/var/run/log/vobd.log will confirm the unavailability of working uplinks.[esx.problem.net.dvport.redundancy.lost] Lost uplink redundancy on DVPorts ### Physical NIC vmnic0 is down.
[esx.problem.net.dvport.connectivity.lost] Lost network connectivity on DVPorts ### Physical NIC vmnic1 is down.
/var/run/log/vmkernel.log show entries similar to: WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_send_msg:389: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] HWRM cmd resp_len timeout, cmd_type 0x106(HWRM_CFA_FLOW_STATS) seq 63810
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_send_msg:389: [vmnic1 : 0x45210a38a000] HWRM cmd resp_len timeout, cmd_type 0x106(HWRM_CFA_FLOW_STATS) seq 15810
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_send_msg:389: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] HWRM cmd resp_len timeout, cmd_type 0x0(HWRM_VER_GET) seq 63811
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_get_version:2501: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] VER_GET failed- FW_STATUS_REG: 0x89021
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_snd_fw_msg:538: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] Looks like FW is crashed/non-responsive.
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_snd_fw_msg:540: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] Dumping FW trace and reporting link down to OS
bnxtnet: bnxtnet_report_link_down_to_uplink:1527: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] Reporting Link down
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_fill_fw_msg:935: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] Sending HWRM message failed
WARNING: bnxtnet: cmd_cmpl_wait:1164: [vmnic0 : 0x452106aee000] FW went bad, stop waiting for queue flush
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_send_msg:389: [vmnic1 : 0x45210a38a000] HWRM cmd resp_len timeout, cmd_type 0x0(HWRM_VER_GET) seq 15811
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_get_version:2501: [vmnic1 : 0x45210a38a000] VER_GET failed- FW_STATUS_REG: 0x89021
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_snd_fw_msg:538: [vmnic1 : 0x45210a38a000] Looks like FW is crashed/non-responsive.
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_snd_fw_msg:540: [vmnic1 : 0x45210a38a000] Dumping FW trace and reporting link down to OS
bnxtnet: bnxtnet_report_link_down_to_uplink:1527: [vmnic1 : 0x45210a38a000] Reporting Link down
WARNING: bnxtnet: hwrm_fill_fw_msg:935: [vmnic1 : 0x45210a38a000] Sending HWRM message faile
VMware vSphere 7.x
VMware vSphere 8.x
Network interface card may fail resulting in a pause of network traffic on the ESXi Server. Depending on the configuration, management VMkernel interface may end up with no working uplinks resulting in outage.
A reboot may help in restoring the server to normal state.
Hardware vendor must be engaged for further troubleshooting/investigation related to network interface card failure.
Note: It is a best practice to keep the network interface card firmware/driver versions up-to-date. Please use Hardware Compatibility Guide to understand the supportability and availability of firmware/drivers for the network interface card.
You can review the knowledgebase article Network adapter (vmnic) is down or fails with a Failed Criteria Code to understand more about troubleshooting network interface card failure and related outages.
Performance drops on BCM5741x NICs with GENEVE traffic
Wrong GENEVE inner checksum from NIC firmware on ESXi host with BCM5741x / Broadcom 5741x NIC.