How to upgrade ESXi host NIC Driver

1.     Download the driver from VMware website

2.     Extract the file :driverfile.vib which contains the Driver. And there is a ZIP file offline_bundle-1013484.zip  which is an offline bundle, this also contains the driver and we can also use this for the driver installation.

3.       Migrate /Power off the virtual machines running on the host Change the host into maintenance mode. The host can be put into maintenance mode from the command line with:

ESXi: # vim-cmd hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

ESX: # vimsh -n -e hostsvc/maintenance_mode_enter

Exit maintenance mode using the vimsh or vim-cmd command

ESXi: # vim-cmd /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit

ESX: # vimsh -n -e /hostsvc/maintenance_mode_exit

4.       Upload the VIB file or offline bundle to the ESXi location /tmp via PSCP(Refer - http://www.it.cornell.edu/services/managed_servers/howto/file_transfer/fileputty.cfm)

5.       Then open SSH shell for ESxi and go to the directory and check for the uploaded file.

          cd /tmp

6.       To install the Driver give the command using VIB file:

                #esxcli software vib install -v /tmp /net-Driverfile.vib

7.       To upgrade the drivers using offline bundle:

#esxcli software vib update -d /tmp/ drivertfile_offline_bundle-1013484.zip

8.       Verify that the VIBs are installed on your ESXi host:
# esxcli software vib list

                  Then reboot the ESXi host. 
            
Verify the new nic driver version using the below commands:
            #esxcli network nic list
            #ethtool -i vmnic-name