Is it correct to infer that Appliance v2.6.0.2 no longer supports vSphere ESX v4.1?

[sdo]

Just sharing something that a partner pointed out to me the other day, which I did add it as a potential answer to question in the main forum - but I think it's worth re-iterating and seeking clarification here...

Page 15 of the NetBackup VMware compatibility doc:
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH64542
...says that v7.6.0.2 (and v7.6.0.1 with EEB EEB3318872) was built with VDDK 5.5.

The VDDK 5.5 Release Notes:
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/vddk-550-releasenotes.html
...doesn't list support for anything below vSphere v5.0U3.

And this is where I make the assumption that VADP is built using VDDK - and so this implies that neither NetBackup v7.6.0.2 nor Appliance v2.6.0.2 will work with vSphere ESX 4.x hosts (and nor NetBackup v7.6.0.1 with EEB3318872 and nor Appliance v2.6.0.1 with EEB3318872).  Are both the assumption and the inference correct?

FYI - Re EEB3318872 referenced above, there is more detail (and a workaround) here:

http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH217554

FYI - List of VDDK release notes:

VDDK 1.1.1 Release Notes
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/VDDK-1.1.1-Relnotes.html

VDDK 1.2 Release Notes
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/VDDK-1.2-Relnotes.html

VDDK 5.0 Release Notes
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/VDDK-500-ReleaseNotes.html

VDDK 5.1 Release Notes
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/VDDK-510-ReleaseNotes.html

VDDK 5.5 Release Notes
https://www.vmware.com/support/developer/vddk/vddk-550-releasenotes.html

[Marianne]

I read the following on p. 15 of  Statement of Support for NetBackup 7.x in a Virtual Environment:  

NetBackup for VMware Compatibility
The following topics describe NetBackup for VMware support. NetBackup for
VMware protects VMware virtual machines by integrating with VMware vStorage
APIs for Data Protection.
Note the following about VMware updates:
■ VMware updates to vSphere 4 and 5 are supported, unless otherwise noted.
■ vCloud Director 5.1.x updates are supported, unless otherwise noted.

[sdo]

Hi Marianne, In that case, I'm getting conflicting advice. An experienced partner seems to think that v2.6.0.2 doesn't work with vSphere v4.x. And the two pieces of documentation are in conflict IF the assumption that VADP is built using VDDK is true. How can we confirm for sure? Thanks. D.

[CRZ · Accepted solution]

A few iterations of TECH127089 back (and I hope you do mean TECH127089, as TECH64542 was written for 6.x and hasn't been updated for over four years!) we changed up Table 10 to bring our support in line with VMware's - which is to say that we now ONLY support whatever's in the relevant edition of the VDDK Release Notes.  (I think I've gotten into trouble on this before when I said "sure, we support 5.5U1" when we didn't - or vice versa - part of the way this Table has been reconstructed is to try to eliminate just that confusion - it's no longer us; it's whatever's in the VDDK Release Notes and we always defer to them for questions of supportability.)

So, yes, vSphere 4 is probably right out, given what you've already found and posted.

As for Marianne's bullet, I'm not sure it actually applies anywhere now, given that every entry in our table now says "go look at some version of the VDDK Release Notes."  I'm not sure it's in conflict, however - if we no longer support vSphere 4, we wouldn't support those updates, either.

DOCUMENTATION: Support for NetBackup 7.x in virtual environments (updated June 10, 2014).
 http://symantec.com/docs/TECH127089

I hope that's clearer (as opposed to even more confusing) - if not, let me know and I can either try again or find someone who can explain it better.  ;)