Intel 82576 Gigabit Ethernet Controllers are not recognized after an upgrade or fresh Install

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

After upgrading from ESX 3.5 Update 3 to Update 4, you may experience these symptoms:

• Network connectivity to the Service Console is lost
• Intel 82576 Gigabit Ethernet Controllers with DID 10c9 are no longer recognized

If you are using ESX 4.x, you may experience these symptoms:

• If you skip the custom driver installation, the NICs are not detected

Environment

VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x

Resolution

ESX 3.5

This issue may occur if the igb driver installed on the ESX host is different than version 1.3.8.6.3.

To resolve this issue, ensure that the ESX host has igb driver version 1.3.8.6.3 installed. If it does not, download and install it.

Checking the driver version

Run this command to check the driver version:

rpm -qa | grep igb

If the output indicates that the driver version is different than version 1.3.8.6.3, proceed to the next section to download and install that version.

Installing the driver

To download and install the igb driver version 1.3.8.6.3:

1. Download the driver ISO image from http://download3.vmware.com/software/esx/esx350-igb-350.1.3.8.6.3-137613.iso.
2. Run this command to mount the ISO image on the ESX host:
   
   mount -o loop esx350-igb-350.1.3.8.6.3-137613.iso /mnt
   
   
3. Run this command to remove the existing driver:
   
   rpm -e <existing_driver_rpm_name>
   
   
4. Run this command to install the driver from CD-ROM:
   
   rpm -ivh VMware-igb-350.1.3.8.6.3-<build>.rpm
   
   
5. Reboot the ESX host. For more information, see Rebooting an ESX Server host (1003530).

ESX 4.x

This issue may occur if the drivers for the network controller are not installed.

To resolve this issue, download the Driver CD for the network controller and install the drivers.

To install drivers for devices as part of a new ESX installation:

1. Place the ESX installation DVD in the DVD drive of the host.
2. Click Accept to the terms of the license agreement.
3. Select a keyboard type.
4. When prompted for Custom Drivers, click Yes to install custom drivers.
5. Click Add to eject the ESX installation DVD.
6. Place the driver CD in the DVD drive of the ESX host.
7. Select driver module to import drivers to the ESX host.
8. Click Next to continue. This message appears: Load the system drivers.
9. Click Yes to load the driver module.
10. Follow the instructions on screen and continue installing ESX .

To update or add drivers on an existing ESX installation using esxupdate:

1. Power on the ESX host and log in as root.
2. Mount the driver CD in the CD-ROM drive of the ESX host.
   
   For example:
   mount /mnt/cdrom
   
   
3. Navigate to <cd mount point>/offline-bundle/.
   
   For example:
   cd /mnt/cdrom/offline-bundle/
   
   
4. Locate the INT-intel-lad-ddk-igb-1.3.19.12-offline_bundle-166506.zip file.
5. Run the esxupdate command to install drivers using the offline bundle. For example:
   esxupdate --bundle=INT-intel-lad-ddk-igb-1.3.19.12-offline_bundle-166506.zip update

For more information, see ESX 4 Patch Management Guide Tech Note.