I have seen some problems when running the wrong driver version against firmware version, so here is a guide how to find the information you need to check compatability on ESXI 5.x and 6.0.
I will get all the in the console via SSH.
New Kernel options available on ESXi 7.0; Devices deprecated and unsupported in ESXi 7.0; Licensing ESXi 6.x/7.0.x and vCenter Server 6.x/7.0.x; Important information before upgrading to vSphere 6.7; Update sequence for vSphere 6.7 and its compatible VMware products; Devices deprecated and unsupported in ESXi 6.7. Jul 17, 2017. With standard ESX it is very easy to add additional drivers during installation. Just select ‘Yes’ when the installations asks if you want to add additional drivers, select and add the driver and you’re done. With ESXi you have only two options when installing, 1. Install ESXi, 2. Boot from harddisk.
How to find NIC information:
With the command:
I can see the names of the NIC, here: vmnic0 and vmnic1
With the command:
I can see this information:
How to find HBA information:
There 2 ways to find the information dependent on if you are using native og legacy driver, I will show how to with the native driver:
With the command:
I can see the names of the NIC, here: vmhba3 and vmhba4
With the command:
I can see this information:
With the command:
I can see this information:
- Driver: qlanativefc
Notes:
Information for the lagacy/Linux style driver, you can look in the file:
Check compatibility:
We now have the information for the driver and the firmware, now we wil check the compatibility in the VMware HCL list. Some time we don’t know the exact name of the adapter, then we can use the hardware identifier:
With the command:
I can see this information from the above screenshot:
- VID = 1077
- DID = 2532
- SVID = 103c
- SDID = 3261
This information we use in the VMware HCL site at: http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io
I know that this is a Mezzanine card so I choose this, but the list for both of them should properly be the same.
The result looks like this: Singer quantum 7312 manual.
In this case there are only one result, that does not match our driver and Firmware version is N/A.
Then I check the hardware vendors support, VMware has a KB that links to the vendors: https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2030818
Esxi Driver Download
link to VMware KB.
In this care it’s HPE and goes to there recipes.
So I need to upgrade both driver and Firmware.
NOTES:
In some cases the listed firmware or driver is not accessible by VMware og Hardware vendor, for download, please contact Hardware Vendor and/or VMware.
I40en Driver Esxi
The output for the HBA may vary between vendors.