Adding Realtek 8139 Driver to ESXi6

Note: This is not an official guide, backup is required before you apply the driver.

My Dell PC has two NICs:

1. Intel I217-LM
2. Realtek RTl-8139

and #2 Realtek 8139 is not supported by VMware EXSi.

There are some guides about customizing EXSi installation ISO to support the NIC, but I’m trying to find a way to apply the driver without reinstall EXSi.

Here is a page which contains many NIC drivers: https://vibsdepot.v-front.de/wiki/index.php/List_of_currently_available_ESXi_packages

• Download the offline bundle driver for Realteck 8139 and follow the instruction

  http://www.vladan.fr/patch-esxi-5-5-to-esxi-6-0/

• upload offline bundle to EXSi host

• change EXSi host to maintenance mode

• SSH to EXSi

  Apply the driver by command:

  esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/storage name/net-r8139too-0.9.28-1-offline_bundle.zip –no-sig-check
  

  you might get the prompt:

  VIB Realtek_bootbank_net-r8139too_0.9.28-1’s acceptance level is community, which is not compliant with the ImageProfile acceptance level partner
  To change the host acceptance level, use the ‘esxcli software acceptance set’ command.
  

• Change the Host Acceptance Level

  Follow the instruction to update the host acceptance level:

  https://pubs.vmware.com/vsphere-51/index.jsp?topic=%2Fcom.vmware.vsphere.install.doc%2FGUID-6A3AD878-5DE9-4C38-AC86-78CAEED0F710.html

  Command:

  esxcli software acceptance set –level=CommunitySupported
  

• Apply the driver again:

  esxcli software vib install -d /vmfs/volumes/storage name/net-r8139too-0.9.28-1-offline_bundle.zip –no-sig-check
  

  Installation Result

  Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
  Reboot Required: true
  VIBs Installed: Realtek_bootbank_net-r8139too_0.9.28-1
  VIBs Removed:
  VIBs Skipped:
  

• Reboot EXSi host and Exit maintenance mode

The NIC can be recognized by VMware now:

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Adding Realtek 8139 Driver to ESXi6

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