Mellanox ConnectX-2 and ESXi 6.5

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freebsdrules

Active Member
Aug 16, 2017
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Hi all-

I'm new to ESXi and I've got a Mellanox ConnectX2 dual port 10gb card I'm trying to get work with version 6.5. I don't see it under the list of available Network Physical NICs and when I go to manage->hardware, I see it but it's greyed out. I tried manually installing the 2.4 driver but still no luck. Is there a driver that works/is supported for this card in 6.5?

Thanks!
 

marcoi

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2013
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My card worked out of the box (but it a different card from yours) , it just showed up under physical nics without any additional drivers on esxi 6.5

upload_2017-10-13_11-1-1.png

Have you tried the card in a different server/host to see if it working? Or try with a different OS? IE rule out if the card is bad.
 
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freebsdrules

Active Member
Aug 16, 2017
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Yes, I put it in my Windows 10 box and it showed up right alongside the other card I have in there. Here's a screenshot of it in the hardware management of esxi but greyed out.

 

marcoi

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2013
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This is what I see under physical nics, it using driver nmlx4_en.
upload_2017-10-13_11-21-3.png

Under pci devices i see it like this
upload_2017-10-13_11-21-59.png

Can you try a new install of ESXI 6.5 latest release? you can always install to new usb drive, etc to preserve you first install if you need it.
 

freebsdrules

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Aug 16, 2017
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Hmm, maybe that's what I'll do. I think I'm on the latest release but will double check. Thanks again!
 

freebsdrules

Active Member
Aug 16, 2017
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Wow, that was a rabbit hole that I didn't think I'd make it back from. Couldn't figure out firmware from esxi, wasn't even acknowledging the card. Thought it might be a bad card but decided to put it back in my windows box and found out it was on an old firmware version (2.7). So, I burned 2.9 and put it back in the esxi server. Boom, recognized on a clean install without doing anything!

Thanks again for all the help folks.
 
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marcoi

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2013
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hello, how to install this, i can't .
Hi David,

Can you elaborate on what you cant install? Do you mean the card physically into your server? Or do you mean once installed it isnt showing up in OS?

If OS issue, did you check the cards firmware and try to update? If it isnt even recognized by system, then the card might be damaged.

hope that helps.
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
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is it configured to ethernet or ib?
It might be on IB after firmware upgrade and if you want to use it as ETH you might need to set up properly

# mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt4099_pciconf0 s LINK_TYPE_P1=<1|2|3> for P1, port type: IB = 1, ETH = 2, Auto =3

# mlxconfig -d /dev/mst/mt4099_pciconf0 s LINK_TYPE_P2=<1|2|3> for P2, port type: IB = 1, ETH = 2, Auto =3

replace model accordingly
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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You know its very difficult to help you if you don't provide feedback on the previous suggestions...

Can you provide the output of mlxconfig?
Have you tried forcing the port to up on the switch? What switch are you using?
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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So the same card wofks fine in Windows but not Esx?

And both times the ports are set to eth?