Periodically checking whether Broadcom has published a new update for VMware ESXi or vCenter is one of those simple tasks that can end up being forgotten right when an important patch shows up. To avoid that, an independent project has created Tracker ESXi + vCenter, a tool that automatically checks the release notes, detects new versions, and turns them into a single RSS feed that can be plugged into readers, automation systems, or a systems team’s internal channels.
The VMware tracker in 30 seconds
- The project automatically checks the ESXi and vCenter release notes published by Broadcom.
- It’s currently configured to track VMware 8.0 Update 3 and checks the pages roughly every hour.
- It keeps both the official release date and the moment it detected each version.
- ESXi and vCenter appear together in a single RSS feed.
- It’s an independent, unofficial service meant to automate alerts, not to install updates.
The tool was built by Sri7ach1 out of a need most systems administrators will recognize: no longer relying on a manual check to know when a new version has appeared.
The setup behind it isn’t complex either. A Python-based scraper checks the documentation, BeautifulSoup helps parse the pages, and a handful of regular expressions identify versions and dates. When it finds something new, it updates the history and regenerates the feed.
What’s interesting is turning a web page someone would otherwise have to remember to visit into a source that can be plugged into other processes.
From Manually Checking Broadcom to Getting an Alert
The starting point is the release notes Broadcom publishes for VMware ESXi and vCenter Server.
The scraper periodically checks those pages and compares the available versions against the ones it already knows. When a new one shows up, it adds it to the history.
There’s a particularly useful detail: the system distinguishes between the actual publication date and the detection date.
That avoids a common problem with this kind of tool.
The tracker started running when VMware 8.0 Update 3 already had numerous versions behind it. If it simply used the moment it found each page as the publication date, every old version would show up in the RSS feed as new.
Instead, it pulls the date listed in Broadcom’s documentation and keeps a separate record of when the scraper actually detected the entry.
For example, ESXi 8.0 Update 3 was published on June 25, 2024, while the tracker added it to its history on August 27, 2026. Update 3k, the most recent version currently listed on the service, carries an official date of July 29, 2026.
The site currently shows 11 ESXi entries and 11 vCenter entries within the 8.0 Update 3 family.
For ESXi, it lists everything from the original 8.0 Update 3 release through Update 3k, passing through 3b, 3c, 3d, 3e, 3f, 3g, 3h, 3i, and 3j.
The vCenter history is slightly different. It also goes up to Update 3k, but includes versions such as 3a that don’t appear in the equivalent ESXi list.
Each entry links directly to the corresponding Broadcom release notes. The tracker works as an alerting mechanism, while the official documentation remains the place to check what each update actually contains.
A Single RSS Feed for ESXi and vCenter
The project generates a single feed that groups updates for both products.
That lets anyone add it to a regular RSS reader, but its usefulness grows once it’s connected to automation tools.
An organization could use the feed to email the systems team when a version appears, post a notification to its internal communication tool, or automatically create a task for an administrator to review the release notes.
It could also be wired into platforms like Power Automate or any other tool capable of consuming RSS.
The advantage of this format is its simplicity.
The scraper doesn’t need to know which notification system each organization uses. Its job ends once it correctly publishes a new entry to the feed. After that, each team decides what to do with it.
That separates two distinct processes: detecting an update and communicating it.
The same RSS source can simultaneously serve a personal reader, an alerting system, or a corporate workflow without ever having to modify the code that checks Broadcom.
The public service can be found at:
Tracker ESXi + vCenter: esx-rss.mirabalphoto.es
The feed is available at:
RSS feed: esx-rss.mirabalphoto.es/feed.xml
The project itself makes clear it’s not an official Broadcom or VMware service.
That distinction matters because detecting a new version doesn’t mean it should be installed automatically.
Detecting a Patch Doesn’t Mean Installing It
The tool only solves the first part of the problem: knowing a new version exists.
After that, the usual administration work begins.
The team has to check the official release notes, confirm what issues the update fixes, review whether there are related security advisories, and look into known issues.
They’ll also need to check compatibility with the hardware and the rest of the platform’s components before deciding how and when to roll it out.
In a VMware environment, this can mean reviewing ESXi, vCenter, drivers, firmware, backup solutions, storage, networking, and any software that directly depends on the virtualization platform.
If the update is needed, the process should continue with the appropriate testing and a maintenance window aligned with the organization’s policies.
The RSS feed, then, works best as a trigger for the patch management process rather than as a mechanism to automate an update directly.
When a new entry shows up, a task like “review ESXi 8.0 Update 3k” can be created. From there, the team’s established procedure takes over.
This separation matters even more when the new version is tied to a vulnerability. Cutting the time between publication and awareness of the update can be useful, but faster detection doesn’t remove the need to evaluate the change before pushing it to production.
An Idea That Also Applies to Firmware, Drivers, and Security Advisories
The most reusable part of the project isn’t necessarily tied to VMware.
Systems administrators still rely on numerous pages they need to check periodically to spot important changes.
That can mean server firmware pages, new driver versions, appliance updates, security advisories, enterprise application changelogs, or product documentation.
When a vendor provides an API, an RSS feed, email notifications, or a similar mechanism, the obvious move is to use it.
The problem shows up when the only available source is a web page.
In those cases, a small monitoring system can periodically check the page, pull out the relevant data, compare it against the previous state, and generate an alert only when it finds something new.
The logic can be summarized without complex diagrams: check the official source, extract the version and date, compare it with the stored data, and, if there’s something new, publish it to RSS and trigger the corresponding notification.
This approach has another advantage: the system doesn’t need to send an alert every time it runs the check. It only has to do so when the information it cares about changes.
The concept can be extended to practically any page with a reasonably stable structure.
There’s also an obvious limitation. A scraper depends on how the site it checks is built. If the vendor changes its URLs, tweaks the HTML, or reorganizes the release notes entirely, the tool can stop detecting versions correctly and need an update.
That’s why this kind of automation also needs to be monitored.
The VMware Branch Can Be Changed Through Configuration
The tracker is currently set up for VMware ESXi and vCenter 8.0 Update 3, the branch its creator uses.
According to the creator, following a different branch doesn’t require changing the scraper’s logic. It just takes updating a few configuration variables that determine which pages get watched.
That makes the project usable both as a ready-to-consume service and as a reference for building your own tool.
The second option can be especially appealing for organizations that want to keep monitoring in-house or add other sources.
A company could run several trackers for the products that make up its infrastructure and end up feeding their updates into a single alerting system.
The idea doesn’t require artificial intelligence, a big observability platform, or a new enterprise tool either. It uses well-known technologies to eliminate a repetitive manual task.
And that’s precisely where its value lies for systems teams: if a page holds information that can affect infrastructure and someone has to remember to check it periodically, there’s probably room to automate that check.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tracker ESXi + vCenter?
It’s an independent project that checks the VMware release notes Broadcom publishes and generates an RSS feed with the detected ESXi and vCenter versions.
How often does it check for new VMware versions?
According to its creator, the scraper checks the configured pages roughly every hour to see whether new versions have appeared.
Is the ESXi and vCenter RSS feed official?
No. The service itself explicitly states it isn’t an official Broadcom or VMware tool. The official release notes should still be used to check the details of each update.
Can the RSS feed be used to trigger automatic alerts?
Yes. The feed can be used in RSS readers, Power Automate, and other tools capable of consuming this format to send notices or kick off workflows when a new version appears.
