Install a network driver on an ESXi host
The following steps document how to install drivers into an ESXi host using the ESXi Shell from the DCUI;
First remove the old driver;
1. Enable ESXi Shell.
2. esxcli software vib list | grep elxnet
3. esxcli software vib remove -n elxnet
4. Reboot
If you have network access to your host, then you could simply do the install via SSH, following a similar process to the steps below but instead of mounting an ISO you could simply copy the drivers to the local data-store or something like that.
Enable ESXi Shell
From the DCUI, press F2 to customise the system
Enter your root credentials when prompted
From the menu, select Troubleshooting Options
Enable ESXi Shell
From the DCUI, press Alt+F1 to access the ESXi Shell
Log in with root credentials
Using your out-of-band management attach the ISO that contains the drivers. If you don’t have an ISO file you can create one using the Img Burn software
List all of the CD-ROMs available to ESXi by running ls /dev/cdrom
Write down the results as you will need this later on. Note: You might see multiple results – document all of them. eg: mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
Mount the ISO so that you can access the driver files, by running the following:
vmkload_mod iso9660
/sbin/vsish -e set /vmkModules/iso9660/mount mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
Note: If this doesn’t work try the other CDROMs from step 6
Once successful, your CD-ROM will be mounted with the path of /vmfs/volumes/. In my instance my CD-ROM mount path was /vmfs/volumes/DOWNLOADS
If you are not sure what your CD-ROM label is, you find out by running: ls /vmfs/volumes/
Next we need to install the drivers. To do this you will need to know the exact path to the driver and the name of the driver VIB file
To install a driver in ESXi, run the following command: esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/NIC.ISO/ELXNET_OLD.VIB
Repeat the above step to install any additional drivers you require
Press Alt+F2 to exit the ESXi Shell
You will now return to the DCUI. From here, reboot the host
First remove the old driver;
1. Enable ESXi Shell.
2. esxcli software vib list | grep elxnet
3. esxcli software vib remove -n elxnet
4. Reboot
If you have network access to your host, then you could simply do the install via SSH, following a similar process to the steps below but instead of mounting an ISO you could simply copy the drivers to the local data-store or something like that.
Enable ESXi Shell
From the DCUI, press F2 to customise the system
Enter your root credentials when prompted
From the menu, select Troubleshooting Options
Enable ESXi Shell
From the DCUI, press Alt+F1 to access the ESXi Shell
Log in with root credentials
Using your out-of-band management attach the ISO that contains the drivers. If you don’t have an ISO file you can create one using the Img Burn software
List all of the CD-ROMs available to ESXi by running ls /dev/cdrom
Write down the results as you will need this later on. Note: You might see multiple results – document all of them. eg: mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
Mount the ISO so that you can access the driver files, by running the following:
vmkload_mod iso9660
/sbin/vsish -e set /vmkModules/iso9660/mount mpx.vmhba33:C0:T0:L0
Note: If this doesn’t work try the other CDROMs from step 6
Once successful, your CD-ROM will be mounted with the path of /vmfs/volumes/. In my instance my CD-ROM mount path was /vmfs/volumes/DOWNLOADS
If you are not sure what your CD-ROM label is, you find out by running: ls /vmfs/volumes/
Next we need to install the drivers. To do this you will need to know the exact path to the driver and the name of the driver VIB file
To install a driver in ESXi, run the following command: esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/NIC.ISO/ELXNET_OLD.VIB
Repeat the above step to install any additional drivers you require
Press Alt+F2 to exit the ESXi Shell
You will now return to the DCUI. From here, reboot the host
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