Intel® Ethernet Adapters Compatibility with VMware*

Documentation

Compatibility

000005693

03/26/2021

Various versions of VMware* ESXi widely support Intel® Ethernet devices.

VMware, Inc., maintains hardware compatibility guides for various versions of VMware ESXi.

Contact your system hardware vendor directly before adding an Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter to a certified system.

How do I find Intel Ethernet Network Adapters and drivers in the VMware Compatibility Guide?

  1. Go to VMware Compatibility Guide: I/O Device Search.
  2. Select Product Release Version: Pick the product version (optional).
  3. Select Brand Name: Intel.
  4. Select I/O Device Type: Network.
  5. In Keyword, enter part of the device name in quotes, for example, X710.
  6. Optional for SR-IOV: In Features, select SR-IOV.
  7. In Search Results, click the adapter name in the model column.
  8. In Model Release Details, view the list of all releases and compatible device drivers.
  9. For details on the release and driver, including a link to the driver download site, click + to expand the row.
Note Driver types are inbox or async:
  • The inbox driver: Version included by VMware* in the ESXi ISO image
  • The async driver: Posted on the VMware driver support site and updates the inbox driver

Where do I get technical support?

Technical support for VMware driver and operating system issues are provided by VMware Support or through the VMware Communities.

Check with Intel Customer Support about warranty service for defective retail Intel Ethernet Network Adapters.

The driver title lists supported Intel® Ethernet Controllers. How do I know if the driver is correct for my Intel Ethernet Network Adapter?

Note

Intel recommends using the Native Mode API-based ESXi drivers for all Intel® Ethernet Network Adapters. Native Mode API-based ESXi drivers naming scheme ends with the letter n. For example, the Intel Ethernet 700 Series Network Adapter Native Mode API-based ESXi driver is named i40en.

When selecting a driver from the VMware VCG site, use caution to select the Native Mode API-based ESXi driver because the version number may be lower than the legacy (VMKLinux API-based) driver.

See the table below for examples of the recent Intel Ethernet Network Adapters and how they're mapped to controllers and VMware Native Mode API-based ESXi drivers.

 

Driver Controller / Connection Adapter
icen Intel® Ethernet 800 Series Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter E810 (All Product SKUs)
i40en Intel® Ethernet Controller XL710 Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter XL710-QDA1
Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter XL710-QDA2
Intel® Ethernet I/O Module XL710-Q1
Intel® Ethernet I/O Module XL710-Q2
Intel® Ethernet Controller X710 Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-DA2
Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-DA4
Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X710-T4
Intel® Ethernet Controller X710/X557-AT 10GBASE-T
Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter X710-T2L
Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter X710-T4L
Intel® Ethernet Controller XXV710 Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter XXV710-DA1
Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter XXV710-DA2
Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter XXV710 OCP
Intel® Ethernet Connection X722 Intel® Ethernet Connection X722 for 10GBASE-T
Intel® Ethernet Connection X722 for 10GbE backplane
Intel® Ethernet Connection X722 for 10GbE QSFP+
Intel® Ethernet Connection X722 for 10GbE SFP+
Intel® Ethernet Connection X722 for 1GbE
ixgben Intel® Ethernet Controller X550 Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X550-T1
Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X550-T2
Intel® Ethernet Controller X540 Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T1
Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X540-T2
Intel® 82599 10 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Intel® Ethernet Converged Network Adapter X520
(-SR2, -SR1, -LR1, -DA2, -T2, and so on)
Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter X520
(-SR2, -SR1, -LR1, -DA2, -T2, and so on)
Intel® Ethernet Connection X552 Intel® Ethernet Connection X552 10 GbE Backplane
Intel® Ethernet Connection X552 10 GbE SFP+
Intel® Ethernet Connection X552/X557-AT 10GBASE-T
igbn Intel® Ethernet Controller I350 Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter I350
(-T2, -T4, -F2, -F4)
Intel® Ethernet Connection I354 Intel® Ethernet Connection I354 1.0 GbE Backplane
Intel® Ethernet Connection I354 2.5 GbE Backplane
Intel® 82580 Gigabit Ethernet Controller Intel® Ethernet Server Adapter I340
(-T4, -F4)

 

Related topics
Guest Operating System Support for SR-IOV in VMware vSphere* 6.5 U1 and 6.7
Frequently Asked Questions for SR-IOV on Intel® Ethernet Server Adapters
Compatibility Information for Intel® Ethernet Network Connections, Controllers, and Adapters Using VMware ESXi* Driver and NVM Image