While installing ESX 4.1 hosts with QLogic CNA adapters I hit a error which prevented installation of required add-on drivers. I was using "esxupdate" method to install drivers but all I got was message that no compatible installation bundle was found, even though I was using drivers which are were on ESX 4.1 HCL. (update on 20th of Aug) VMware has since updated the HCL and removed QLogic 8100 from ESX 4.1 supported CNAs
I double checked VMware HCL and adapter I had, Qlogic 8100 (QLE8152 to be exact), is listed as supported on ESX 4.1 with ethernet driver qlge 1.0.0.39 and FCoE driver qla2xxx 831.k1.23vmw, I had correct drivers so I filed support case to VMware.
While waiting for a reponse from a VMware support I started digging internals of driver zip. Inside of any VMware patch file is a metadata.zip which hosts, like name states, metadata for that particular patch in XML format. I focused my investigation on vmware.xml and in that I noticed something odd, bundle softwarePlatform version was tagged as 4.* but actual driver was tagged to be compatible with 4.0.0. Below is a snippet of XML blocks in question.
<platforms> <softwarePlatform locale="" productLineID="esx" version="4.*" /> <softwarePlatform locale="" productLineID="embeddedEsx" version="4.*" /> </platforms> <systemReqs> <swPlatform locale="" productLineID="esx" version="4.0.0" /> <swPlatform locale="" productLineID="embeddedEsx" version="4.0.0" /> <maintenanceMode>true</maintenanceMode> </systemReqs>
Feeling adventurous I replaced version="4.0.0" with version="4.*" in <systemReqs> block, zipped all files back together and transferred driver zip files to ESX service console.
With a bit excitement I ran esxupdate for FCoE driver, just to get message that bundle is obsolete as newer package is already installed. Quick "rpm -qa | grep qla" revealed that indeed there is a 831.k1.28.1-1vmw included in ESX 4.1. So ESX 4.1 actually supports QLogic FCoE out of the box, while working on service console only and relying on VMware HCL that additional drivers are required I had not noticed that FC adapters were already visible.
FCoE solved I ran esxupdate for remaining QLogic 10 GbE driver which this time passed successfully, after a reboot I also had two QLogic 10 GbE adapters visible!
I reported my findings to VMware support and they came back with confirmation that driver should have been working with ESX 4.1 and that they have reported this error back to ESX engineers for driver fix. So, until there is fixed QLogic 10 GbE CNA driver available from VMware you can fix the driver with instructions above, but please do that with your own responsibility!
81xx CNAs from QLogic are NOT officially supported by VMware out of the box. There are no out-of-the box drivers yet.
On those ESX 4.1 hosts that I have installed recently FCoE part on QLogic 8100 has worked out-of-the box, intentional or not by VMware. VMware HCL seems to be inaccurate in this respect.
Tnx for your post Tomi, saved me a lot of time and frustration
@first post:
This article is about the Ethernet components of the QLogic CNA, the FC part of this CNA _IS_ supported _AND_ working out-of-tha-box… (ESX 4.1)
This was the breakthough we needed, were having a nightmare of a time getting the drivers installed for our Qlogic CNA adapters on Dell blades. Stumbled across this on a Google seardch and followed your instructions to get them up and running. Also contacted VMware and they confirmed the bug. Advised that they were planning to fix this issue in the first update of 4.1, whenever that happens.