Determining Network/Storage firmware and driver version in ESXi

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps for determining the driver and firmware versions for Host Bus Adapters (HBA) and physical network interface cards (NICs) on ESXi.

The Broadcom Hardware Compatibility List is the collection point for these Information as provided by the vendor, so that the customer does not have to contact the Vendors for each component. VMware does not develop or test Drivers. For more information, see FAQ: Recommendation for Driver/Firmware.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 7.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.x

Resolution

Obtain information on the VSAN Controllers
To determine the driver and firmware version of VSAN Controllers:
Open an SSH session to the ESXi host.
Run this command to list the Controllers used by VSAN on the host:
esxcli vsan debug controller list -v true
esxcli vsan debug controller list --used-by-vsan=true

Obtain information on the Host Bus Adapter.
To determine the driver and firmware version of a Host Bus Adapter:
Open an SSH session to the ESXi host.
Run this command to list the Host Bus Adapters (HBAs):
esxcfg-scsidevs -a
esxcli storage core adapter list

Run this command to get the specifics of the device driver version:
vmkload_mod -s HBADriver |grep Version
vmkload_mod -s pvscsi | grep Version
The highlighted section shows the device driver version.
The following command can be executed to list the device driver versions for all the VMHBA at once:
for a in $(esxcfg-scsidevs -a |awk '{print $2}') ;do vmkload_mod -s $a |grep -i version ;done
Alternatively, for ESXi versions 6.5 and above, this command can be run to list out the specifics of the physical vmhba adapter set being used (including the firmware version):
esxcli storage san [fc|iscsi|fcoe|sas] list
Example:

esxcli storage san fc list
Adapter: vmhba1
Port ID: 090300
Node Name: 20:00:00:24:##:##:51:c2
Port Name: 21:00:00:24:##:##:51:c2
Speed: 4 Gbps
Port Type: NPort
Port State: ONLINE
Model Description: QLogic 8Gb Fibr
Hardware Version: CU0210412-01 K
OptionROM Version: 2.13
Firmware Version: 8.05.00 (90d5)
Driver Name: qlnativefc
DriverVersion: 3.0.1.0

Adapter: vmhba2
Port ID: 090300
Node Name: 20:00:00:24:ff:4c:51:c3
Port Name: 21:00:00:24:ff:4c:51:c3
Speed: 4 Gbps
Port Type: NPort
Port State: ONLINE
Model Description: QLogic 8Gb Fibr
Hardware Version: CU0210412-01 K
OptionROM Version: 2.13
Firmware Version: 8.05.00 (90d5)
Driver Name: qlnativefc
DriverVersion: 3.0.1.0

Where the Driver Version and Firmware Version are highlighted.
These commands can also be used:
/usr/lib/vmware/vmkmgmt_keyval/vmkmgmt_keyval -d
Dumping all key-value instance names:
Key Value Instance: vmhba65/qlogic
Key Value Instance: vmhba64/qlogic
Key Value Instance: MOD_PARM_FCOE/qlogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic7/QLogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic6/QLogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic5/QLogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic4/QLogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic3/QLogic
Key Value Instance: QCNIC/qlogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic2/QLogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic1/QLogic
Key Value Instance: vmnic0/QLogic

/usr/lib/vmware/vmkmgmt_keyval/vmkmgmt_keyval -l -i vmhba64/qlogic

Listing keys:
Name: ADAPTER
Type: string
value: qfle3f-QLogic Offload FCoE:57840 v2.1.30.0 over vmnic2
ql_fcoe: v1.0.38.0 (Driver)
HBA:0x431205008000 for netdev:0000:37:00.2
Host Device Name vmhba64 (Physical)
Active NPIV Ports : 0
FW version = Storm: 7.13.20.0 MFW: 7.16.3 (Firmware)
Note: The functionality of the above step is limited to certain Physical Adapter Types/Sets only (Qlogic, lpfc etc).

If the above commands do not list out the required details of the device driver and firmware versions, they would need to be fetched manually by executing the commands stated earlier (only the details of the Device Driver version can be fetched).

For validating/downloading/installing the Firmware Versions, reach out to the Hardware Vendor.
To determine the recommended driver for the card, the Vendor ID (VID), Device ID (DID), Sub-Vendor ID (SVID), and Sub-Device ID (SDID) attributes must be obtained using the vmkchdev command:
vmkchdev -l |grep vmhba1
000:16.0 1000:0030 15ad:1976 vmkernel vmhba1

In this example, the values are:

VID = 1000
DID = 0030
SVID = 15ad
SDID = 1976
Alternatively, the same information can be retrieved by running this command:
esxcfg-info | less
Search for vmhba# by entering "/vmhba#" where # is the number.
Upon hitting enter, this would initiate a forward search and the result would be shown as below:

Search the Broadcom Compatibility Guide for the Vendor ID (VID), Device ID (DID), Sub-Vendor ID (SVID), and Sub-Device ID (SDID). In some cases, a text search to narrow down the particular card may be required.

Note: To check the ESXi/ESX host version, use the command:
vmware -vl

Obtain information on the Network card.

