One of your physical network cards is down on your ESXi host. (I am using ESXi 5.5 in this example)
What are some command lines you can run in attempt the bring the VMNIC online?
Connect to the console of the ESXi host.
Hit ALT-F1
If you do not see a login prompt, hit ALT+F2 and then F2. You might need to hit F2 twice to see the login prompt.
With ESXi shell enabled, login as root
- Find the offline nic. In this case vmnic3
esxcli network nic list
- Run the following command replacing the vmnic# with your own.
esxcli network nic up -n vmnic3
- Re-run esxcli network nic list to see if the nic is online.
Again, I am using vmnic3.
vsish -e set /net/pNics/vmnic3/linkSet 1
In my case, the driver is the e1000, but on your it maybe the elxnet. This will unload/reload the drivers. The goal is to see of the driver can contact the VMNIC.
vmkload_mod -u drivername
Then, run the same command without the -u
vmkload_mod drivername
If the vmnic is still offline, I check the switch port status and even check for a loose cable.
If you can reboot, go into the BIOS and see if it can see all 4 NIC…it could be the hardware died.