Identifying and downloading the appropriate driver for your adapter: Process and FAQ
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Identifying and downloading the appropriate driver for your adapter: Process and FAQ

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Article ID: 324535

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Updated On:

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information about identifying the appropriate driver for an adapter installed on your ESX/ESXi host.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable

Resolution

To identify the driver for an adapter installed in your ESX/ESXi host:

  1. See Identifying a PCI device in ESX/ESXi 4.x or ESXi 5.x and comparing it with the VMware HCL (1031534).
  2. Use the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG):
    1. Go to http://www.vmware.com/go/hcl/

      Note: the VMware Compatibility Guide is also known as the VMware Hardware Compatibility Guide (HCL).
       
    2. Under What are you looking for select IO Devices.
    3. Select the appropriate value for each field to filter the results and return the adapter you identified in step 1. See the VMware Compatibility Guide IO Device Fields section for searching guidelines.
    4. Click Update and View Results.
    5. Find your adapter and click the link in the Model column to get full device details.
    6. Review the available information, select the required driver, and record the driver name and version. See VMware Compatibility Guide IO Device Fields section for explanation of the details.
    7. If available, click the + symbol beside the driver you want to download. You can see a driver download link in the Footnotes
       
  3. Optionally, if the VCG page for your device did not include a direct link to the driver, you can search for the driver in our download pages:
    1. Go to https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads.
    2. Find the appropriate product suite release and click the Drivers & Tools link:
      • Drivers for vSphere ESXi 5.1 or later are under Datacenter & Cloud Infrastructure > VMware vCloud Suite.
      • Drivers for vSphere ESXi 5.1 or older are under Datacenter & Cloud Infrastructure > VMware vSphere.

        Note: vSphere ESXi 5.1/5.5 are listed in both download pages.
         
    3. Click the Drivers & Tools hyperlink.
    4. Ensure the correct version of ESXi/ESX is selected under Select Version:.
    5. In the Drivers & Tools tab, expand the Drivers CDs entry.
    6. Use the find functionality within your web browser to help you find a suitable driver package for your adapter.

      For example, to find a driver for a Broadcom adapter, use find and search for Broadcom. The latest driver for that release is displayed first.

      For search guidelines, see the Additional Information section.
       
    7. Click the Go to Downloads link beside the selected driver.
    8. Click Download at the bottom of the page.
    9. Enter your My VMware credentials and proceed with the download.
       
  4. Review Supported Driver Firmware versions for I/O devices (2030818).
  5. Install the driver(s) as required. For more information, see:
     


VMware Compatibility Guide IO Device Fields

  • Product Release Version - The version of ESX or ESXi you are installing the adapter in.
  • Brand Name - The brand of the adapter.
  • I/O Device Type - The type of adapter.
  • VID - The value in the Vendor ID register.
  • DID - The value in the Device ID register.
  • SVID - The value in the Subsystem Vendor ID register.
  • SSID - The value in the Subsystem Device ID register.

    For more information on VID, DID, SVID and SSID, see the PCI-SIG Specification Documentation.

    Note: The preceding link was correct as of September 17, 2014. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.


Additional Information

Frequently Asked Questions


When I search for my I/O Device in the the VMware Compatibility Guide I get multiple results. How do I select which entry applies to my card?

Each device entry within the VMware Compatibility Guide (VCG) for IO Devices includes multiple characteristics that can be used to identify the device. These dimensions include, but are not limited to Device Type, VID, DID, SVID, SSID, Brand Name, Model, and Product Release. Despite all of these dimensions, there are entries within the VMware Compatibility Guide that have many overlapping characteristics. Here is a short description of each one:
  • Device Type - Some I/O Devices are capable of performing multiple functions. The content of the vCG depends on the number of successful hardware certification test results submitted by the VMware partner.
  • Product Release - Some I/O Devices are compatible with multiple releases of the products. The contents of the VCG is depends on the number of successful hardware certification test results submitted by the VMware partner.
  • VID, DID, SVID, SSID - These numbers are part of the PCI standard. These values are not guaranteed to be unique to the IO Device, and hardware manufacturers are not required to create a unique combination. Also, a common practice with hardware manufacturers is distributing rebranded hardware. If an IO Device has been rebranded by a manufacturer, the VID (vendor ID) value may not update and conflict with the Brand Name associated with the device. For more information about these fields, please refer to PCI-SIG Specification Documentation
    .
  • Model - This plain text value is determined by the partner when submitting the hardware certification test results.

    Note: The preceding link was correct as of September 17, 2014. If you find the link is broken, provide feedback and a VMware employee will update the link.
All of the information that is provided in the VMware Compatibility Guide search results is defined by VMware partner. This partner is identified in the Brand Name field. If you encounter a conflict between multiple entries in the VCG, VMware recommends you to contact the vendor from whom you purchased the adapter, or the partner identified in the Brand Name field.

When looking at the results of an I/O Device query in the VMware Compatibility Guide, it includes a Firmware Version column that contains the value N/A. What does that mean? What information is included in that column?

The firmware column indicates the version of firmware that the driver was certified on and if the content of the firmware column is NA, it means the firmware version was not captured during certification. For additional information regarding the latest firmware, refer to the footnotes associated to the applicable device.

After finding my device, what is the best method to find a matching driver in the Product Downloads?

Ensure that you are looking at the Drivers & Tools page for the vSphere version that corresponds to the Release field of the VMware Compatibility Guide results.
Expand the Filter option and paste the driver version number that corresponds with the Device Driver(s) field from the VMware Compatibility Guide results.
Searching by driver version is known to generate the fewest and most accurate results.

When searching for a driver by name, I did not get the results I was expecting. How should I proceed?

The name of the package in the Driver/Tool column may not include the driver name or version. The preferred method of filtering the Download and Drivers list is by using the version field to select the correct version that's applicable to the version of ESXi/ESX you're using

When performing a driver search, I am presented multiple results with a matching driver version number. How do I select the driver best suited for my hardware?

Review the content of the Driver/Tool column. Devices with multiple functions (For example, a NIC with iSCSI HBA capabilities) may have multiple drivers written for each of the device's functions. Also, each of these drivers may share a common version.
If the device is not a multifunction device, and the driver version is released recently, attempt to filter the list further by Release Date.

When performing a driver search, I am unable to find the driver recommended in the VMware Compatibility Guide. What should be my next steps?

When searching for a particular driver version, try removing version numbers from right to left to see if a major version has been listed instead of a minor version. If cannot find the version and the driver was released recently, visit the download site for the IO Device vendor to see whether it is listed on their page for download.

If there is conflicting information between the VMware Compatibility Guide and a third party driver and firmware recipe, how should I proceed?

VMware does not maintain the contents of the third party driver and firmware recipe documentation, and the contents of the VMware Compatibility Guide reflects the hardware certification tests results from the same vendor. If there are any conflicts, please engage the VMware Partner maintaining the recipe page.

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