ESXi host management plane freeze and HA failover prevention due to Broadcom bnxtnet driver/firmware mismatch

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

• ESXi host becomes unresponsive and displays a "Not Responding" status in vCenter Server.
• Virtual machines continue to run on the affected host but cannot be managed.
• vSphere HA does not trigger a failover or migrate VMs to other hosts in the cluster.
• Manual reboot via the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) is required to restore connectivity.
• Log Findings:
  • vobd.log shows excessive link flapping (e.g., over 90 occurrences in a short window):
    Uplink: vmnic# is down. Affected dvPort: #/#...
  • vmkernel.log records driver-level link drops:
    bnxtnet: bnxtnet_display_link: [vmnic#] NIC Link is down

Cause

The issue is caused by a critical mismatch between the bnxtnet driver and the adapter firmware. Specifically, driver version 233.0.156.0 requires a minimum firmware version of 233.1.135.7. Running an older firmware (e.g., 233.0.151.0) causes persistent link flapping.

Resolution

Upgrade the Broadcom network adapter firmware to version 233.1.135.7 or higher to match the 233.0.156.0 driver. Verify compatibility via the Broadcom Compatibility Guide.

Additional Information

• For steps on identifying current versions, see Determining Network/Storage Firmware and Driver Versions.
• To speak with a customer representative or a Support Engineer, see Contact Support.