VMware released ESXi 5.1 U1 in April earlier this year, HP also released a custom image of this release that incorporates customised HP drivers and management software saving you time to download and install the software yourself. A good point to make is that by using the customised HP Proliant ESXi image – this is a step towards keeping consistency in the software/driver level in your VMware environment. This is best practices in my opinion.
The custom image is available on the VMware site.
https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/details?downloadGroup=HP-ESXI-5.1.0U1-GA-25APR2013&productId=285
VMware from HP ProLiant Server VMware Support Matrix
Not all server’s are created equal! For compatible HP Proliants, always check compatibility on the following website:
http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/505363-0-0-0-121.html
Now here’s where it gets cool – You can build your own HP Custom image of the ESXi image! Just head over to http://vibsdepot.hp.com/ allowing you to add comptabile HP bundles for VMware Image Builder, Update Manager and ESXCLI etc.
UPDATE
For those who have upgraded to 5.1 U1 (Custom and Non-custom image) please be aware of the following:
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2050941 – Cannot log in to vCenter Server using the domain username/password credentials via the vSphere Web Client/vSphere Client after upgrading to vCenter Server 5.1 Update 1 (2050941)
