If you run in to the above error when installing Windows 11 as a virtual machine on ESXi (or other virtual platforms) then be aware that there is a workaround.

First of all make sure that “Enable Windows Virtualization Based Security” is enabled when the virtual machine is created.

When the setup starts (Showing “Install now”) then press “Shift + F10” – this will open a command prompt on top of the setup window.

When the command prompt appears type the following command:

REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\LabConfig /v BypassTPMCheck /t REG_DWORD /d 1

Followed by “exit”

Then you can start the installation – but without check for at TPM chip.

Please be aware that Microsoft considers this as a security issue since best practise is to have a TPM v. 2.0 chip when running Windows 11

You can find other guides that show how to enable a virtual TPM chip in VMware but I consider this the fastest workaround but it should only be used in a “Lab” environment