Recently I have to perform a network driver update in the ESXi host, it is very nice to do this. Here I am updating the Ethernet card driver for ESXi 5. This process can be used for updating any driver in the ESXi & ESX host.
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I think the drivers for those are now included in 5.1 (I might be wrong though). ESXi ISO to install VMWare and see if those include the required drivers you need. Software VMWare Front Experience VMWare ESXi 5 whitebox NIC support.
VMware uses a file package called a VIB (VMware Installation Bundle) as the mechanism for installing or upgrading software packages, drivers on an ESX server.
The file may be installed directly on an ESX server from the command line or we can deploy using VMware update manager. Here I am going to mention about the command line method of doing the upgrade.
Install or update a patch/driver on the host using these esxcli commands:
COMMAND LINE INSTALLATION
New Installation
For new installs, you should perform the following steps, Issue the following command (full path to the file must be specified):
esxcli software vib install -v {VIBFILE} or esxcli software vib install -d {OFFLINE_BUNDLE}
Upgrade Installation
The upgrade process is similar to a new install, except the command that should be issued is the following:
esxcli software vib update -v {VIBFILE} or esxcli software vib update -d {OFFLINE_BUNDLE}
Notes:
Usage: esxcli software acceptance set [cmd options]
Description:
Set (Sets the host acceptance level. This controls what VIBs will be allowed on a host.)
Cmd options:
–level=< VMwareCertified / VMwareAccepted / PartnerSupported / CommunitySupported >
(Specifies the acceptance level to set. Should be one of VMwareCertified / VMwareAccepted / PartnerSupported / CommunitySupported.)
STEPS
1, Download the corresponding driver from the VMware site, like given below.
2, Extract the nx_nic-esx50-5.0.619-743299.zip file and there you can see a file net-nx-nic-5.0.619-3vmw.500.0.0.472560.x86_64.vib which contains the Driver. And there is a ZIP file nx_nic-esx50-5.0.619-offline_bundle-743299.zip which is an offline bundle, this also contains the driver and we can also use this for the driver installation.
3, Migrate or power off the virtual machines running on the host and put the host into maintenance mode. The host can be put into maintenance mode from the command line with:
ESXi: # vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter
ESX: # vimsh -n -e hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter
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Exit maintenance mode using the vimsh or vim-cmd command
ESXi: # vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit
ESX: # vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit
4, Upload the VIB file or offline bundle to the ESXi location /tmp via SCP
5, Then open SSH shell for ESxi and go to the directory and check for the uploaded file.
cd /tmp
6, To install the Driver give the command esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/net-nx-nic-5.0.619-3vmw.500.0.0.472560.x86_64.vib
To upgrade the drivers – esxcli software vib update -d /tmp/nx_nic-esx50-5.0.619-offline_bundle-743299.zip
7, Verify that the VIBs are installed on your ESXi host:
# esxcli software vib list
8, Then reboot the ESXi host.
NOTES
if you didn’t give full path of the VIB file it will show the below error.
If the VIB is already installed, you can see the below;
To remove a VIB, search the installed VIB by the command esxcli software vib list
Once we find the correct VIB name give the command esxcli software vib remove -n net-nx-nic
And reboot the ESXi server.
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March 2023
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