Determining if a driver installed on ESXi is Async or Inbox

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article helps you determine if a driver on an ESX/ESXi host is Async or Inbox.

 

Note: If a defect is found, the course of action depends on the type of driver. For example, VMware CPD owns the resolution for Inbox drivers, whereas the hardware vendor owns the resolution for Async drivers.

Environment

VMware ESXi 6.x, 7.x, 8.x

Resolution

To determine the type of driver, run the command:

In ESXi 6.x, 7.x, 8.x:

 

esxcli software vib get

The output includes the VIB names which indicate the type of driver as illustrated in the following table:

 

VIB Name Includes	Driver Type
vmw (only)	Inbox driver
vmw and OEM	Async version of inbox driver
OEM (only)	Async driver (no inbox driver available)

 

Using a formatted tool, you can get output similar to the following table. There is an added "Type" column to clarify the examples:

 

Name	Vendor	Support Status	Release Date	Type
Broadcom_bootbank_net-bnx2_2.1.12b.v50.3-1OEM.500.0.0.472560	Broadcom	VMwareCertified	10/28/2011	Async
Brocade_bootbank_scsi-bfa_3.0.1.0-1OEM.500.0.0.472560	Brocade	VMwareCertified	9/29/2011	Async
Emulex_bootbank_scsi-lpfc820_8.2.2.105.36-1OEM.500.0.0.406165	Emulex	VMwareCertified	9/16/2011	Async
Fusion-io_bootbank_block-iomemory-vsl_2.3.8.24-1OEM.500.0.0.406165	Fusion-io	VMwareCertified	10/24/2011	Async
Hewlett-Packard_bootbank_scsi-hpsa_5.0.0-24OEM.500.0.0.406165	Hewlett-Packard	VMwareCertified	11/21/2011	Async
Intel_bootbank_net-ixgbe_3.7.13-1OEM.500.0.0.472560	Intel	VMwareCertified	11/3/2011	Async
VMware_bootbank_scsi-mpt2sas_06.00.00.00-5vmw.500.0.0.456551	VMware	VMwareCertified	07/29/2011	Inbox
LSI_bootbank_scsi-mpt2sas_11.00.00.00.2vmw-1OEM.500.0.0.472560	LSI	VMwareCertified	9/5/2011	Async version of Inbox
Mellanox_bootbank_net-mlx4-en_1.6.1.2-1OEM.500.0.0.406165	Mellanox	VMwareCertified	8/8/2011	Async
Myricom_bootbank_net-myri10ge_1.5.3-1OEM.500.0.0.406165	Myricom	VMwareCertified	7/14/2011	Async
Promise_bootbank_scsi-stex_4.07.0000.75-1OEM.500.0.0.472560	Promise	VMwareCertified	11/19/2011	Async
QLogic_Corporation_bootbank_ima-qla4xxx_500.2.01.20-1vmw.0.0.081609	QLogic_Corporation	VMwareCertified	8/16/2011	Inbox
QLogic_bootbank_net-qlcnic_5.0.736-1OEM.500.0.0.472560	QLogic	VMwareCertified	9/15/2011	Async

 

 

Note: Acceptance level is not an indication of the driver type. All inbox drivers and certified async drivers are of "VMwareCertified" acceptance level.

Additional Information

Download and install async drivers in VMware ESXi