Identifying PCI devices (HBA) for ESXi/ESX host

To identify the compatibility of a PCI device:

1. Log in to the VMware ESX host as the root user.

2. To identify an individual PCI device by type, run these commands depending on the device type:

o    To identify a storage HBA (such as a fibre card or RAID controller), run this command:

#esxcfg-scsidevs -a

You see output similar to:

vmhba0 hpsa link-n/a sas.5001438006939a70 (0:69:0.0) Hewlett-Packard Company Smart Array P410
vmhba1 qla2xxx link-up fc.50014380062d465d:50014380062d465c (0:72:0.0) QLogic Corp. ISP2532-based 8Gb Fibre Channel to PCI Express HBA
vmhba2 qla2xxx link-n/a fc.50014380062d465f:50014380062d465e (0:72:0.1) QLogic Corp. ISP2532-based 8Gb Fibre Channel to PCI Express HBA
vmhba3 sata_svw link-n/a sata.vmhba3 (0:1:14.0) Broadcom BCM5785 [HT1000] SATA (Native SATA Mode)
vmhba33 bnx2i unbound iscsi.vmhba33 Broadcom iSCSI Adapter
vmhba34 bnx2i unbound iscsi.vmhba34 Broadcom iSCSI Adapter

o    To identify a network card, run this command:

# esxcfg-nics -l

You see output similar to:

Name PCI Driver Link Speed Duplex MAC Address MTU Description
vmnic0 0000:03:00.00 bnx2 Up 1000Mbps Full 18:a9:05:67:51:b6 1500 Broadcom Corporation NC382i Integrated Quad Port PCI Express Gigabit Server Adapter
vmnic1 0000:03:00.01 bnx2 Up 1000Mbps Full 18:a9:05:67:51:b8 1500 Broadcom Corporation NC382i Integrated Quad Port PCI Express Gigabit Server Adapter
vmnic2 0000:41:00.00 bnx2 Up 1000Mbps Full 18:a9:05:67:51:b2 1500 Broadcom Corporation NC382i Integrated Quad Port PCI Express Gigabit Server Adapter
vmnic3 0000:41:00.01 bnx2 Up 1000Mbps Full 18:a9:05:67:51:b4 1500 Broadcom Corporation NC382i Integrated Quad Port PCI Express Gigabit Server Adapter

For ESXi 5.x and later, run this command:

esxcli network nic list

You see output similar to:

vmnic0 0000:04:00.00 be2net Up 2000Mbps Full 78:ac:c0:fe:0d:7e 1500 ServerEngines Corp Emulex OneConnect

In this case the NIC is ServerEngines Corp Emulex OneConnect and the driver type is be2net. 

o    To list device state, run this command:

# vmkchdev -l

You see output similar to:

---------------
000:000:03.0 1002:515e 103c:31fb console
000:000:25.4 1022:1204 0000:0000 console
000:001:13.0 1166:0104 0000:0000 console
000:001:14.0 1166:024a 103c:3112 vmkernel vmhba3
000:003:00.0 14e4:1639 103c:7055 vmkernel vmnic0
000:003:00.1 14e4:1639 103c:7055 vmkernel vmnic1
000:065:00.0 14e4:1639 103c:7055 vmkernel vmnic2
000:065:00.1 14e4:1639 103c:7055 vmkernel vmnic3
000:069:00.0 103c:323a 103c:3243 vmkernel vmhba0
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