vSphere 6.5 introduces a new management client based on HTML5. Marketing differentiates it from the Flash client by removing the word “web”.

The vSphere Client is a step in the right direction for now; rather than being a complete end to the vSphere Web Client based on Flash.

Logging into the the 6.5 vCenter from a browser will present you with the option to use one of two management clients. It informs you that the HTML5 client provides “partial functionality”.

So, you ask yourself, what is “partial functionality”. Well, click on the link below that statement and you’ll find that partial functionality doesn’t yet include many capabilities likely important to managing your vSphere environment.

It’s a step in the right direction but it’s more of a preview/teaser today, than a production ready replacement for the Flash management interface. It can’t manage a distributed switch or new features like predictive DRS, or deploy an OVA/OVF to name a few yet-to-be capabilities.

Long story short, we’ll need to continue using the Flash client until a future update removes the limitations listed in the link here:

List of unsupported features in vSphere Client (HTML5 client)

Keep an eye on the link above, as it is a living doc.

vSphere 6.5 delivers with valuable improvements, and ground-breaking new capabilities like vSphere Integrated Containers (VIC will be the subject of a future post), but we’ll have to wait a bit longer for the HTML5 client to replace the Flash client completely.