So, I am working on some HP 680c blades. They happen to be installed with four flex-10 modules in their blade chassis… which should result in 24 network cards per blade. But, something strange was happening because I could only see 13 network cards within VMware ESXi 5.0. While researching this problem, I came across this link:
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=2010222
Sure enough, changing the heap_initial and heap_max parameters in the be2net network driver worked for me. Once I made these changes and rebooted the ESXi host, all 24 network cards were visible within vCenter. Notice that the following step-by-step guide assumes that you have access to the yellow ESXi screen (for instance via HP iLO) and administrative rights. If you need more detail about entering the ESXi shell, see my previous blog post.
- Login to the command shell:
- Press F2 and authenticate
- Select Troubleshooting Options | Enable ESXi Shell
- Press ALT-F1 and authenticate
- Change the be2net drivier options:
- esxcfg-module -g be2net
(Note: this shows what options are already set.) - esxcfg-module -s "heap_initial=1048576 heap_max=20971520" be2net
(Note: this sets the options.) - esxcfg-module -g be2net
(Note: run this again to validate what you just set.)
- esxcfg-module -g be2net
- Disable the shell:
- Type exit
- Press ALT-F2
- Press the spacebar
- Press enter to “Disable ESXi Shell”
- Press ESC twice to logout
- Reboot the host:
- Press F12 and enter credentials
- Press F11
(Note: the network driver options don’t apply until you reboot the server.)
After making these changes, I conducted some performance and usability tests. Nothing seems to have deteriorated and the newly accessible network cards work fine when assigned to ESXi virtual switches.