ESXi 6.5 contains many new native drivers that replace the earlier vmklinux drivers. Most of the new native drivers are enabled by default after installation or upgrade.

Some of the new native drivers are disabled by default, because they do not fully support the functions of the corresponding vmklinux drivers. For example:

• qflge is a native driver that replaces the vmklinux net-bnx2 driver 
• qfle3 is a native driver that replaces the vmklinux net-bnx2x driver 
• ixgben is a native driver that replaces the vmklinux net-ixgbe driver

If the device driver and the HBA requires validation for Hardware iSCSI or Software iSCSI, please visit VMware HCL website

Note :
SW FCoE is not supported in ESXi 6.5 for any of the inbox Ethernet drivers listed above, see End of Availability and End of Support for FCoE on Intel Network Controllers  for more information.
This applies to "VMware Inbox" drivers that are included in VMware vSphere 6.5 image and not to "Partner Async" versions that may be included on OEM custom images or are available as downloads from VMware.

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5

For new ESXi 6.5 installations, you can enable a native driver in the ESXi installer by using the vSphere Image Builder. With the vSphere Image Builder, you can remove the vmklinux driver that corresponds to the native driver from the ISO image. For example, to enable the qfle3 native driver, you can use Image Builder to remove the net-bnx2x VIB from the ISO image. For more information, see Customizing Installations with vSphere ESXi Image Builder .

If after drive upgrade you find that the correct driver is not being used for the vmnic, the following procedures describe how to enable and disable the native drivers by using vCLI. For more information, see vSphere Command-Line Interface Documentation .

Enable a Native Driver:

1. Place the ESXi host in maintenance mode by using the vSphere Web Client or VMware Host Client.
    
2. Run the vCLI command to enable one of the native drivers.
   esxcli system module set --enabled=true --module=native_driver_name
   
   For example, to enable the qfle3 native driver, run the following vCLI command:
   esxcli system module set --enabled=true --module=qfle3
    
3. Run the vCLI command to check the module details
   esxcli system module list
    
4. Restart the ESXi host.
   Stateless hosts exit maintenance mode automatically after reboot
    
5. If you enabled a native driver on a stateful host, exit the maintenance mode manually

Disable a Native Driver:

1. Place the ESXi host in maintenance mode by using the vSphere Web Client or VMware Host Client.
    
2. Run the vCLI command to disable one of the native drivers.
   esxcli system module set --enabled=false --module=native_driver_name
   
   For example, to disable the qflge native driver, run the following vCLI command:
   esxcli system module set --enabled=false --module=qflge
    
3. Run the vCLI command to check the module details
   esxcli system module list
    
4. Restart the ESXi host.
   Stateless hosts exit maintenance mode automatically after reboot.
    
5. If you disabled a native driver on a stateful host, exit the maintenance mode.

Get a Driver Version:

Run the vCLI command to view the version of a driver:
esxcli software vib get -n native_driver_name

For example, to view the versions of the qfle3 native driver and its corresponding vmklinux driver:

• To view the version of the qfle3 native driver, run the following vCLI command:

  esxcli software vib get -n qfle3

  You get an output similar to:
  VMW_bootbank_qfle3_1.0.2.7-1vmw.650.0.0.4240471
  Name: qfle3
  Version: 1.0.2.7-1vmw.650.0.0.4240471
  Type: bootbank
  Vendor: VMW
  Acceptance Level: VMwareCertified
  Summary: Network driver for QLogic E3 Controller
  Description: Native QLogic E3 network driver for VMware ESXi
  ReferenceURLs:
  Creation Date: 2016-08-11
  Depends: vmkapi_2_4_0_0
  Conflicts:
  Replaces:
  Provides:
  Maintenance Mode Required: True
  Hardware Platforms Required:
  Live Install Allowed: False
  Live Remove Allowed: False
  Stateless Ready: True
  Overlay: False
  Tags: PCIID 107716a1, PCIID 107716a4, PCIID 14e4163d, PCIID 14e4163e, PCIID 14e41662, PCIID 14e41663, PCIID 14e4168a, PCIID 14e4168a10281f67, PCIID 14e4168a10281f68, PCIID 14e4168a14e40200, PCIID 14e4168a1bcf805f, PCIID 14e4168e, PCIID 14e416a1, PCIID 14e416a2, PCIID 14e416a2103c22fa, PCIID 14e416a4, PCIID 14e416a5, PCIID 14e416ae, module, driver
  Payloads: qfle3

• To view the version of the vmklinux driver that qfle3 replaces, run the following vCLI command:
  esxcli software vib get -n net-bnx2x

VMW_bootbank_net-bnx2x_1.78.80.v60.12-1vmw.650.0.0.4240471
Name: net-bnx2x
Version: 1.78.80.v60.12-1vmw.650.0.0.4240471
Type: bootbank
Vendor: VMW
Acceptance Level: VMwareCertified
Summary: bnx2x: net driver for VMware ESX
Description: QLogic NetXtreme II 10G/20G Ethernet Driver
ReferenceURLs:
Creation Date: 2016-08-11
Depends: vmkapi_2_3_0_0, com.vmware.driverAPI-9.2.3.0, com.broadcom.cnic_register-9.2.3.0
Conflicts:
Replaces:
Provides: com.broadcom.bnx2x-9.2.3.0
Maintenance Mode Required: True
Hardware Platforms Required:
Live Install Allowed: False
Live Remove Allowed: False
Stateless Ready: True
Overlay: False
Tags: driver, module
Payloads: net-bnx2

Note: qfle3 driver architecture requires to unload leaf driver, then it will allow to unload root driver node.

unload qfle3i/qfle3f
unload qcnic
unload qfle3

This sequence is requested to make sure all drivers can be unloaded. If you do not follow this sequence, we cannot make sure driver can be unloaded. This sequence request will not impact loadesx. Loadesx test can pass without any issue.