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FL0G
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎11-19-2013 02:13 PM

vmnic numbering sequence changed in ESXi 5.5?

Hello,

did anyone notice that the vmnic numbering has been changed in ESXi 5.5? I can't find anything on that topic in the change log, but i confirmed that on a HP server with a fresh installation of an ESXi 5.1 and ESXi 5.5 with the following result. Seems that the numbering is now based on the Slot ID, written to the chassis...

For me, that is an possible issue. When i update a Cluster from 5.1 to 5.5 and add a newly installed 5.5 host later, i have an inconsistent numbering. Any thoughts?

http://www.virten.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/esxi-vmnic-to-pciid-numbering.png

I have a blog on that topic, with some further information: http://www.virten.net/2013/11/vmnicvmhba-sequence-changed-in-esxi-5-5/

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kurtd
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
‎01-19-2017 09:49 AM

I did an upgrade from 5.5 to 6.5 and the vmnic numbers stayed the same.  I then decided to do a fresh install of 6.5 on the same server.  The nic numbers of the on board network adapter stayed the same but the nic numbers of the PCI adapters changed.  It seems like a good idea to document the mac address along with the vmnic number.  Luckily I had a screenshot so I could easily record the new numbers and configure the network correctly.

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