ESXi 6.5 enable Realtek NICs

22/03/2018 9 Comments Reading Time: 1–2 minutes

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During the installation of VMware ESXi 6.5 host, some NICs such as Realtek, are not enabled in the system due to missing drivers. To enable the installed Realtek NICs we need to inject the drivers to the ESXi 6.5 host.

To check if all installed NICs have been enabled, from the VMware Host Client select Networking and navigate to Physical NICs tab. In the example, the Realtek NIC installed in the host is not listed.

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Enable Realtek NICs

To enable Realtek NIC in the hypervisor, you need to SSH the ESXi and install the missing drivers. In Navigator view, right click Manage and select Host > Enable Secure Shell (SSH) option to enable SSH in the host.

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SSH the host using a client like PuTTY and enter the root credentials.

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Run the following command to get a list of installed NICs:
# lspci -v | grep -A1 -i ethernet

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The Realtek NIC is detected.

The V-Front Online Depot has a package named net51-drivers that includes the original VMware net-r8168, net-r8169, net-sky2 and net-s2io drivers. Before installing these drivers from the V-Front Online Depot, you must allow ESXi to use Community Supported VIBs.

Run the following command to change the host acceptance level:
# esxcli software acceptance set --level=CommunitySupported

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Install the driver for the Realtek NICs:
# esxcli software vib install -n net51-drivers -d https://vibsdepot.v-front.de

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When the installation has completed, reboot the host.
# reboot

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When the host has booted, from the VMware Host Client select Networking and navigate to Physical NICs tab. The Realtek NIC is now displayed in the table.

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Your ESXi host is now able to take benefit of the installed Realtek NICs.

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About The Author

Paolo Valsecchi

System Engineer, VCP-DCV, VCP-DM, vExpert, VMCE, VMCA, Veeam Vanguard. Working experience focused on VMware vSphere, Microsoft Active Directory, and backup/DR solutions.

9 Comments

  1. Bill Bill 23/05/2018

    Thank you! This worked! Much appreciated.

  2. Fred Von 17/09/2018

    The driver package has been updated.
    esxcli software vib install -n net55-r8168 -d https://vibsdepot.v-front.de

  3. Daniel Henry 28/11/2018

    Thanks! I was getting a dependency error (VMWare 6.7.0 (Build 8169922)), Success: VIBs Installed: Realtek_bootbank_net55-r8168_8.045a-napi

  4. ilhan 10/04/2019

    Thank you updated link worked
    esxcli software vib install -n net55-r8168 -d https://vibsdepot.v-front.de

  5. julian 15/04/2019

    Thank You.

  6. Alxdraco 28/05/2019

    Muchas gracias me sirvio de mucho!!!!!
    gracias por compartir

  7. peter 06/07/2019

    Thanks! The updated driver package worked.

  8. Blackraz0r 11/08/2019

    how to install esxi without any other nics than realtek. so how to add the driver bevore or during the installatzion if i dont have a supported nic?