To determine the version information for a physical network interface card in vSphere ESXi:

Open an SSH session to the ESXi host.
Obtain a list of network interface cards and names.

In ESXi, run this command:
esxcli network nic list

For example:
esxcli network nic list
^{Name PCI Driver Link Speed Duplex MAC Address}^{vmnic0 00:02:04.00 ACME Up 1000Mbps Full ##:##:##:##:##:##}^{vmnic1 00:02:05.00 ACME Up 1000Mbps Full ##:##:##:##:##:##}
Run this command to display available information for one of the network interfaces, specifying its name from step 2:
esxcli network nic get -n vmnic#

For example, the highlighted lines show the driver:
esxcli network nic get -n vmnic0

Advertised Auto Negotiation: true
Advertised Link Modes: Auto, 100BaseT/Full, 1000BaseT/Full, 10000BaseT/Full
Auto Negotiation: true
Cable Type: Twisted Pair
Current Message Level: -1
Driver Info:
Bus Info: 0000:01:00:0
Driver: ixgben
Firmware Version: 0x80000##b, ##.5.12
Version: 1.7.1.28
Link Detected: true
Link Status: Up
Name: vmnic0
PHYAddress: 0
Pause Autonegotiate: true
Pause RX: true
Pause TX: true
Supported Ports: TP
Supports Auto Negotiation: true
Supports Pause: true
Supports Wakeon: false
Transceiver:
Virtual Address: 00:50:#6:5f:#a:#0
Wakeon: None

Alternatively, for ESXi versions 6.5 and above, the following command can be run to list out the specifics of all the vmnics:
/usr/lib/vmware/vm-support/bin/nicinfo.sh | less
To determine the recommended driver for the card, the Vendor ID (VID), Device ID (DID), Sub-Vendor ID (SVID), and Sub-Device ID (SDID) attributes must be obtained using the vmkchdev command:
vmkchdev -l |grep vmnic

002:01.0 8086:100f 15ad:0750 vmkernel vmnic0

In this example, the values are:

VID = 8086
DID = 100f
SVID = 15ad
SDID = 0750
The Broadcom Compatibility Guide (IO devices) can now be searched for the Vendor ID (VID), Device ID (DID), Sub-Vendor ID (SVID), and Sub-Device ID (SDID). In some cases, a text search to narrow down the particular card may be required.

Note: Check the ESXi host version by running this command:
vmware -vl

From the ESXi host version and the network type, the appropriate driver version can be determined. Compare this information to the information received in step 3. It is recommended that the driver be up to date. Driver updates are available on the VMware downloads page, which can be accessed by clicking on the top of list driver.

To update the driver, see How to download and install async drivers in ESXi.

Additional Information

PowerCLI script to obtain the vmnic network adapter driver versions for all the ESXi hosts connected to a vCenter :

Querying the ESXi hosts directly using VMware PowerCLI.

Step 1: Connect to vCenter

Run the following command to establish the session.

Note: Please replace VCENTER_IP/FQDN and the credentials with your actual environment details.

PowerShell :

Connect-VIServer -Server "VCENTER_IP/FQDN" -User "[email protected]" -Password "XXXXX"

Step 2: Run Data Collection Script

Copy and run the block below. This script iterates through all hosts, uses Get-EsxCli V2 for performance, and fetches the specific driver and firmware versions.

PowerShell

$report = foreach ($esx in Get-VMHost) {
    Write-Host "Processing $($esx.Name)..." -ForegroundColor Cyan
    
    # Use -V2 for better performance and object handling
    $esxcli = Get-EsxCli -VMHost $esx -V2
    
    # Get the list of physical NICs
    $nics = $esxcli.network.nic.list.Invoke()
    
    foreach ($nic in $nics) {
        # Fetch detailed driver info for each specific vmnic
        $nicDetails = $esxcli.network.nic.get.Invoke(@{nicname = $nic.Name})
        
        [PSCustomObject]@{
            HostName        = $esx.Name
            NIC_Name        = $nic.Name
            Driver          = $nicDetails.DriverInfo.Driver
            DriverVersion   = $nicDetails.DriverInfo.Version
            FirmwareVersion = $nicDetails.DriverInfo.FirmwareVersion
            Status          = $nic.Link
            Model           = $nic.Description
        }
    }
}

# --- OPTION A: View in a popup window ---
$report | Out-GridView

# --- OPTION B: Export to CSV (Uncomment below to use) ---
# $report | Export-Csv -Path "C:\Temp\NIC_Report.csv" -NoTypeInformation

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Run this script to obtain the driver version and Firmware for all HBAs in the system:

for name in `vmkchdev -l | grep vmhba | awk '{print$5}'`;do echo $name ; echo "VID :DID  SVID:SDID"; vmkchdev -l | grep $name | awk '{print $2 , $3}';printf "Driver: ";echo `esxcfg-scsidevs -a | grep $name |awk '{print $2}'`;vmkload_mod -s `esxcfg-scsidevs -a | grep $name|awk '{print $2}'` |grep -i version;echo `lspci -vvv | grep $name | awk '{print $1=$NF="",$0}'`;printf "\n";done

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VMware Skyline Health Diagnostics for vSphere - FAQ

For more information about native drivers in ESXi, see: