VMware vCenter – “Installation package is not supported by this processor type”

Here’s an error message that may catch people out who are trying to install VMware vCenter Server 4.1 or when upgrading from vCenter Server 4.0 to v4.1.  It’s pretty basic stuff though I thought it worth a mention for those of you new to installing VMware vSphere and vCenter Server.  The error message is “This installation package is not supported by this processor type”.  But what is it about the processor that isn’t compatible?

Well, the answer is that VMware vSphere 4.1 vCenter Server needs to be installed on an x64 bit operating system (OS) and is no longer able to be installed on an  x32 bit operating system.  Check out this vSphere compatibility matrix document for a list of those x64 operating systems which are compatibile with VMware vCenter v.4.1.