The ESXi host is unable to establish a connection to the SAN over the Fibre Channel adapter.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Issue/Introduction

The HBAs on ESXi host report a 'link-down' status within the vSphere client

vmhba64 lpfc              link-down fc.################################    (0000:##:00.0) Emulex Corporation Emulex LPe35000/LPe36000 Fibre Channel Adapter
vmhba65 lpfc              link-down fc.################################    (0000:##:00.1) Emulex Corporation Emulex LPe35000/LPe36000 Fibre Channel Adapter
vmhba66 lpfc              link-down fc.################################   (0000:##:00.1) Emulex Corporation Emulex LPe35000/LPe36000 Fibre Channel Adapter
vmhba67 lpfc              link-down fc.################################    (0000:##:00.0) Emulex Corporation Emulex LPe35000/LPe36000 Fibre Channel Adapter

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 8.X

Cause

The ports are in 'down' state at the hardware level.

Resolution

The issue may be due to an SFP issue or an issue with the FC cards themselves. Engage hardware vendor to investigate at the hardware level.