Storage adapters missing and datastores not visible after ESXi host upgrade

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms

After upgrading the ESXi host from 7.0U2 to 7.0U3, the following issues are observed:

• Storage adapters are missing from the upgraded ESXi host.

• Navigate to Host > Configure > Storage Adapters - no Fibre Channel (FC) adapters are listed.

• As a result, all shared datastores are missing on the upgraded host.

Validation Steps

Upon comparison between a working and non-working host:

• The working host shows the Emulex LightPulse LPe16000 PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter listed under Host > Configure > Storage Adapters, or via the command: esxcli storage core adapter list

• On the working host (running ESXi 7.0U2), the installed lpfc driver version is 12.8.329.1, which is supported and listed in the Broadcom Compatibility guide. The driver version can be verified using the command: esxcli software vib list | grep lpfc

• On the upgraded host (running ESXi 7.0U3), the installed lpfc driver version is 14.2.673.47, which is not listed in the Broadcom Compatibility Guide

For instructions on checking driver/firmware versions and validating compatibility, refer to the steps documented in Determining Network/Storage firmware and driver version in ESXi

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x

Cause

The Emulex LightPulse LPe16000 PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter used in the affected host has reached End of Support and is deprecated in the 14.0.x.x lpfc driver series.

During the ESXi upgrade, the lpfc driver was updated to version 14.x.x.x, which no longer supports the LPe16000 adapter. As a result, the storage adapters were not detected, leading to missing shared datastores. This is a known issue documented by Broadcom in  Broadcom Emulex End of Life HBA models not detected with 14.0.x.x and later drivers which lists the following HBA models as deprecated in the 14.0.x.x lpfc driver version:

• Emulex LPe12000-series 8Gb/s PCIe 2.0 FC HBA
• Emulex LPe16000-series 16Gb/s PCIe 2.0 FC HBA
• Emulex OCe14000-series 10GbE FCoE Adapter

Resolution

To resolve the issue, downgrade the lpfc driver to a version that supports the Emulex LPe16000 adapter - specifically, the 12.x.x.x driver version, which is compatible with ESXi 7.0U3. 

You can download the supported version from he broadcom support portal using the kb Finding IO Drivers in the Broadcom Support Portal and using the component version listed in Broadcom Compatibility guide for 7.0u3

Install the driver on the affected ESXi host via CLI by using the command esxcli software vib install -v <path to the vib file>

Reboot the host once the driver is installed.