NetScaler VPX™ support matrix
Note:
This feature matrix is available for evaluation purposes and is not intended for production use.
NetScaler® 15.1 introduces a Linux-based VPX across all on-premises hypervisor platforms as a tech preview. This guide provides the support matrix for deploying NetScaler VPX 15.1 on VMware ESXi, Citrix Hypervisor™, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Linux KVM. In-place upgrades from NetScaler 14.1 (FreeBSD-based) require a minimum build version of 14.1-56.x. It also covers the supported public cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
VPX on VMware ESXi
Performance range: 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps
| ESXi version | Minimum VPX version |
|---|---|
| ESXi 9.0.x | 15.1 Tech Preview
|
| ESXi 8.0 (all updates) | |
| ESXi 7.0 (all updates) |
Note:
ESXi versions earlier than 7.0 are not supported on NetScaler 15.1 Tech Preview.
VPX on Citrix Hypervisor (XenServer)
Performance range: 10 Mbps to 40 Gbps
| Citrix Hypervisor version | Minimum VPX version |
|---|---|
| 8.4, 8.2, 8.0, 7.6, 7.1, 7.0 | 15.1 Tech Preview |
Note:
Citrix Hypervisor versions earlier than 7.0 are not supported on NetScaler 15.1 Tech Preview.
VPX on Microsoft Hyper-V
Performance range: 10 Mbps to 3 Gbps
| Hyper-V version | Minimum VPX version |
|---|---|
| Windows Server 2025, 2022, 2019, and 2016 | 15.1 Tech Preview |
Note:
Hyper-V versions earlier than Windows Server 2016 are not supported on NetScaler 15.1 Tech Preview.
VPX on Linux KVM
Performance range: 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps
| Host OS | Minimum VPX version |
|---|---|
| RHEL 9.x, 8.x, 7.6 | 15.1 Tech Preview
|
| Ubuntu 24.04, 18.04 |
Note:
For RHEL 7.6 and Ubuntu 18.04, append
kvm_intel.preemption_timer=0toGRUB_CMDLINE_LINUXin/etc/default/grub, regenerate the GRUB config, and restart the host.
VPX features supported on hypervisors
| Feature | ESXi PV | ESXi SR-IOV | XenServer PV | XenServer SR-IOV | Hyper-V | KVM PV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-PE Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clustering | Yes | Yes¹ | Yes | Yes¹ | Yes | Yes |
| VLAN Tagging | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Link events/HAMON | No² | Yes³ | No² | Yes³ | No² | No² |
| Interface Param Config | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Static LA | Yes² | Yes³ | Yes² | Yes³ | Yes² | Yes² |
| LACP | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Static CLAG | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| LACP CLAG | Yes² | Yes³ | Yes² | Yes³ | Yes² | Yes² |
| Hot-plug | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Superscript Legend:
- Clustering on SR-IOV is supported only on client-facing interfaces and server-facing interfaces, not on the backplane.
- Interface DOWN events are not captured on VPX instances.
- For Static LA configurations, traffic might still route to interfaces with physical status DOWN.
Supported processors for NetScaler VPX
| Platform | Intel | AMD |
|---|---|---|
| VMware ESXi | Yes | Yes |
| Citrix Hypervisor / XenServer | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft Hyper-V | Yes | No |
| Linux KVM | Yes | No |
Supported NICs for SR-IOV and PCI Passthrough
| NIC | ESXi | XenServer | Hyper-V | KVM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mellanox ConnectX-4 | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Mellanox ConnectX-5 | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Intel 82599 SR-IOV VF | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Intel X710/XL710/X722 SR-IOV VF | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Intel X710/XL710/XXV710 PCI Passthrough | Yes | No | No | Yes |
In-Place upgrade support
| Source platform | Source version | Target version | Supported |
|---|---|---|---|
| VMware ESXi (FreeBSD → Linux) | 14.1-56.x or later
|
15.1 Tech Preview
|
Yes |
| Citrix Hypervisor/XenServer (FreeBSD → Linux) | Yes | ||
| Linux KVM (FreeBSD → Linux) | Yes | ||
| Microsoft Hyper-V (FreeBSD → Linux) | Yes |
Public cloud offerings
| Platform | Offering | License | Build |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS | NetScaler VPX 15.1 Tech Preview
|
BYOL
|
15.1-9.x
|
| Microsoft Azure | |||
| GCP |
Note:
FIPS and FIPS ENA offerings are not supported in the 15.1 Tech Preview.
Public cloud deployment support
| Platform | Deployment model | Supported |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | Standalone | Yes |
| AWS | HA in the same availability zone | Yes |
| AWS | HA across availability zones using Elastic IP | Yes |
| AWS | HA across availability zones using private IP | Yes |
| Azure | Single NIC, single IP | Yes |
| Azure | Single NIC, multiple IPs | Yes |
| Azure | Multiple NICs, multiple IPs | Yes |
| Azure | Active-standby HA using availability set | Yes |
| Azure | Active-standby HA using availability zones | Yes |
| GCP | Single-NIC standalone | Yes |
| GCP | Multi-NIC standalone | Yes |
AWS instance support
| Category | Instance families |
|---|---|
| General purpose | M5, M5a, M5n, M6i, M7i, M8i, T3a |
| Compute optimized | C5, C5n, C6in |
| Memory optimized | R7iz |
| Licensed throughput | Recommended instance |
|---|---|
| Up to 200 Mbps | m6i.xlarge |
| 1–5 Gbps | m6i.2xlarge |
| 5–8 Gbps | c5n.4xlarge |
| 8–25 Gbps | c5n.9xlarge |
For more information, see AWS regions and supported services.
Azure compute and architecture support
| Item | Supported value |
|---|---|
| Minimum | 2 virtualized cores and 4 GB RAM |
| Processors | Intel and AMD |
| Recommended VM sizes | Standard_D2s_v5, Standard_D4s_v5, Standard_D8s_v5, Standard_D8ds_v5, Standard_D16_v5 |
| Additional Tech Preview families | Dsv6 and Dsv7 |
| Maximum documented throughput | 10 Gbps |
| Accelerated networking | Recommended above 1 Gbps |
For more information, see Azure sizing and architecture guidance.
GCP machine and network support
| Machine family | Minimum supported machine types |
|---|---|
| General purpose | c3-standard-4, n4-standard-2, c4-standard-2, c4d-standard-2 |
| Item | Supported value |
|---|---|
| Minimum compute | 2 vCPUs and 4 GB RAM |
| More than two NICs | Minimum 4 vCPUs |
| Multi-NIC networking | Separate VPC network for each NIC |
| IPv6 | Not supported |
For more information, see GCP machine and deployment guidance.
Related information
For step-by-step upgrade instructions, see Migrate NetScaler VPX from 14.1 to 15.1 Tech Preview.
For public cloud deployment procedures, see Deploy on AWS, Deploy on Microsoft Azure, and Deploy on Google Cloud Platform.
In this article
- VPX on VMware ESXi
- VPX on Citrix Hypervisor (XenServer)
- VPX on Microsoft Hyper-V
- VPX on Linux KVM
- VPX features supported on hypervisors
- Supported processors for NetScaler VPX
- Supported NICs for SR-IOV and PCI Passthrough
- In-Place upgrade support
- Public cloud offerings
- Public cloud deployment support
- AWS instance support
- Azure compute and architecture support
- GCP machine and network support
- Related information