Getting network card driver version in ESXi 5.0

This a quick follow-up post to the How to check the driver version of a network interface in ESX(i) one. That post covered ESX(i) 4.x so I decided to write a small update for ESXi 5.0.

First I have to say that the two methods described in my first post still work in ESXi 5.0 Shell.

~ # vmware -l
VMware ESXi 5.0.0 GA
~ #
~ # vmkload_mod -s e1000 | grep Version
Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
~ #
~ # ethtool -i vmnic0
driver: e1000
version: 8.0.3.1-NAPI
firmware-version: N/A
bus-info: 0000:02:00.0
~ #

Thanks to the new changes made by VMware in ESXi 5.0 we can now use esxcli to get the same result.

~ # esxcli system module get -m e1000
   Module: e1000
   Module File: /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/e1000
   License: GPL
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
   Signed Status: VMware Signed
   Signature Issuer: VMware, Inc.
   Signature Digest: 1049 0611 a944 efc3 b683 341d 34b1 bebc 552d cb81 a874 ef4c 0562 8f25 2775 8c8d
   Signature FingerPrint: cb44 247a 1614 cea1 2079 362d ec86 9d0e
   Provided Namespaces:
   Required Namespaces: com.vmware.driverAPI@9.2.0.0, com.vmware.vmkapi@v2_0_0_0
~ #
~ # esxcli system module get -m e1000 | grep Version
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
~ #

There is a big advantage on using esxcli over the other methods. In ESX(i) 4.x and ESXi 5.0 with the old procedure you had to be logged into the host but with esxcli it can be performed remotely using vSphere CLI.

vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]> esxcli system module get -m e1000
   Module: e1000
   Module File: /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmod/e1000
   License: GPL
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
   Signed Status: VMware Signed
   Signature Issuer: VMware, Inc.
   Signature Digest: 1049 0611 a944 efc3 b683 341d 34b1 bebc 552d cb81 a874 ef4c 0562 8f25 2775 8c8d
   Signature FingerPrint: cb44 247a 1614 cea1 2079 362d ec86 9d0e
   Provided Namespaces:
   Required Namespaces: com.vmware.driverAPI@9.2.0.0, com.vmware.vmkapi@v2_0_0_0
vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]>
vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]> esxcli system module get -m e1000 | grep Version
   Version: Version 8.0.3.1-NAPI, Build: 456551, Interface: 9.2 Built on: Jul 29 2011
vi-admin@vma:~[esxi5.vjlab.local]>

But there is more, thanks to Get-EsxCli cmdleet the same operation can be done using PowerCLI, here it is how.

First we need to setup the Esxcli instance.

And now we issue the command using the name of the module as the argument, please pay attention to the syntax.

As you should have imagined this procedure can be used to get info about any VMkernel module in the host, not just the network interface one,.

Juanma.

List packages installed in ESXi 4.1 and 5.0

Today a co-worker has asked me how to list the packages installed in an ESXi 4.1 Update 1 server, in the ESX COS we had the RedHat rpm command but in ESXi there is no rpm and of course there is no COS.

His intention was to look for the version of the qla2xxx driver and my first thought was to use vmkload_mod, the problem is that with this command you can get the version of a driver already loaded by the VMkernel and we wanted to look for the version of a driver installed but no loaded.

I tried esxupdate with no luck.

~ # esxupdate query
----Bulletin ID----- -----Installed----- --------------Summary---------------
ESXi410-201101223-UG 2011-01-13T05:09:39 3w-9xxx: scsi driver for VMware ESXi
ESXi410-201101224-UG 2011-01-13T05:09:39 vxge: net driver for VMware ESXi    
~ #

Then I suddenly thought that the ESXi Tech Support Mode is based on Busybox. If you have ever use a Busybox environment, like a QNAP NAS, you will probably remember that the way to install new software over the network is with ipkg command and to list the software packages already installed the syntax is ipkg list_installed.

~ # ipkg list_installed
emulex-cim-provider - 410.2.0.32.1-207424 -
lsi-provider - 410.04.V0.24-140815 -
qlogic-fchba-provider - 400.1.1.8-140815 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-libata - 400.2.00.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-amd - 400.0.2.4.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-atiixp - 400.0.4.3.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-cmd64x - 400.0.2.1.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-hpt3x2n - 400.0.3.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-pdc2027x - 400.0.74ac5.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-serverworks - 400.0.3.7.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-sil680 - 400.0.3.2.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ata-pata-via - 400.0.1.14.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-block-cciss - 400.3.6.14.10.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-hpcru - 400.1.1.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-pseudo-char-dev - 400.0.0.1.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-random - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-char-tpm-tis - 400.0.0.1.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ehci-ehci-hcd - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-hid-hid - 400.2.6.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ioat-ioat - 400.2.15.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ipmi-ipmi-devintf - 400.39.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ipmi-ipmi-msghandler - 400.39.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ipmi-ipmi-si-drv - 400.39.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-bnx2 - 400.2.0.7d-3vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-bnx2x - 400.1.54.1.v41.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-cdc-ether - 400.1.0.0.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-cnic - 400.1.9.7d.rc2.3.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000 - 400.8.0.3.2-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-e1000e - 400.1.1.2.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-enic - 400.1.4.0.261-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-forcedeth - 400.0.61.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-igb - 400.1.3.19.12.2-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-ixgbe - 400.2.0.38.2.5.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-nx-nic - 400.4.0.550.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-s2io - 400.2.1.4.13427.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-sky2 - 400.1.20-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-tg3 - 400.3.86.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-net-usbnet - 400.1.0.0.1-2vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-ohci-usb-ohci - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-ahci - 400.2.0.0.1-5vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-ata-piix - 400.2.00ac6.1-3vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-nv - 400.2.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-promise - 400.1.04.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-sil - 400.2.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-sata-sata-svw - 400.2.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aacraid - 400.4.1.1.5.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-adp94xx - 400.1.0.8.12.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-aic79xx - 400.3.2.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-bnx2i - 400.1.8.11t5.rc2.8.1-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-fnic - 400.1.1.0.113.2-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-hpsa - 400.3.6.14.45-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-ips - 400.7.12.06.1-3vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-iscsi-linux - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-lpfc820 - 400.8.2.1.30.1-58vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-megaraid-mbox - 400.2.20.5.1.4-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-megaraid-sas - 400.4.0.14.1-18vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-megaraid2 - 400.2.00.4.1-4vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-mpt2sas - 400.04.255.03.00.1-6vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-mptsas - 400.4.21.00.01.1-6vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-mptspi - 400.4.21.00.01.1-6vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla2xxx - 400.831.k1.28.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-qla4xxx - 400.5.01.03.1-10vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-scsi-sample-iscsi - 400.1.0.0-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-uhci-usb-uhci - 400.3.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-usb-storage-usb-storage - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-usbcore-usb - 400.1.0.0.1-1vmw.1.4.348481 -
vmware-esx-drivers-vmklinux-vmklinux - 4.1.0-1.4.348481 -
Successfully terminated.
~ #

