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john_zhang
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device driver for ESX 3.x

I don't know if this is the right forum for this question, please let me know if it's not.

We're currently using vmware server, and are planning to move to ESX 3.5 or ESX 3.5i. But one of the major issues is that we 're currently using a customized NIC card which requires its own driver. I'm wondering in ESX, is there any way to write the driver ourselves? I read from the document somewhere, that for existing linux drivers, we only need to recompile it under ESX. What environment do I have to setup in order to compile in a way supported by ESX?

Thanks in advance for the help.

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RenaudL
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This currently isn't possible, sorry. The list of supported nics is clearly defined in the HCL.

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RenaudL
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This currently isn't possible, sorry. The list of supported nics is clearly defined in the HCL.

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john_zhang
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RenaudL, thanks for the reply. So does vmware write all the drivers by itself? or does it have some kind of the partnership program to allow 3rd party vendors to write the driver then vmware certifies it?

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RenaudL
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We have drivers we maintain ourselves, but we also have partnerships with 3rd party vendors which allow them to access our stuff in order to write their own device drivers.

john_zhang
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what's the criteria to become such 3rd party vendors who can also develop drivers for vmware?

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RenaudL
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I'm certainly not the one who can precisely answer this question... I guess they just need to contact us and prove their hardware is used by a lot of our customers / future customers.

But again, this is only my own personal feeling and in no way VMware's official policy on this matter.

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john_zhang
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Ok, thank you very much for your help!

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