VMNIC is not loaded on the ESXi host after reboot

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0
• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

• vmnic is missing on the ESXi host after host reboot
• You confirmed the vmnic is compatible and the driver/firmware is latest
  
  
• /var/log/vmkdevmgr.log on the ESXi host reports the below error 
  
  2025-03-21T12:44:34.707Z Wa(12) vmkdevmgr[2097932] vmkmod: VMKModLoad: Module <driver-name> is disabled and cannot be loaded.
2025-03-21T12:44:34.707Z Wa(12) vmkdevmgr[2097932] Error loading driver <driver-name>: Unable to load module /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/<driver-name>: Failure
2025-03-21T12:44:34.707Z Wa(12) vmkdevmgr[2097932] Unable to load driver <driver-name>


• Running the command lspci -v | grep -A1 -i ethernet confirmed that the hardware is seeing the NIC
• Running the command esxcli system module get -m <driver-name> reports Cannot access module instance
• esxcli system module list command reports the driver module is not enabled and loaded
  
[root@esxi-1:/var/log] esxcli system module list | grep elxnet
Name                           Is Loaded   Is Enabled
-----------------------------  ---------  ----------
<driver-name>                    false      false
  
  

Environment

ESXi 8.0

Cause

This issue can occur if the driver module is not enabled and loaded in the ESXi host.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, follow the below steps.

1. Run the below commands to enable and load the driver module on the ESXi host. 

esxcli system module set -m <driver-name> --enabled=true
esxcli system module load -m <driver-name>

2. Once the driver module is enabled and loaded, reboot the ESXi host.

3. After reboot, confirm the driver is enabled and loaded by running the below command.

[root@esxi-1:/var/log] esxcli system module list | grep <driver-name>
Name                           Is Loaded   Is Enabled
-----------------------------  ---------  ----------
<driver-name>                    true        true

4. Run esxcfg-nics -l or esxcli network nic list command to confirm the vmnics are visible on the ESXi after the reboot.