This is a game-changer for production environments. It allows tools like HPE OneView or iLO Amplifier to "see" the ESXi host natively. You get hardware health status (fan speeds, power supply redundancy, temperature) pushed directly into the vSphere Client HTML5 interface under the "Monitor" tab.
The HPE SPP is a massive offline bundle that includes the latest ESXi custom image along with firmware for all components. If you manage dozens of servers, download the SPP ISO and extract the ESXi image from the packages/ directory. vmware esxi 7 download iso hpe custom image
Without the custom image, vSphere may show "Unknown" status for critical components like power supplies or RAID arrays. This is a game-changer for production environments
Use or HPE's Image Assistant to create custom ESXi 7.0 ISOs with HPE drivers. The HPE SPP is a massive offline bundle
Downloading the vanilla VMware ISO from Broadcom is fine for nested labs or generic whitebox hardware. But the moment you drop it onto an HPE server, you are entering a world of hurt. You’ll likely need to manually inject drivers for the Smart Array controller or the network interface cards (NICs) using PowerShell or the esxcli software vib commands.