{"id":7662,"date":"2013-10-08T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T06:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/?p=7662"},"modified":"2023-07-16T11:22:24","modified_gmt":"2023-07-16T09:22:24","slug":"enable-realtek-nic-vmware-esxi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/enable-realtek-nic-vmware-esxi\/","title":{"rendered":"Enable Realtek NIC on VMware ESXi 5.5"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 10px auto 5px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border-width: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers01\" alt=\"esxi55drivers01\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers01.jpg\" width=\"602\" height=\"202\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>VMware removed <strong>Realtek drivers<\/strong> from ESXi 5.5 base installation making installed NIC unusable once performed a <strong>fresh installation<\/strong>. To enable Realtek NIC on VMware ESXi 5.5 you need to create a <strong>custom ISO image<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Upgrading VMware ESXi 5.1 to 5.5 the installed NIC <strong>drivers will stay in place<\/strong> without interrupting the functionality. The problem comes when you perform a fresh installation.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>After a fresh installation of the hypervisor, the Realtek NICs installed in the host are <strong>not detected<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border-width: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers02\" alt=\"esxi55drivers02\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers02.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"226\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To fix the problem, I found an excellent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.v-front.de\/2013\/09\/how-to-add-missing-esxi-50-drivers-to.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">blog post<\/a> that explains how to <strong>build a custom ISO image<\/strong>\u00a0of VMware ESXi5.5 with Realtek drivers included in few steps.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Prerequisites<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/developercenter.vmware.com\/web\/dp\/sdk\/55\/vsphere-powercli\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VMware vSphere PowerCLI 5.5<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Install vSphere PowerCLI<\/h2>\n<p>Once downloaded vSphere PowerCLI, <strong>install the program<\/strong> in your computer.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border-width: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers03\" alt=\"esxi55drivers03\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers03.jpg\" width=\"510\" height=\"288\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Because PowerCLI by default <strong>won\u2019t execute unsigned scripts<\/strong> for security reasons, you need to set the system to allow also unsigned scripts.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers04\" alt=\"esxi55drivers04\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers04.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"297\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To enable the execution of unsigned scripts, use the <strong>Set-ExecutionPolicy cmdlet<\/strong> launching from PowerCLI console the command:<\/p>\n<pre class=\"brush: shell; gutter: true\">Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser Unrestricted<\/pre>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers05\" alt=\"esxi55drivers05\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers05.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"297\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>PowerCLI script<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>script used<\/strong> to create a new ESXi 5.5 image including missing drivers is listed here.<\/p>\n<pre class=\"brush: shell; gutter: true\"># Add VMware Online depot\r\n Add-EsxSoftwareDepot https:\/\/hostupdate.vmware.com\/software\/VUM\/PRODUCTION\/main\/vmw-depot-index.xml\r\n\r\n# Clone the ESXi 5.5 GA profile into a custom profile\r\n $CloneIP = Get-EsxImageProfile ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-standard\r\n $MyProfile = New-EsxImageProfile -CloneProfile $CloneIP -Vendor $CloneIP.Vendor -Name (($CloneIP.Name) + &quot;-customized&quot;) -Description $CloneIP.Description\r\n\r\n# Add latest versions of missing driver packages to the custom profile\r\n Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwarePackage net-r8168 -ImageProfile $MyProfile\r\n Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwarePackage net-r8169 -ImageProfile $MyProfile\r\n Add-EsxSoftwarePackage -SoftwarePackage net-sky2 -ImageProfile $MyProfile\r\n\r\n# Export the custom profile into ISO file\r\n Export-EsxImageProfile -ImageProfile $MyProfile -ExportToISO -FilePath c:\\temp\\ESXi-5.5.0-1331820-standard-customized.iso<\/pre>\n<p>From the PowerCLI console <strong>launch the PowerCLI script<\/strong>. The script takes few minutes to download and build the new image.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers06\" alt=\"esxi55drivers06\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers06.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"696\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When the process ends, you will find in the <strong>directory specified<\/strong> in the script (C:\\Temp) the new customized ISO image.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers07\" alt=\"esxi55drivers07\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers07.jpg\" width=\"594\" height=\"185\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Performing a fresh installation once again using the customized ISO image, the Realtek NICs are now <strong>detected by the system<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" style=\"margin: 0px auto; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; border-width: 0px;\" title=\"esxi55drivers08\" alt=\"esxi55drivers08\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/esxi55drivers08.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"226\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Great solution that allows the system to be\u00a0<strong>fully functional<\/strong>\u00a0even with these NICs type installed.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"firma\" src=\"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/firma.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VMware removed Realtek drivers from ESXi 5.5 base installation making installed NIC unusable once performed a fresh installation. To enable Realtek NIC on VMware ESXi 5.5 you need to create a custom ISO image. Upgrading VMware ESXi 5.1 to 5.5 the installed NIC drivers will stay in place without interrupting the functionality. The problem comes when you perform a fresh installation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7876,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"linkedin_93tdZWzMZc_93tdZWzMZc":"","facebook_2879994398731222_17841400390232720":"","twitter_113568041_113568041":"","mastodon_115463926174894442_115463926174894442":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[903,2701],"tags":[711,580],"class_list":["post-7662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vmware-en","category-vsphere-en","tag-driver","tag-esxi-en","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nolabnoparty.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}