PCI card installation and removal recommendation for ESX/ESXi
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PCI card installation and removal recommendation for ESX/ESXi

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Article ID: 341671

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Updated On:

Products

VMware VMware vCenter Server VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

What are the steps for adding or removing storage and network PCI cards on a ESX/ESXi host?


Environment

VMware P2V Assistant

Resolution

Whenever you add or remove storage and network PCI cards on an ESX/ESXi host, the existing NICs may get renumbered. For example, vmnic0 may become vmnic10. As a result, the service console or virtual machines may lose network connectivity. It is important to save a snapshot of the current network profile prior to the PCI card addition or removal:
  1. Save a copy of the hardware profile file in the service console:

    #cp -p /etc/vmware/esx.conf /etc/vmware/esx.conf.orig

  2. Save the output of the virtual switch configuration:

    #esxcfg-vswitch -l
In the event of vmnic renaming after the PCI card installation or removal.
To recover network connectivity for the ESX/ESXi host:
  1. Compare the difference between the saved hardware profile with the new one:

    #diff /etc/vmware/esxconf.orig /etc/vmware/esx.conf
  2. Based on the listed differences for the vmnics, re-establish the virtual switch to vmnic mapping in the VMware Infrastructure Client.
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