Fibre Channel Storage Adapter (vmhba) appears "offline" on ESXi host, even though the port shows online from hardware end

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptom:

• FC vmhba shows status as offline on ESXi host:

• From CLI of host, the port state shows offline:

  [root@esxi:~ ] esxcli storage san fc list
    Adapter: vmhba0
    Port ID: ######
    Node Name: ##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##
    Port Name: ##:##:##:##:##:##:##:##
    Speed: 32 Gbps
    Port Type: NPort
    Port State: OFFLINE
    Model Description: VIC 1340
    Hardware Version: B1
    OptionROM Version: ########-#######-##:##:##
    Firmware Version: ###
    Driver Name: #####
    DriverVersion: #######



• From hardware end the Fabric link status is Online.

• Even after performing Fabric Login reset the HBA status remains offline.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Cause

• This issue is caused due to connectivity issue between vmhba to fabric/switch port. 

  
  In "var/run/log/vmkernel.log" you will see below log entries:

  • If nfnic adapter is in use then-

    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ cpu18:2097695)nfnic: <1>: INFO: fdls_process_gpn_ft_rsp: 2624:  GPNFT_RSP FC_CT_REJ with reasoncode :9

  • If qlnativefc adapter is in use then -

    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ In(182) vmkernel: cpu1:2099244 opID=11ef0732)qlnativefc: vmhba0(af:0.1): qlnativefcIssueFcPortReset:502:Issuing a Port Reset
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ In(182) vmkernel: cpu1:2099244 opID=11ef0732)qlnativefc: vmhba0(af:0.1): qlnativefcMailboxCommand:438:qlnativefcMailboxCommand(2): **** FAILED
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ In(182) vmkernel:  mb[0]=4005 cmd=72 ****2025-06-30T06:27:36.825Z cpu1:2099244 opID=11ef0732)qlnativefc: vmhba0(af:0.1): qlnativefcIssueFcPortReset:515:Fail to issue the port reset
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu1:2099244 opID=11ef0732)WARNING: iodm: IodmFcTransport:465: issueFcPortReset failed for 'vmhba0' : Failure

    
    YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu38:2099251 opID=93e2e810)WARNING: ScsiPath: 829: Failed to fetch FC target attributes for path vmhba0:C0:T0:L0.Status = 195887105
YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ In(182) vmkernel: cpu38:2099251 opID=93e2e810)ScsiPath: 1259: Couldn't allocate path (vmhba0:C0:T0:L0) during scan: Failure

• Even if the ports are up at the hardware end, if the connection request gets rejected or the port connectivity is not established, the FC HBA's port status will be offline on the ESXi host.

Resolution

• .To resolve this issue:
  
  
  • Engage the hardware and FC Switch vendor to investigate the issue.
    
    
  • Once this is done, a reboot may be required for the impacted host to refresh the adapter information.

Note: If the fabric layer has been validated to be healthy by the vendor and if the issue still persists, open a case with Broadcom Technical Support to investigate further.