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Physical NICs set to Auto-negotiate cannot be changed to Fixed by using Host Profiles if the same speed and duplex settings are present (2005112)

Symptoms

Physical NICs set to Auto-negotiate cannot be changed to Fixed by using Host Profiles if the same speed and duplex settings are present.
If you follow these steps and the NIC is not updated, you have encountered this issue:

ESX/ESXi host has one or more physical NICs set to Auto-negotiate. Speed and Duplex are set automatically.
Host Profile in use is set to configure the physical NIC in question to Fixed.

Networking Configuration > Physical NIC configuration > Physical NIC configuration (specific vmnic) > Physical Network Adapter = Fixed physical NIC configuration, same speed and duplex as the ESX/ESXi host in step 1.
Host Profile in use is set to configure the physical NIC in question to the same speed and duplex it is at currently.
Host Profile is applied to ESX(i) host with physical NIC/s set to Auto-negotiate.
Host Profile shows as compliant on ESX(i) host.
ESX/ESXi host physical NICs remain set to Auto-negotiate after application of Host Profile with Fixed setting.

Cause

In vCenter Server 5.x and earlier, Host Profiles check compliance against the speed and duplex of a physical NIC. If the speed and duplex of a physical NIC match that of the Host Profile, the ESX/ESXi host shows as compliant. The ESX/ESXi host shows as compliant even if the physical NIC is set to Auto-negotiate and the Host Profile is set to Fixed.

Resolution

This is a known issue.

To workaround this issue, manually configure any physical NICs on ESX(i) to a Fixed setting. For more information on manually configuring speed and duplex settings for network adapters on ESX/ESXi, see Configuring the speed and duplex of an ESX / ESXi host network adapter (1004089).

Additional Information

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Update History

09/27/2012 - Added 898200 to PR Numbers, also added this will be resolved in a future release and mentioned 5.0 U2 in Confidential Information 09/27/2012 - Added 922140 to PR Numbers and also mentioned the release for the fix in 5.1 in Confidential Section

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