After upgrading ESXI host from 7 to 8 it takes a long time to connect to network

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

 

• Recent upgrade ESXI from 7 to 8
• The host  takes longer than  expected reconnect to the network  
• The host has Mellanox Connect X-6 DX Dual Port 100Gb network card 

• You might see similar error with the VMnic going down  in the host VOBD.log:

     2025-10-16T17:42:11.334Z In(14) vobd[2098147]:  [netCorrelator] 877220199732us: [vob.net.pg.uplink.transition.down] Uplink: vmnic4 is down. Affected portgroup: Management Network. 1 uplinks up. Failed criteria: 128
   2025-10-16T17:42:11.349Z In(14) vobd[2098147]:  [netCorrelator] 877220214887us: [vob.net.pg.uplink.transition.down] Uplink: vmnic6 is down. Affected portgroup: Management Network. 0 uplinks up. Failed criteria: 128
   2025-10-16T19:55:11.715Z In(14) vobd[2098147]:  [netCorrelator] 2974556790us: [vob.net.pg.uplink.transition.down] Uplink: vmnic4 is down. Affected portgroup: Management Network. 0 uplinks up. Failed criteria: 128

  Note: Failed Criteria 128 can be many things between the link on the physical side and the host which includes cables, switches, and firmware drivers  

Environment

vSphere ESXI 8

Cause

At this time the cause is unknown

Resolution

This is issue is most likely cause by a NIC driver/firmware or other physical network issue. Contact your hardware vendor for assistance with this issue. 

Additional Information

 See this for more details

Network adapter (vmnic) is down or fails with a Failed Criteria Code