VCP-DCV vSphere Lifecycle Management Practice Question
A vSphere administrator is troubleshooting a failed remediation attempt on an ESXi host in a cluster managed by vLCM. The image compliance status shows 'Non-Compliant'. The host is in maintenance mode. The administrator sees the following error: 'Failed to apply the software specification. Reason: The host's firmware version is incompatible with the selected ESXi image.' What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse firmware incompatibility with driver deprecation (Option C) or assume the host must be in maintenance mode (Option B), but the error message explicitly points to firmware version mismatch, which is managed by the HSM.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The hardware support manager (HSM) is not configured or the firmware baseline is outdated.
The error indicates that the host's firmware version is incompatible with the selected ESXi image. In vLCM, hardware compatibility is managed by the Hardware Support Manager (HSM), which provides firmware baselines. If the HSM is not configured or the firmware baseline is outdated, vLCM cannot validate or update the firmware to match the ESXi image requirements, leading to a 'Non-Compliant' status and remediation failure. This is the most likely cause because the error directly points to firmware incompatibility, not driver issues or image corruption.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
The hardware support manager (HSM) is not configured or the firmware baseline is outdated.
Why this is correct
vLCM uses HSM to validate firmware compatibility; mismatch causes failure.
- ✗
The host must be taken out of maintenance mode for the remediation to proceed.
Why it's wrong here
Maintenance mode is required for remediation.
- ✗
The ESXi 8.0 image has deprecated certain drivers that are still in use.
Why it's wrong here
The error specifically mentions firmware, not drivers.
- ✗
The vLCM image is corrupted and needs to be re-imported.
Why it's wrong here
The error points to firmware incompatibility, not image corruption.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 498 original VCP-DCV practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This VCP-DCV practice question is part of Courseiva's free VMware certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the VCP-DCV exam.