There you are :-) There is one gotcha to get the version, it starts just after the 400.

Next task of course was to do the same in ESXi 5.0.

~ # ipkg list_installed
-sh: ipkg: not found
~ #

Ouch! Ipkg has been removed from ESXi 5.0. The key to get the same list is esxcli.

~ # esxcli software vib list
Name                  Version                             Vendor  Acceptance Level  Install Date
--------------------  ----------------------------------  ------  ----------------  ------------
ata-pata-amd          0.3.10-3vmw.500.0.0.469512          VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-atiixp       0.4.6-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-cmd64x       0.2.5-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-hpt3x2n      0.3.4-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-pdc2027x     1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-serverworks  0.4.3-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-sil680       0.4.8-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ata-pata-via          0.3.3-2vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
block-cciss           3.6.14-10vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ehci-ehci-hcd         1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
esx-base              5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
esx-tboot             5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ima-qla4xxx           2.01.07-1vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ipmi-ipmi-devintf     39.1-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ipmi-ipmi-msghandler  39.1-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ipmi-ipmi-si-drv      39.1-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
misc-cnic-register    1.1-1vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
misc-drivers          5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-be2net            4.0.88.0-1vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-bnx2              2.0.15g.v50.11-5vmw.500.0.0.469512  VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-bnx2x             1.61.15.v50.1-1vmw.500.0.0.469512   VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-cnic              1.10.2j.v50.7-2vmw.500.0.0.469512   VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-e1000             8.0.3.1-2vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-e1000e            1.1.2-3vmw.500.0.0.469512           VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-enic              1.4.2.15a-1vmw.500.0.0.469512       VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-forcedeth         0.61-2vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-igb               2.1.11.1-3vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-ixgbe             2.0.84.8.2-10vmw.500.0.0.469512     VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-nx-nic            4.0.557-3vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-r8168             8.013.00-3vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-r8169             6.011.00-2vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-s2io              2.1.4.13427-3vmw.500.0.0.469512     VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-sky2              1.20-2vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
net-tg3               3.110h.v50.4-4vmw.500.0.0.469512    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
ohci-usb-ohci         1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-ahci             3.0-6vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-ata-piix         2.12-4vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-nv          3.5-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-promise     2.12-3vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-sil         2.3-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
sata-sata-svw         2.3-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-aacraid          1.1.5.1-9vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-adp94xx          1.0.8.12-6vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-aic79xx          3.1-5vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-bnx2i            1.9.1d.v50.1-3vmw.500.0.0.469512    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-fnic             1.5.0.3-1vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-hpsa             5.0.0-17vmw.500.0.0.469512          VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-ips              7.12.05-4vmw.500.0.0.469512         VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-lpfc820          8.2.2.1-18vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-megaraid-mbox    2.20.5.1-6vmw.500.0.0.469512        VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-megaraid-sas     4.32-1vmw.500.0.0.469512            VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-megaraid2        2.00.4-9vmw.500.0.0.469512          VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-mpt2sas          06.00.00.00-5vmw.500.0.0.469512     VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-mptsas           4.23.01.00-5vmw.500.0.0.469512      VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-mptspi           4.23.01.00-5vmw.500.0.0.469512      VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-qla2xxx          901.k1.1-14vmw.500.0.0.469512       VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
scsi-qla4xxx          5.01.03.2-3vmw.500.0.0.469512       VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
uhci-usb-uhci         1.0-3vmw.500.0.0.469512             VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
tools-light           5.0.0-0.0.469512                    VMware  VMwareCertified   2011-09-07 
~ #

A final thought for all of you starting with vSphere 5, esxcli is the key in ESXi 5.0 shell.

Juanma.

List ARP table entries of an ESXi

Like we found before for netstat there is no arp command available from within ESXi Tech Support Mode, so how can you list the ARP table entries if you need to? Or how can you do it remotely either with vCLI or PowerCLI?

In this quick post I’ll show you the different ways to list the ARP table entries of an ESXi server, as always both for ESXi4 and ESXi5.

Tech Support Mode

From ESXi Tech Support Mode we need to relay in esxcli.

ESXi4:

ESXi5:

vCLI

Again we need esxcli in order to get the ARP table.

PowerCLI

In this case we are going to use esxcli but trough the Get-EsxCli cmdlet. First we retrieve the esxcli instance and then we get the ARP table list.

ESXi4:

ESXi5:

Juanma.