Ethernet Controller Driver Update

[ipimentel]

Good evening

I would like to know if there is an update available for the Ethernet Controllers I have installed in my system, but I'm not sure where to look for them. I have checked this link http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/esx40/ZHcqYmRkd3BidGR3#drivers_tools

but I can't find the Intel model or anything related to nVidia. Does anyone know if there's a model compatible for the Intel one?

These are the outputs of some commands that might help you help me:

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# vmware -v

VMware ESX 4.0.0 build-171294

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# lspci | grep Net

00:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation nVidia NForce Network Controller (rev a3)

80:0a.0 Bridge: nVidia Corporation nVidia NForce Network Controller (rev a3)

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# lspci | grep net

86:01.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper) (rev 03)

86:01.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82546EB Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Copper) (rev 03)

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# esxcfg-nics -l

Name    PCI      Driver      Link Speed     Duplex MAC Address       MTU    Description

vmnic0  00:0a.00 forcedeth   Up   1000Mbps  Full   00:14:4f:d2:4d:60 1500   nVidia Corporation nVidia NForce Network Controller

vmnic1  80:0a.00 forcedeth   Up   1000Mbps  Full   00:14:4f:d2:4d:61 1500   nVidia Corporation nVidia NForce Network Controller

vmnic2  86:01.00 e1000       Up   1000Mbps  Full   00:14:4f:d2:4d:62 1500   Intel Corporation PRO/1000 MT Dual Port Server Adapter

vmnic3  86:01.01 e1000       Down 0Mbps     Half   00:14:4f:d2:4d:63 1500   Intel Corporation PRO/1000 MT Dual Port Server Adapter

Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

Regards...

[DSTAVERT · Accepted solution]

Welcome to the Communities

Driver updates are generally found in ESX(i) patches. Drivers are made available for hardware that is released after the ESX(i) or release or a particular patch level but should normally be included with the next patch. Is there a reason you need to update the drivers outside normal patching.

[ipimentel]

Hi, thanks for the welcome and for your answer.

Actually I wanted to check first if an update for the drivers was available. If there is no driver update available, then I would probably leave the server as it is because besides some weird network issues it seems to be working fine.

I was instructed by my superior to find out if there was an update to the NIC's drivers and after looking for a long while I couldn't find the specific model anywhere, so that's why I asked.

Edit:

I found the version of the drivers I have installed

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# rpm -qa | grep e1000

vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000-400.8.0.3.1-1.0.4.171294

vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000e-400.0.4.1.7-1.0.4.171294

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# rpm -qa | grep forcedeth

vmware-esx-drivers-net-forcedeth-400.0.61-1.0.4.171294

Looking at the knowledge base I don't see a newer version

[ipimentel]

I did the update on the weekend following the instructions on this page:

http://communities.vmware.com/people/vmroyale/blog/2009/10/12/single-use-esxupdate-how-to-for-esx-4

and the drivers now show this

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# rpm -qa | grep e1000

vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000-400.8.0.3.1-2vmw.1.9.208167

vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000e-400.1.1.2-1vmw.3.22.398348

[root@ssaesx1 ~]# rpm -qa | grep forcedeth

vmware-esx-drivers-net-forcedeth-400.0.61-2vmw.1.9.208167

So they updated succesfully.

[VeyronMick]

When checking driver versions its easier to use 'ethtool -i <vminicX>' to see what driver and firmware are in use.

The 'rpm' shows which driver rpms are installed but they may not be necessarly in use.