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geebie
Contributor
Contributor

ESXi 5.1 - netwrk shows as up but no traffic seen

Hi

I have installed ESXi 5.1 on a laptop in my lab. it was previously running 5.0 without issue. IP address could be recieved from a DHCP server or via static. Installed ESXi 5.1 and no communication anymore. The switch and ESXi  command - excfg-nics -l - shows the nic is connected and up. Remove the cable and the nic shows as down. I have rebuilt as 5.0 to confirm it all works then back to 5.1 I can set a static IP but it cant be seen from the outside and it cant ping outside. Has anyone seen this issue?

27 Replies
Gortee
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Morning,

Can you provide a little more information on your issue.  For example have you installed in on the laptop hardware or in workstation (if workstation what version).   In addition can you ping your default gateway from ESXi? 

Thanks

Joseph Griffiths http://blog.jgriffiths.org @Gortees VCDX-DCV #143
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iw123
Commander
Commander

What response do you get from your ping attempts?

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers
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geebie
Contributor
Contributor

Hi

I installed ESX5.1 (downloaded a few days ago) on a laptop. The laptop had originally been running ESXi 5.0 without issue. I reinstalled 5.0 and all worked, then reinstalled 5.1 and no network conenctivity. i use DHCP for the IP addressing and it wont see the DHCP server under 5.1. If i remove the network cable, my switch shows the connection drops. ESXI tools from the command prompt show the connection is up when the cable is atatched to the switch.

Regards

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geebie
Contributor
Contributor

Hi DHCP is not allocating an IP address so no ping availbale. I will retry the static IP address tonight but from memory it couldnt see the gateway.
Regards

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milton123
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

Could you please post detail configuration on your nic..

in cmd prompt please run this command  > ifconfig/all and post this.

Cheers, Udin

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geebie
Contributor
Contributor

Hi ifconfig is not available ni my ESXi 5.1 shell

esxcli network nic list

vmnic0  PCI Device 0000:002:00:0 driver r8168 link up speed 1000 duplex full mac 00:16:d3:8a:f9:6e mtu 1500 description Realtek Realtek 8168 Gigabit Ethernet

Regards

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jmac9
Contributor
Contributor

I have the same problem.  I downloaded the most recent ESXi 5.1.0 (build 799733) and installed it.

No errors. 

But I can't ping anything. 

Setting up a static IP doesn't work.

I have a RTL8111/8168B NIC which I know is working correctly.  I know it's not on the HCL but I hear it has worked in 5.0.

Can't see anything interesting in the syslog.  But then I'm not sure what I would be looking for.

I wonder if this version or build has a bug in it.

Thanks

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Norman1984
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I'm experiencing the exact same problem. I tested it a little bit further and tried to de- and reactive the vmnic. After executing "esxcli network nic down -n=vmnic=0" I get a psod (see attachment, sorry for the bad quality Smiley Happy ). I have no idea yet, how to get it working.

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al_089
Contributor
Contributor

I get exactly the same issue, no uplink packets going through and a purple screen of death if you bring the nic up and down. The 8168 built-in driver worked fine with the latest update on 5.0, so the must be a kernel/driver bug with the version packaged in 5.1

8169 cards seem to work ok.

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geebie
Contributor
Contributor

HI

I updated a second laptop in my lab (it has a Intel e1000e nic) to 5.1. It gets the PSOD after most reboots but intermittently gets a correct IP address. if I put it back to 5.0, then there is no issue. There may be a kernel/driver bug with the driver of the card version packaged in 5.1 or it is because I use laptops for my lab servers. My initial lab server is now running 5.0 and has no issues. I hope VMWare comes out with something shortly.

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Linuxs
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I have the same problem with the 8168. 😞

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sandybruce
Contributor
Contributor

Similar problem with a Supermicro Server that was running 5.0 U1 fine. It has two Intel 82573L gigabit connections. Was only using one. all ping results fail from the yellow management screen section. Static IP didn't work.

Interesting fact though, I set it to DHCP and got an address from our DHCP server, but all the pings still fail. I disabled the firewall via the cli and everything still fails.

I would agree that there is some problem with drivers in ESXi 5.1.

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sandybruce
Contributor
Contributor

Also, incase any VMWare developers are reading this, I can only get a DHCP address if the machine reboots. If I make changes in the console, and have it restart the network management interface, it doesn't work or get any ip address. Has to be rebooted for it to even get a DHCP address which doesn't work.

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geebie
Contributor
Contributor

I have rolled back to 5.0U1 and my lab now works. I will leave 5.1 for a while and wait for an update to 5.1 by VMWare. Hopefully some new drivers get released. If not, I will have to look at buying new equipment for a lab.

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mikej2007
Contributor
Contributor

For Supermicro users (or those with intel 82573L e1000e) who have NIC troubles with 5.1 (that previously had no issues with 5.0) please see my post for a solution:
http://communities.vmware.com/message/2129241#2129241

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jackhosy
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

I had this problem also (Realtek 8168) in ESXi 5.1 few days ago, no network tracffic and PSOD when trying to bring vmnic down.

I found that only when I restarted the PC from Windows 7 and boot ESXi 5.1, this symptom happens. If I power off first, unplug power cord and wait for few seconds, and then start ESXi directly, NIC is working fine.

I'd extracted the driver of Realtek 8168 from 5.0u1 iso (vmtar -x NET-R816.V00), but still haven't tested it in 5.1 yet.

2012/11/01 update:

I replaced the driver net_r816.v00 from 5.0u1 iso to startup mount point (inside /vmfs/volumes), however still got the same problem. It looks like not as same as e1000 that can use 5.0u1 driver (applied from patch) to fix the issue. Because I don't want to re-install whole ESXi lab, I will keep using 5.1 and prevent using Windows before startup ESXi.

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Yotis
Contributor
Contributor

Hello all,

Any update on this topic? Anybody?

I tried jackhosy workaround, but still doesn't work in my case .

I don't think that this is such a big deal to get some help from VMware with this driver.

It's not like we're going to use it for productive traffic, but for lab environment would be excellent. This card is pretty popular around the products (desktop) sold out there.

If you have any suggestion, I'm willing to try it.

Thanks,

Calin

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Art1skr
Contributor
Contributor

I upgraded from 5.0 where it worked fine on 5.1
r8168 shows no errors, but the pings are going nowhere
~ # Esxcfg-nics-l
Name PCI Driver Link Speed ​​Duplex MAC Address MTU Description
vmnic0 0000:02:00.00 r8168 Up 100Mbps Full 00:16: e6: 84:2 d: f8 1500 Realtek Realtek 8168 Gigabit Ethernet
vmnic1 0000:03:00.00 r8169 Up 100Mbps Full 84: c9: b2: 46: f0: 23 1500 D-Link System Inc DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

PS r8169 working ok

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GauravMajithia
Contributor
Contributor

I am running VMware ESXi, 5.1.0, 799733 on ProLiant DL320 G5p with Embedded NC326i Dual Port Gigabit Server Adapter.

Everything works fine...!!!

Regards, Gaurav Majithia If you found this or other information useful, please consider awarding points for "Correct" or "Helpful".
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