Network adapter (vmnic) is down or fails with a failed criteria code (2024)

To determine the cause of the failure or eliminate common NIC issues:

1. Check the current status of the vmnic from either the VMware vSphere Client or the ESXi service console:

   • To check the status from the vSphere Client:
     1. Select the ESX host and click theConfigurationtab.
     2. ClickNetworking.
     3. The vmnics currently assigned to virtual switches are displayed in the diagrams. If a vmnic displays a red X, that link is currently down.
        
   • To check the status from the ESXi service console, run this command:

     esxcli network nic list

     The output appears similar to this:

     Name PCI Device Driver Admin Status Link Status Speed Duplex MAC Address MTU Description------- ------------ ------ ------------ ----------- ------ ------ ----------------- ---- -----------vmnic0 0000:01:00.0 ixgben Up Up 1000 Full ec:f4:bb:da:b6:c8 1500 Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X540-AT2vmnic1 0000:01:00.1 ixgben Up Up 1000 Full ec:f4:bb:da:b6:ca 1500 Intel(R) Ethernet Controller X540-AT2

     Note: The Admin Status is the only portion of the output that ESXi controls. This is done byusing the these commands:

esxcli network nic down -n vmnicX
esxcli network nic up -n vmnicX

The Link Status column specifies the status of the link between the physical network adapter and the physical switch. The status can be either Up or Down. If there are several network adapters, with some being up and some down, you might have to verify that they are connected to the intended physical switch ports. This can be done by bringing down each of the ESXi host's ports on the physical switch and running the command to observe which vmnic is affected.

2. Check that the vmnic referred to in the event message is still connected to the switch and configured properly:

1. Make sure that the network cable is still connected to the switch and to the host.
2. Check that the switch connected to the system is still functioning properly and has not been misconfigured. Refer to the switch documentation for details.
3. Check for activity between the physical switch and the vmnic. This might be indicated either by a network trace or activity LEDs.
4. Check that the NIC driver is up to date:Determining Network/Storage firmware and driver version in ESXi.

3. Search for the word "vmnic" in the vobd log file.

4. In the vobd file,the vmnic failure may beclassified with a Failed criteria code in this log. This code explains the reason for the vmnic failure.

1 – Link speed reported by the driver (exact match for compliance)
2 – Link speed reported by the driver (equal or greater for compliance)
4 – Link duplex reported by the driver

Note: Failed Criteria 128 is driver reporting link state down. This can becaused by unplugging the network cable or administrativelydowning the physical switchport. If this was not an intended link outageit will likely be an issue with thedriver, firmware, SFP+ module, cable, and/or switchport of the physical switch. Check the driver by following the below KB, andcall the hosthardware vendor for further troubleshooting when Failed criteria 128's are seen in the vobd log. For more information, seeDetermining Network/Storage firmware and driver version in ESXi.

Note:The failure codes are accumulative so can be added together when multiple criteria are met.

When there are multiple failures, you see entries similar to these in the vobd.log file: