esxi 7 hypervisor on VMware Workstation Pro and Player fail to detect network device

[jpierson78]

I'm not sure if I'm missing anything, but this happens on both systems I've tested.  Both are running Debian testing.  One has Workstation Pro 15.5.2 and the other has player.  Both system fail to install esxi 7 because the network device is not detected.  I have 6.7 working on the Pro system.  6.7 will install on the Player system.  I've searched and can't find any special steps that I could be missing.  Everything should be updated to the latest patches including host OS.

[scott28tt]

What types of virtual NIC are you using for the ESXi VM?

ESXi 7 no longer supports vmklinux drivers, so just because 6.7 worked does not mean a 7.0 VM will with the same virtual hardware.

Have you tried the various virtual NIC types to see if others work?

[jpierson78]

Are there other types of virtual network devices?  I'll admit I've never added a new network device type before and I don't see any options to change it.  I see add a new network device which doesn't provide any options.  I also don't see any options in the network device to change the driver type.  I don't see where I can even add a new device type.  Is there an article that covers this?

[scott28tt · Accepted solution]

Not in the UI in Workstation, see this article for Fusion which should also apply to Workstation: Re: How do I specify Network Adapter to be vmxnet3 in Fusion?

[jpierson78]

Thank you.  I updated the following

ethernet2.virtualDev = "e1000" to ethernet2.virtualDev = "vmxnet3"

And now the installer is working on Player.