VMware

You can get VMware ESXi 8 working on an Intel NUC 12th Gen (NUC12DCMi9 Intel NUC Extreme i9-12900 12th Gen)

ESXi 7 doesn't include the correct drivers and needs a custom image if you want to use it.

Be aware that you can only use one of the two inbuilt Network Ports. The lower one is Intel (2.5 GB) and will work with ESXi 8. The upper one is another vendor (10Gbps) and won't be detected by ESXi 8.

Be aware that when installing and booting ESXi 8 with a 12th Gen Intel NUC, you will get an error. You need to implment a workaround

• On boot, press SHIFT+O to edit the boot options.
• Append cpuUniformityHardCheckPanic=FALSE and press ENTER
• It can now boot. You will need to repeat for each boot until you make if permament
• To make the kernel option permanent, log into the web UI of VMware ESXi, enable SSH, then SSH into the server and run the following command on your ESXi host:

# esxcli system settings kernel set -s cpuUniformityHardCheckPanic -v FALSE

Remember, if you have two drives attached, ESXi will only give the option of using the second one as a datastore. If you install on a box with one drive, you can use that same drive as the datastore. The moment you add a second drive, access to the first drive as a data store is taken away.

Also note that VMware ESXi 8 (or earlier versions for that matter) does not support the TPM chip on the Intel NUC. You will need to go into BIOS and under Security→Security Features→Intel Platform Trust Technology (uncheck to disable).