSphere 8.0 U2/U3, vSphere 9.0/9.0.0.0100
🕒 Page Updated: Sep 24, 2026
✅ Bug & Security Fixes Only (Maintenance Release)
✅ Verified Against Official Release Notes
✅ Compatible With VCF 9.0.x
✅ For Lab, Test & Production Use
What Is vSphere 9?
vSphere 9 is the current major release line of VMware’s server virtualization platform — the same ESXi-plus-vCenter combination covered in our vSphere vs. vCenter breakdown, just rebuilt for AI-era workloads. Broadcom renamed the hypervisor from ESXi to ESX starting with this release, and it is the first version sold exclusively through VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) or VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) — standalone vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus licenses stop at vSphere 8.0 Update 3.
Searching for ESXi 9? It’s the same hypervisor line — from this release on it’s simply called ESX 9 — and this page covers the ESX 9.0.1 installer ISO, the matching vCenter Server build, and the offline depot.
If you’re coming from an older environment, our vSphere 8.0 Update 3 download guide is still the right stop for anyone not ready to move to the VVF/VCF licensing model yet.
— VMware Cloud Foundation Blog
vSphere 9 Release Date & Version Timeline
vSphere 9.0 first shipped on June 17, 2025. Since then, Broadcom has released a steady stream of maintenance builds — here’s every one so far, with official build numbers.
| Release | Date | Build |
|---|---|---|
| ESX 9.0 GA | Jun 17, 2025 | 24755229 |
| ESX 9.0.0.0100 | Jul 15, 2025 | 24813472 |
| ESX 9.0.1.0 (this guide) | Sep 29, 2025 | 24957456 |
| ESX 9.0.2.0 | Jan 20, 2026 | 25148076 |
| ESX 9.1.0.0 GA | May 12, 2026 | 25370933 |
| ESX 9.1.0.0200 | Jul 13, 2026 | 25557999 |
Source: Broadcom KB 316595 — Build numbers and versions of VMware ESX
⚙️ What’s New in vSphere 9.0
✅ Monster VM support up to 960 vCPUs
✅ Up to 6x faster vMotion for GPU-attached VMs
✅ Live Patching for ESX (reduced-downtime updates)
✅ Secure-by-default TLS 1.3 and FIPS 140-2 compliance
✅ Automatic certificate renewal
✅ Independently upgradable Supervisor for Kubernetes workloads
✅ Open API 3.0 and unified platform SDKs
🔧 What vSphere 9.0.1 Adds
vSphere 9.0.1 is a maintenance release — it doesn’t add headline features on top of vSphere 9.0, but ships hardware enablement (new server, CPU, and driver support), guest OS support updates, and bug and security fixes limited in scope to minimize operational impact.
For storage-heavy builds, it’s also worth reviewing your iSCSI multipathing configuration and, if you’re running hyperconverged storage instead of a physical SAN, our StarWind vSAN plugin installation guide for vSphere after you upgrade.
How VMware vSphere Foundation 9.0 Licensing Works
This is the change that trips up the most admins moving to version 9: it is not sold as a standalone product the way vSphere 7 and 8 were. vSphere 9.0 and 9.1 features are only available as part of:
✅ VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 — full private-cloud stack (vSphere + vSAN + NSX)
If you’re still licensed for standalone vSphere Standard or Enterprise Plus, you can stay on vSphere 8.0 Update 3 indefinitely under that license, or move to VVF/VCF to unlock version 9.
vSphere 9.0.1 Download: ESX ISO, VCSA & Offline Depot
vSphere 9.0.1 is distributed through the Broadcom Support Portal. You need a Broadcom account and an entitlement for VMware vSphere Foundation (VVF) 9.0 or VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) 9.0 to download it. The release comes as three main files:
✅ vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) ISO — deploys or upgrades vCenter Server 9.0.1
✅ Offline depot ZIP (VUM/vLCM) — patch and upgrade bundle for offline or air-gapped updates
After downloading, compare each file’s checksum with the value shown on the Broadcom download page before you install or upgrade.
🖥️ System Requirements
| CPU | 64-bit x86, 2+ cores |
| RAM | 8 GB minimum (32 GB+ recommended) |
| Boot Storage | 32 GB minimum (SSD/NVMe recommended) |
| Firmware | UEFI, Secure Boot capable |
| TPM | TPM 2.0 (recommended for Live Patching) |
| Network | 10 GbE+ recommended for vMotion/vSAN |
