vmware esxi 8u2, rhel 9.2, keyboard doesn't work

I can use keyboard to deploy rhel9, but once it boots up I can no longer use keyboard via web console or remote console.

Vmware client tools are installed: 12325 (latest and greatest)

I've been working around the issue by using dhcp and reaching the systems via ssh for configuration. Surely there must be an easy fix.

Could there be an additional package needed?

...
tried with same result:
- installing 'minimal install'
- installing 'Guest Agents and Drivers' along w/ 'minimal install'
- installing 'linux server' instead of 'minimal install'