Install ESXi 7 on Zotac CI660

[e1fueg0]

Hello.

I wanted to setup ESXi 7 on my Zotac CI660 and it looks like it has no drivers for its NICs: it reads "no network adapters".

lspci tells this:

01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 0c)
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 0c)

What can I do about this?

[scott28tt]

@e1fueg0 

Check for supported NICs: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io

[e1fueg0]

How can it help me?

[scott28tt]

@e1fueg0 

To see if your NICs have a driver, and if they don’t you can identify NICs that do which you might need to install in your system.

[depping · Accepted solution]

or simply google esxi and realtek, there are dozens of articles describing the realtek NICs.

[DCasota]

Hi,

There is no official supported RTL8111/8168/8411 driver for ESXi 7. The community-supported version (see here) has been maintained until ESXi 6.7. Scotts hint to boost your homelab is a good avise, and, there are some really cool USB 3 network native drivers for ESXi 7 on the VMware fling page here.

But, the Zotac box runs Ubuntu too, and you simply could run VMware Workstation. See the Linux driver page here, and choose the appropriate Linux driver for the Ubuntu Linux kernel. Not sure if UEFI Secure boot VM in Workstation works with the newest Realtek UEFI UNDI driver, but, why not give a try.

Hope this helps. Daniel

[e1fueg0]

@depping very good of you. yesterday I struggled against it almost whole the day, but today I've just used your google query and  found right away how to install version 6.7 (not 7.0, but it's ok). probably, my queries were not certain. so thank you very much 😃

actually, this link helped: https://enk2x.ru/2020/07/04/esxirealtek/

[depping]

good to hear!