Vendor - Network cards not detected on an ESXi/ESX host (1034782)

Example: Intel NIC 82579LM
1. Download the alternate driver for Intel NIC e1000 (82579LM) - net-e1000e-2.1.4.x86_64.vib (Thanks to Daisuke Aoyama)
    for Realtek RTL8111 driver - Net55-r8168 (works with ESXi 5.5, ESXi 6.0, ESXi 6.5)
2. Connect to your ESXi box using the vSphere client.
3. Using the datastore browser on your vSphere client, upload the alternate Intel NIC Driver to your datastore.
4. Enable SSH on your ESXi box.
5. Connect to your ESXi box using a SSH client (putty)
---- update to copy VIB file
a) inject to ESXi ISO - Use ESXi-Customizer GUI to inject multiple driver VIBs into your ESXi installer ISO
b) copy vib file to USB Stick - must be FAT16, under 2GB
on ESXi host
/etc/init.d/usbarbitrator stop
ls /dev/disks/
copy the file
/etc/init.d/usbarbitrator start
How to Access USB Storage in ESXi Shell
---- update
6. Move the custom Intel driver package to /tmp directory:

cd /tmp
mv /vmfs/volumes/my-datastore/net-e1000e-2.1.4.x86_64.vib /tmp

7. For installing the vib package put the ESXi in maintenance mode:

esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e true -t 0

8. Set the host acceptance level to CommunitySupported:

esxcli software acceptance set --level=CommunitySupported

9. Install the vib package:

esxcli software vib install -v /tmp/net-e1000e-2.1.4.x86_64.vib

10. Exit the ESXi from maintenance mode.

esxcli system maintenanceMode set -e false -t 0

11. After reboot, verify if your NIC card was detected

Related Content:
USB Devices as VMFS Datastore in vSphere ESXi 6.0
USB Devices as VMFS Datastore in vSphere ESXi 6.5>
Plug-in the external USB drive to ESX Server directly to backup or copy

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