Community Networking Driver for ESXi

• VMware ESXi 7.0 (x86) or newer is required
• Any PCIe network adapters with VID/PID listed below are supported

igc-community

Vendor	Chipset	VendorID	ProductID
Intel	Ethernet Controller I225-LM	0x8086	0x15f2
Intel	Ethernet Controller I225-V	0x8086	0x15f3
Intel	Ethernet Controller I225-IT(2)	0x8086	0xd9f
Intel	Ethernet Controller I225-I	0x8086	0x15f8
Intel	Ethernet Controller I225-K	0x8086	0x3100
Intel	Ethernet Controller I225-K(2)	0x8086	0x3101
Intel	Ethernet Controller I225-LMvP(2)	0x8086	0x5502
Intel	Ethernet Controller I226-K	0x8086	0x5504
Intel	Ethernet Controller I226-LM	0x8086	0x125b
Intel	Ethernet Controller I226-V	0x8086	0x125c
Intel	Ethernet Controller I226-IT	0x8086	0x125d
Intel	Ethernet Controller I220-V	0x8086	0x15f7
Intel	Ethernet Controller I221-V	0x8086	0x125e

e1000-community (All devices below is now available in ESXi 7.0 Update 3f)

Vendor	Chipset	VendorID	ProductID
Intel	Ethernet Connection (6) I219-LM	0x8086	0x15bd
Intel	Ethernet Connection (6) I219-V	0x8086	0x15be
Intel	Ethernet Connection (7) I219-LM	0x8086	0x15bb
Intel	Ethernet Connection (7) I219-V	0x8086	0x15bc
Intel	Ethernet Connection (10) I219-LM	0x8086	0x0d4e
Intel	Ethernet Connection (10) I219-V	0x8086	0x0d4f
Intel	Ethernet Connection (11) I219-LM	0x8086	0x0d4c
Intel	Ethernet Connection (11) I219-V	0x8086	0x0d4d
Intel	Ethernet Connection (12) I219-LM	0x8086	0x0d53
Intel	Ethernet Connection (12) I219-V	0x8086	0x0d55
Intel	Ethernet Connection (13) I219-LM	0x8086	0x155b
Intel	Ethernet Connection (13) I219-V	0x8086	0x155c
Intel	Ethernet Connection (14) I219-LM	0x8086	0x15f9
Intel	Ethernet Connection (14) I219-V	0x8086	0x15fa
Intel	Ethernet Connection (15) I219-LM	0x8086	0x15f4
Intel	Ethernet Connection (15) I219-V	0x8086	0x15f5
Intel	Ethernet Connection (16) I219-LM	0x8086	0x1a1e
Intel	Ethernet Connection (17) I219-V	0x8086	0x1a1f
Intel	Ethernet Connection (17) I219-LM	0x8086	0x1a1c
Intel	Ethernet Connection (17) I219-V	0x8086	0x1a1d

Step 1 - Download the Offline Bundle zip file for the Community Networking Driver for ESXi and upload to ESXi host using either SCP or Datastore Browser

Step 2 - Install the ESXi Offline Bundle by running the following command on ESXi Shell to install ESXi Offline Bundle:

esxcli software vib install -d /path/to/the offline bundle zip

Step 3 - Reboot the ESXi host for the change to go into effect. Once the host has rebooted, ESXi should now allow be able to claim and use the network adapter.
Note: For the Intel NUC 11 (Pro/Performance), you will need to incorporate the Community Networking Driver for ESXi into a new ESXi Image Profile before you can install. You can use either the Image Builder UI in vCenter Server or Image Builder CLI with PowerCLI.

Mar 15, 2022 - v1.2.7

      Net-Community-Driver_1.2.7.0-1vmw.700.1.0.15843807_19480755.zip
      md5: cd505cfc2e435510b2e23e87870e4822

What's New:

• Support for additional Intel I225 devices with any PHY ID
• Support for new Intel I226-K devices with any PHY ID
• Fixed potential deadlock in changing MTU
• Fixed potential RX hang in device layer ops
• Fixed potential PHY reset failure

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Oct 29, 2021 - v1.2.2

      Net-Community-Driver_1.2.2.0-1vmw.700.1.0.15843807_18835109.zip
      md5: 5d508eb40d578dd0ec6de3838c8cec13

What's New:

• Support for additional Intel I225/I226/I220/I221 devices

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May 19, 2021 - v1.2

      Net-Community-Driver_1.2.0.0-1vmw.700.1.0.15843807_18028830.zip
      md5: fc3b23201d78d3b0d75c8a4fcad759f3

What's New:

• Support for Jumbo Frames (MTU up to 9000)
• Support for Wake-on-LAN (WOL) for Intel i225 NIC

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April 08, 2021 - v1.1

      Net-Community-Driver_1.1.0.0-1vmw.700.1.0.15843807_17858744.zip
      md5: 587d7d408184c90f6baf4204bb309171

What's New:

• Resolve issue when using Intel vPro which can cause ESXi PSOD

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February 17, 2021 - v1.0 (Initial Release)

      Net-Community-Driver_1.0.0.0-1vmw.700.1.0.15525992_17594603.zip
      md5: 23eb1a3084b096333ea5789fbfb86ef2

Known Issues:

• The igc-community driver currently does not include optimization features such as Jumbo Frames/TSO/CSO/VLAN stripping