Network cards not detected on an ESXi host

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The Network cards (vmnics) are not detected by the ESXi host. 

• On the vSphere Client,  navigating to the ESXi host -> Configure > Networking > Physical adapters does not display any device:

 

• On the ESXi Host Client, under Networking > Physical NICs, the devices are not listed:

• Running the below commands on the ESXi SSH session do not return any output:
  
  
  • esxcfg-nics -l
  • esxcli network nic list
  • lspci -v | grep -A1 -i ethernet
  • vmkchdev -l | grep -i vmnic

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Cause

• After upgrading the ESXi host or after replacing a new PCIe NIC adapter, the NICs are not recognized by the ESXi host indicating a failure in hardware device discovery.
• The physical NICs are not being enumerated on the PCIe bus, preventing the ESXi host from detecting the hardware.
• The issue can be due to:
  • Incompatible driver/firmware versions. 
  • Other hardware issues. Example: Faulty PCIe Slot.

Note: The network cards may be seen as healthy on the hardware side, however the commands above show that they are not being presented correctly to the ESXi host.

Resolution

1. Ensure that the driver and the firmware version are compatible and up to date. Refer to Supported drivers and firmware versions for I/O devices for further details.
2. Reach out to the Hardware vendor for further investigation.

Additional Information

Other helpful documents regarding driver/firmware inquiries:

 

• Determining Network/Storage firmware and driver version in ESXi
• FAQ: Recommendation for Driver/Firmware
• How to download and install async drivers in ESXi
• Check passthrough for a network device on host