Hello,
i have recently bought new NUCs for my home lab. I have the version with vPRO. I have enabled it in bios, and its working just fine, until:
i start my operating system which has enabled jumbo frames.
The moment operating system has booted , the nic LEDs go off. no network is available from that moment. It looks like nic has no cable inside.
To replicate:
Configure vPRO
Install Esxi 7.0 update 2
At this stage, everything works, i can communicate with esxi, i can use vPRO , i can use the remote desktop/kvm option via meshcommander / vnc.
so ESXi has its vmkernel console device , this is still 1500 MTU for now.
The moment we set mtu for vswitch0 (that holds the vmkernel for console) 9000, the real NIC 'dies', leds are off, i can't communicate with esxi anymore, i can't communicate with vPRO.
Its not usable.
my 'weird' fix is :
Turn of the nuc.
Disconnect network cables from nuc nics.
Turn on nuc. Wait 30-60 seconds so that esxi will boot.
Now connect the ethernet cables. You will notice that nic leds are green, you can reach esxi, you can use vPRO.
At this stage its possible for example to make vmkernel for storage, with 9000 mtu, and everything works just fine. I can still use vPRO kvm etc.
After this , lets say you will reboot the esxi, WITH the ethernet cables inside the nics, then for the time that nuc still loads the ESXi its possible to connect with vPRO, the moment ESXi finished booting, then nic leds go off, and its totally disconnected, cant reach esxi, cant reach vPRO.
The network driver for the NUC nic is taken from fling:
https://flings.vmware.com/community-networking-driver-for-esxi#requirements
I have no idea which part makes the problem, is it the vPRO or is it the ESXi , or is it driver for nic.
Am i supposed / is it possible to change mtu to 9000 on the vpro device , to see if that would change /help ? When i use mtu 9000 inside esxi using my workaround then the mtu for vpro is 1500 and vmkernel is 9000 and everything is working just fine.
Version:
Manufacturer Intel Corporation
Product name NUC11TNBv5
Version M11900-402
Computer model: NUC11TNHv5
BIOS : TNTGLV57.0054.2021.0316.1434
Release date 3/16/2021
I am also not surewhy , but i am getting a PSOD when booting esxi while i am connected to KVM on one of the hosts. If i would disconnect from KVM, then the boot completes ok.
This psod occurs in situation where:
vmnic0 (bottom card) is not connected -> is part of switch with mtu 9000 and server vmkernel with mtu 9000
vmnic1 (upper card) is connected -> is not part of any vswitch, does not serve any vmkernels etc inside esxi.
When i am using this 'special setup' that 1 card is not connected to vswitch, and other is, i can boot the esxi when not having KVM connected while booting. After boot completes, i can open KVM and everything works. It's just that my esxi is not using the first nic as i did not want to set mtu 9000 there.
Link Copied
Hi gregu-,
The NUC11TNHv50L has not been validated or tested with ESXI*, see the following URL for Supported Operating Systems, this means that this combination may work (as you reported) but some features may not respond as expected, also keep in mind that we don't provide drivers for this Operating System, drivers and support should be provided by the Operating System developer.
The NUC11TNH uses an Intel I255-LM (Foxville) Ethernet controller and the Intel Ethernet support page suggests finding drivers and support directly with VMware at "VMware compatibility guide". When I check this tool and I cant find the I255-LM listed on this page.
Based on this observation, the I255-LM may not be yet fully compatible with VMware or existing drivers do not provide full device functionality, I am just guessing based on that but this is something that you better check with VMware.
Regards,
Ronny G
