How to check and verify the I/O device firmware/driver compatibility with VMware HCL

This is something, we as a VMware admin should be aware of because in case of any related issue this is where we check if the device is supported, if supported then what capabilities have been tested as well as the detail of device driver and compatible firmware version.

In order to check about a IO device, browse to VMware Compatibility Guide site  and select I/O devices from "What are you looking for drop-down".

Or directly browse to https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io

In order to check the I/O cards detail we need to have highlighted information handy.

VID: Vendor ID
DID: Device ID
SVID: Sub-Vendor ID
SSID: Sub-Device ID

We can get this detail on an ESXi host using vmkchdev command as follows,

#vmkchdev -l |grep I/O_device_name

So, here in case of vmnic0,

VID:DID SVID:SSID
8086:100f 15ad:0750

Same is true for any other connected I/O device.

In case of hba, use

#vmkchdev -l |grep vmhba

Now use this detail on "VMware Compatibility Guide for I/O device page" to get the required detail.

Note: you may also use #vmkchdev -l | more command to find VID:DID SVID:SSID detail of all connected PCI devices or filter the information using the grep command.

That's it... :)