ESXi reports dead path or offline status for QLogic Fibre Channel Adapter (vmhba)

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms :

• One of the vmhba adapter report dead paths to underlying Storage devices while path connectivity is established on other vmhba adapters 
  
  (Path in vSphere UI : ESXi host -> Configure tab -> Under Storage > Storage Adapters)


• vmhba may also be reported as offline:
  
  
  
  
  
• boot.log on ESXi host reports following logging : 
  
  (/var/log/boot.log) .

2026-01-06T02:33:15.206Z cpu5:2098430)ql_fcoe:vmhba64:SendFCoEVlanSolicitation:1462:Info: Sending FCoEVlanSolicitation request (0x1)
2026-01-06T02:33:15.206Z cpu107:2098431)ql_fcoe:vmhba65:SendFCoEVlanSolicitation:1462:Info: Sending FCoEVlanSolicitation request (0x1)
2026-01-06T02:33:15.207Z cpu110:2098257)ql_fcoe:vmhba64:ql_fcoe_parse_vlan_response:1309:Info: Received VLAN response: VLAN ID: 4092
2026-01-06T02:33:15.207Z cpu110:2098257)ql_fcoe:vmhba#:SendFCoEDiscoverySolicitation:1200:Info: Sending FIP discovery for vlan_id = 0xffc (0x43185cb68d70
2026-01-06T02:33:15.218Z cpu110:2098257)ql_fcoe:vmhba#:ql_fcoe_parse_disc_resp:749:Info: Discovered FCF ##:##:##:##:##:## Fabric 0x43185cb68d70 xxxx-0 VLAN # Pri 128
2026-01-06T02:33:17.220Z cpu45:2098428)ql_fcoe:vmhba#:StartFabricLoginWork:447:Info: Choose Fabric 0x43185cb68d70 VLAN #, over Fabric 0x43185cb68d70 VLAN #
2026-01-06T02:33:17.220Z cpu45:2098428)ql_fcoe:vmhba#:StartFabricLoginWork:475:Info: FLOGI to FCF ##:##:##:##:##:## Fabric 0x43185cb68d70 xxxx-0 VLAN # Pri 128
2026-01-06T02:33:17.224Z cpu110:2098257)ql_fcoe:vmhba64:FipFabricLoginCompletion:1838:Info: Called for Fabric: xxxxx
2026-01-06T02:33:17.224Z cpu110:2098257)ql_fcoe:vmhba64:FabricLoginCompletion:1378:Info: FabricLoginCompletion: Fabric 0x43185cb68d70 FLOGI/FDISC status Success
2026-01-06T02:33:17.224Z cpu110:2098257)FabricLoginCompletion flags 0x109.
2026-01-06T02:33:17.224Z cpu110:2098257)FabricLoginCompletion setting NPIV SUPPORTED flag.
2026-01-06T02:33:17.224Z cpu110:2098257)ql_fcoe:vmhba64:FabricLoginCompletion:1572:Info: Fabric login completed Fabric (USE_FIP) 0x43185cb68d70 Sess 0x43185cb69010

• vmhba link shows up as down 
  
  (in /var/run/log/vmkernel.log)

2026-07-11T22:54:37.332Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu37:2098317)qedf:vmhba#:qedfc_link_update_handler:1909:Info: ST(LINK): LINK_UP->LINK_DOWN
2026-07-11T22:54:37.332Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu37:2098317)qedf:vmhba#:qedfc_link_update_handler:1933:Info: VLAN and FIP DISC are both idle
2026-07-11T22:54:37.332Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu37:2098317)ql_fcoe:vmhba#:CancelFipDiscoveryTimeoutWork:91:Error: Could not cancel the FipDiscoveryTimeoutWorkItem. FabricId: 0 with status = Not found
  
  
  

Environment

• VMware ESXi 7.x
  
  
• VMware ESXi 8.x

Cause

• According to the logs, vmbha# has successfully logged FabricLoginCompletion and received a VLAN response, indicating proper configuration for that adapter.
  
  
• However, no response has been received for vmhba#. This discrepancy suggests a potential misconfiguration or certain fault occurring outside the ESXi layer possibly at fabric or storage layer.
  
  
  
• Paths are removed and connection is marked down:
  
  (/var/run/log/vmkernel.log)

2026-07-11T22:54:55.737Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu95:2098242)PowerPath:Path vmhba#:C#:T#:L# Inquiry Pirp Failed
2026-07-11T22:54:56.244Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu72:2098242)PowerPath:Path vmhba#:C#:T#:L# Inquiry Pirp Failed
2026-07-11T22:54:56.754Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu85:2098242)PowerPath:Path vmhba#:C#:T#:L# Inquiry Pirp Failed
2026-07-11T22:54:57.264Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu85:2098242)PowerPath:Path vmhba#:C#:T#:L# Inquiry Pirp Failed
2026-07-11T22:54:57.832Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu57:2098276)qedf:vmhba4:qedfc_device_down:318:Info: ST(RPORT): DEV_LOSS C_ID[0x3]:P_ID[0x650740]:T_ID[3], Status = Success

2026-07-11T22:54:59.443Z Al(177) vmkalert: cpu103:2098695)ALERT: PowerPath:EKMC032: Path vmhba#:C#:T#:L# to ############ is dead.
2026-07-11T22:54:59.443Z Al(177) vmkalert: cpu103:2098695)ALERT: PowerPath:EKMC032: Path vmhba#:C#:T#:L# to ############ is dead.
  
  
  
• After multiple attempts, HBA tries to connect again and is reported with maximum retries limit being reached:
  
  (/var/run/log/vmkernel.log)

2026-07-11T23:23:55.437Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu46:########)WARNING: ql_fcoe:vmhba#:FipDiscoveryTimeoutWork:125: Max retry exhausted for Fabric = 0x43183f576600 vlan_id = 0x###
2026-07-11T23:23:57.438Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu8:########)ql_fcoe:vmhba#:SendFCoEVlanSolicitation:1477:Info: Sending FCoEVlanSolicitation request (0x2)
2026-07-11T23:23:59.438Z In(182) vmkernel: cpu8:########)ql_fcoe:vmhba#:SendFCoEVlanSolicitation:1477:Info: Sending FCoEVlanSolicitation request (0x3)
2026-07-11T23:24:01.440Z Wa(180) vmkwarning: cpu8:2098464)WARNING: ql_fcoe:vmhba#:FipVlanTimeoutWork:254: FIP VLAN Max Retries reached, cur vlan and pri: 1002

 

Resolution

Engage FCoE Administrator to review the external fabric and switch configurations and identify why vmhba# is not receiving the expected responses.