[EN] Evaluation of HPE Morpheus v8.1.2 LTS Release Notes

The v8.1.2 LTS release of the HPE Morpheus VM Essentials platform was made available in April 2026. This version includes important fixes, particularly in HVM environments, API/CLI operations, Kubernetes integrations, security improvements, and virtualization management. Since it is an LTS, or “Long-Term Support,” release, this version stands out in terms of stability and long-term use in enterprise environments.

Version v8.1.2 is compatible with Plugin API 1.3.4. It is also designed to work with HPE Morpheus VM Essentials Worker version 5.4.8 and later. Therefore, it is important to check the compatibility of the existing infrastructure before performing the upgrade.

Important Considerations After the Upgrade

One of the most important recommendations after upgrading to this version is to check for HVM Host agent updates. After the upgrade is completed, the agent version may need to be upgraded for each HVM Host.

This process can be performed in two different ways. In the first method, users can go to the detail page of each HVM Host, open the ACTIONS menu, and select Upgrade Agent. In the second method, users can select Download Agent Script to download a Host-specific shell script and run it through a terminal session.

It is important to note that the downloaded scripts are unique to each HVM Host. In other words, a script downloaded for one Host should not be used on another Host. Also, not every version upgrade necessarily includes an agent update; however, it is recommended to perform this check after upgrading to v8.1.2.

New Feature: Japanese Keyboard Support

One of the notable new features in v8.1.2 is the addition of Japanese keyboard layout support for hypervisor console sessions. This support is provided specifically for the 101/102 hardware keyboard layout.

This feature works in VMware, vCD, and HVM/KVM environments using the HPE Morpheus key extension. In addition, a new keyboard tips pop-over has been added to the console interface. Users can access keyboard usage tips through the “?” button on the console screen.

Support for the Japanese 106/109 hardware keyboard layout is planned for a future release. This improvement is an important step in helping Morpheus better adapt to different language and regional usage scenarios.

API and CLI Fixes

Several important issues have been fixed on the API and CLI side in this release. Valid DELETE calls sent to /api/clusters/{cluster_id}/servers/{server_id} no longer return incorrect error messages.

In addition, an issue related to resize operations on HVM or VMware instances has been resolved. Previously, when resizing an instance to add or remove network interfaces, the system could return a success message even though the network interface changes were not actually applied. With v8.1.2, this inconsistency has been fixed.

Increased Stability in HVM Environments

The v8.1.2 release includes many critical fixes on the HVM side. Stability has been improved especially in areas such as virtual machine cloning, restore operations after backup, maintenance mode, live migration, and storage operations.

For example, failures that occurred when cloning a VM after changing the storage datastore type between the original VM and the cloned VM have been resolved. In scenarios where the datastore type changes from local storage to a different type, such as Alletra plugin storage, cloning operations now work more reliably.

An important issue related to VMs restored from SimpliVity backups has also been fixed. After a VM is restored and successfully reconfigured, it can now be powered on without issues.

Maintenance mode processes have also been improved. If a VM transitions to a shut-off state while being live migrated to another Host, the HVM Host will no longer fail to enter maintenance mode. In addition, an issue where certain maintenance mode sequences could cause HVM Hosts to go offline or become fenced has been resolved.

Improvements in Network and Volume Operations

There is also an important fix on the network management side. Previously, when a network was disabled by unchecking the Active option and saving the change, unexpected changes could occur in the “Enable IPV4” and/or “DHCP Server” options on the next edit screen. This issue has been resolved in v8.1.2.

Volume attach and detach operations have also been improved. In environments using VirtIO controllers, these operations could previously fail while snapshots were in progress. With the new release, volume attach and detach operations are now more reliable during snapshot operations.

In addition, intermittent provisioning failures that occurred when multiple VMs were provisioned simultaneously using the copy operation have been fixed.

AltGR Fix in Console Sessions

The issue related to AltGR key input in HVM console sessions has been resolved. This fix is especially important for users who work with different keyboard layouts. Since the AltGR key is used to type special characters in many languages, this improvement directly enhances the console user experience.

Kubernetes and Azure AKS Support

A fix has been made on the Kubernetes side for Azure AKS clusters. Updating worker node counts for Azure AKS clusters now works correctly. This fix allows teams using AKS to increase or decrease capacity more reliably.

Label and NSX Fixes

On the label management side, an issue related to filtering Clouds by Label has been fixed for Clouds shared from a parent Tenant down to child Tenants. This fix enables more accurate management of Cloud resources in multi-tenant environments.

On the NSX side, an important association issue has been resolved. When NSX segments are shared across multiple clusters in a VDC, Morpheus can now associate the NSX segment with multiple vCenter segments. This improvement increases management accuracy in complex virtualization architectures that use NSX.

Security Improvements

Version v8.1.2 also includes several security enhancements. Although the release notes do not provide detailed information, the phrase “security enhancements” indicates that this version has been updated and strengthened from a security perspective. Security improvements are especially important in LTS releases used in enterprise infrastructures.

Windows VM and Cloudbase-init Fix

On the Virtual Images side, an issue related to Windows VM creation has been resolved. When creating Windows VMs with static IP addresses using a Virtual Image configured with Cloudbase-init, the process now works correctly. This fix is an important improvement for Windows-based virtual machine automation.