Knowledge Base

To determine which Fibre Channel drivers are installed:

1. Use the command vmkload_mod -l to determine which drivers are installed.
   
   
2. Review the command output. 2Gb drivers are indicated by lpfcdd_7xx, qla2200_7xx, or qla2300_7xx. Proceed with the remanining steps ONLY if one of these drivers is present.
   
   
3. Ensure no virtual machine is powered on in the ESX Server system. Unload the driver module by running:
   
   vmkload_mod -u <2Gb_driver_name_from_step2>
   
   
4. Uninstall the 2Gb driver using the command:
   
   rpm -e <2Gb_driver_name>
   
   Note: The actual driver RPM name varies, depending on the Fibre Channel manufacturer and ESX Server build number. To find out the exact 2Gb driver RPM name, run the command: rpm -qa | grep <driver_module_name> . For example, if the driver determined from step 2 is lpfcdd_7xx , uninstall the driver with the command: rpm -qa | grep lpfcdd.
   
   Examples
   
   If the driver determined from step 2 is qla2200_7xx :
   
   # rpm -e VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2200-v7xx-7.4.0vmw-29822.i386
   
   If the driver is qla2300_7xx :
   
   # rpm -e VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2300-v7xx-7.4.0vmw-29822.i386
   
   If the driver is lpfcdd_7xx :
   
   # rpm –e VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-lpfcdd-v7xx-7.1.14-29822.i386.rpm
   
   
5. Mount the ESX Server 3.0.2 installation CD and install the 4Gb drivers using the command: 
   
   rpm -Uvh <4Gb_driver_name>
   
   To mount the CD-ROM drive and go to the RPM repository, use the commands:
   
   # mount /mnt/cdrom
   # c d /mnt/cdrom/VMware/RPMS/
   
   For servers with QLogic HBAs:
   
   # rpm -Uvh VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2200-v7.07-7.7.4.2vmw-52542.i386.rpm
   # rpm -Uvh VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2300-v7.07-7.7.4.2vmw-52542.i386.rpm
   
   For servers with Emulex HBAs:
   
   # rpm -Uvh VMware-esx-drivers-scsi-lpfcdd-v732-7.3.2.4vmw-52542.i386.rpm
   
   
6. In the file /etc/vmware/esx.conf , change:
   
   lpfcdd_7xx to lpfcdd_732
   
   qla2200_7xx to qla2200_707
   
   qla2300_7xx to qla2300_707
   
   
7. Issue the command:
   
   esxcfg-boot -b
   
   Also known as --update-boot, this option implies -g (--regenerate-grub) plus a new initrd creation. The command looks in esx.conf to see what is there and builds an appropriate initial RAM disk (initrd) and puts the appropriate data on the grub.conf kernel command line.
   
   
8. Reboot the system.
   
   
9. (Optional) Follow the instructions again in To determine which Fibre Channel drivers are installed (above). Ensure that the 4Gb Fibre Channel driver is loaded by default. The driver module loaded should now be one of the following: lpfcdd_732, qla2200_707 or qla2300_707.