Datastores are missing after upgrading to ESXi 8.0 with Emulex OneConnect OCe14000 FCoE adapters

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

After upgrading an ESXi host to version 8.0.x (e.g., Update 3), datastores previously accessible via FCoE are no longer visible. You may observe the following:

• The host shows an error: "No datastores have been configured."
• Software FCoE adapters or specific hardware HBAs are missing from the storage adapter list in the vSphere Client.
• Storage rescans do not restore access to the LUNs.

Environment

 

ESXi 8.x
Emulex OneConnect OCe14000-series 10GbE FCoE Adapter

 

Cause

The issue is caused by a hardware compatibility limitation. The Emulex OneConnect OCe14000 series FCoE adapters have reached End-of-Life (EOL) and are not supported in ESXi 8.0.

Broadcom has deprecated support for these legacy adapters in modern driver stacks (such as brcmfcoe version 12.0.1500.3 and later). While the PCI device remains visible to the kernel, the driver will not initialize the hardware, effectively severing storage connectivity

Broadcom Emulex End of Life HBA models not detected with 14.0.x.x and later drivers

Resolution

To restore datastore access, the unsupported hardware must be replaced with components validated for ESXi 8.0.

1. Verify Hardware Compatibility Confirm the device ID of the installed adapters. Legacy OCe14000 adapters typically report a device ID of 10df:0724.

vmkchdev -l | grep vmhba
# Example output confirming legacy hardware:
# 0000:2f:00.2 10df:0724 10df:e872 vmkernel vmhba2

 

Check the VMware Compatibility Guide to verify if your device is supported for ESXi 8.0.

2. Replace Unsupported Adapters Replace the Emulex OneConnect OCe14000 adapters with modern HBAs or CNAs validated against the ESXi 8.0 Compatibility Guide, such as:

• 16Gb/s LPe31000-series
• 32Gb/s LPe32000-series or newer

3. Update SAN and Network Configuration Once the new hardware is installed:

• SAN Zoning: Update SAN switch zoning and Storage Array LUN masking with the new adapter World Wide Port Names (WWPNs).
• Networking: Update physical switch port configurations (e.g., VLANs, MTU) to reflect the new vmnic MAC addresses.
• vSphere Configuration: Re-assign the new vmnics to the corresponding vSwitch or Virtual Distributed Switch (VDS).

4. Perform Storage Rescan Execute a storage rescan on the ESXi host to map the datastores and verify path redundancy.

Note: Rolling back the host to ESXi 7.x is not recommended as ESXi 7.x has reached End of General Support (EOGS).