ESXi 5.5 Uplink Port using Broadcom bnx2 driver flaps when connected to a vSphere Distributed Switch

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• The Uplink Port on an ESXi 5.5 host flaps when connected to a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS).
• This issue does not occur when the Uplink Port is connected to a Standard Virtual Switch (VSS).
• This issue can occur when a NIC using a Broadcom bnx2 driver is attached to a NIOC-enabled vSphere Distributed Switch.
• The /var/log/vmkernel.log file contains entries similar to:
  
  <6>bnx2 0000:03:00.1: vmnic3: CPU fw versions: TXP: 'txp6.2.1c' TPAT: 'tpa6.2.1c' RXP: 'rxp6.2.1c' COM: 'com6.2.1c' CP: 'cp6.2.1c'
  YYYY-MM-DDT20:38:23.882Z cpu20:32852)<3>bnx2 0000:03:00.1: vmnic3: NIC SerDes Link is Down
  YYYY-MM-DDT20:38:23.882Z cpu20:32852)IRQ: 540: 0x51 <cnic> exclusive, flags 0x10
  YYYY-MM-DDT20:38:23.882Z cpu20:32852)VMK_VECTOR: 218: Registered handler for interrupt 0xff51, flags 0x10
  
  or
  
  YYYY-MM-DDT10:30:48.959Z cpu1:32852)<3>[cnic_stop_bnx2_ooo_hw:7307(vmnic3)]hw rx_cons=0 != sw rx_cons=0 rx_prod=511
  <6>bnx2 0000:04:00.1: vmnic3: CPU fw versions: TXP: 'txp6.2.1b' TPAT: 'tpa6.2.1b' RXP: 'rxp6.2.1b' COM: 'com6.2.1b' CP: 'cp6.2.1b'
  YYYY-MM-DDT10:30:49.348Z cpu1:32852)<3>bnx2 0000:04:00.1: vmnic3: NIC Remote Copper Link is Down
  YYYY-MM-DDT10:30:49.349Z cpu1:32852)IRQ: 540: 0x4b <cnic> exclusive, flags 0x10
  YYYY-MM-DDT10:30:49.349Z cpu1:32852)VMK_VECTOR: 218: Registered handler for interrupt 0xff4b, flags 0x10
  YYYY-MM-DDT10:30:49.349Z cpu10:33412)netsched: NetSchedMClkNotify:2329: vmnic3: link down notification

Note: The preceding log excerpts are only examples. Date, time, and environmental variables may vary depending on your environment.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5

Cause

Resolution

This issue is resolved by the bnx2 driver async version 2.2.5f.v55.16 (or later). This driver is available at VMware ESXi 5.5 Driver CD for Broadcom NetXtreme II Network/iSCSI/FCoE Driver Set. For information about installing async drivers, see Installing async drivers on VMware ESXi 5.x and ESXi 6.0.x (2005205).

To work around this issue temporarily, disable NIOC (Network IO Control) on the vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS). For more information, see Enable Network I/O Control on a vSphere Distributed Switch with the vSphere Web Client in the VMware vSphere 5.5 Networking Guide.

Additional Information

For more information on NICs that use the Broadcom bnx2 driver, see the Hardware Compatibility List for IO devices.

For related information, see:

• The VMware vSphere 5.5 Networking Guide.
• vSphere Network I/O Control in the VMware vSphere 5.5 Networking Guide.

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Broadcom bnx2 ドライバを使用している ESXi 5.5 ホストのアップリンクポートが vSphere Distributed Switch に接続されていると動作が不安定になる