Is E1000 network adapter no longer supported for ESXi 6.5?

[thxid]

The E1000 was previously supported for ESXi 6.5, 6.7 and 7.0 and still works fine for our (on-prem) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 SP3 systems.  It is mentioned as a supported NIC for these systems in VMware's documentation such as: https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/vsphere-esxi-vcenter-server-702-virtual-machine-admin-...

However, I've been asked to confirm that the E1000 is still supported since it is not listed in the Guest OS Compatibility Guide: VMware_GOS_Compatibility_Guide.pdf for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Server Service Pack 3 for ESXi 6.5 (6.7 and 7.0)?

Thanks for your help!

[Alex_Romeo]

Hi,

For Operation system "SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 Service Pack 3" is supported only E1000e and VMXNET3 (Esxi 6.5-6.7-7.0):

• https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=software&testConfig=16&prod...
• https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=software&details=1&partner=...

Networking
e1000:	Not Supported	Emulated Intel 82545EM Gigabit Ethernet NIC
e1000e:	Supported	Emulated Intel 82574L Gigabit Ethernet Controller
Enhanced VMXNET:	Not Supported	Second generation VMware virtual NIC
Vlance:	Not Supported	Emulated AMD 79C970 PCnet32 Lance NIC
VMXNET:	Not Supported	VMware virtual NIC
VMXNET 3:	Supported (Recommended)	Third generation VMware virtual NIC

Regards

Alex_Romeo

[thxid]

Thanks!

[domare]

I have a stack of dell servers that are running ESXi 6.5 & had been working as expected for years now.   around when this was posted now my servers load into ESX and all say no supported network devices.

Why in the world would vmware do this?   i know for a fact they can work perfectly & the NICs are common datacenter/server hardware.   

Are there external drivers i can load, or should i just switch out the hypervisors?

[scott28tt]

@domare 

This thread is about the network adapters in VMs running on ESXi, not about the physical adapters that ESXi itself can work with.

Maybe create your own thread with more details on the specific physical adapters.