VMFS Datastore missing after patching ESXi 7.0.3

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

VMFS Datastore backed by NVMe Over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC) LUN presented over CISCO VIC HBAs (driver nfnic) is missing after patching ESXi 7.0.3

Environment

ESXi 7.0.3
VMFS
NVMe Over Fibre Channel (NVMe/FC)

Cause

Support for NVMe/FC was introduced with nfnic 5.0.0.15. See Release Notes for Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card Drivers, Release 4.2
nfnic driver was downgraded to 4.0.0.87 during the patching activity. A custom CISCO ISO was used.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, download and update the nfnic driver on ESXi to 5.0.0.15 or later.
For instructions on how to download an IO driver, see Finding IO Drivers in the Broadcom Support Portal
For instructions on how to install the driver, follow steps from the section titled Installing async drivers using esxcli and async driver VIB file of the article Download and install async drivers in VMware ESXi