Emulex Drivers for VMware ESXi
Release	ESXi 6.5	12.4.270.6


Purpose and Contact Information
These release notes describe the new features, resolved issues, known issues, and technical tips associated with these EmulexB. drivers for VMware releases. 
For the latest product documentation, go to www.broadcom.com. If you have questions or require additional information, contact an authorized BroadcomB. Technical Support representative at ecd-tech.support@broadcom.com.

New Features
1.	Adds support for Fabric Assigned Boot LUNs (FABL) using the OneCommand Manager CLI. Refer to the Emulex OneCommand Manager Command Line Interface User Guide for information. 
2.	Adds support for link diagnostics internal and external loop back test on trunking-enabled ports. 
3.	Format of esxcli elxmgmt commands modified to comply with VMware norms. For new format of commands and newly added namespaces, refer to the Emulex Drivers for VMware ESXi User Guide Release 12.4. 
Resolved Issues
1.	Attempting to disable the ras-fwlog-buffsize driver parameter on one port and attempting to enable the same parameter on another port, no longer results in an error. 
2.	On LPe35000-series adapters on which two or four-lane trunking is enabled, if all ports are down, all management applications now correctly display the link speed of the individual ports as 0. On LPe35000-series adapters on which two or four-lane trunking is enabled, after all ports in a trunk are disabled and if any one port is enabled, all management         applications now correctly display the link state of the port as enabled. 
3.	Issue of some LUNs not being discovered is fixed. 
4.	On LPe35000-series adapters, an unrecoverable operating system fault no longer occurs if either the driver is run in INTx mode or if the driver parameter lpfc_use_msi is set to 0. 
5.	An unrecoverable operating system fault no longer occurs if many RSCN/ELS commands are processing and the driver unloads in parallel. 

Known Issues
All Versions, Known Issues
1. Known issues related to software migration.
   Beginning with software release 11.2, FC HBAs and OneConnectB. adapters have independent software kits. Before updating earlier drivers and applications to the software in release 12.4.2, refer to the Emulex Software Kit Migration User Guide for special instructions and considerations for using the 11.2 and later software kits for FC HBAs and OneConnect       adapters.
2. The adapter model name and description do not match the vendor brand name field. 
   The VMware vSphere client shows only the adapter family model names with a single port. 
   For example:
   LPe32000-series adapter is shown as the Emulex LightPulse LPe32000 PCIe Fibre Channel Adapter.
   LPe35000-series adapter is shown as the Emulex LightPulse LPe36000 Fibre Channel Adapter.
   This issue occurs with the native tool lspci as well. The vSphere client gets the adapter model name and description from the XML package files installed with the operating system or with an out-of-box kit, rather than from the adapter vital product data (VPD). Other native tools work in a similar manner.
   Workaround
   To show all available Key Value (KV) instances, use the following command:
   /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmgmt_keyval/vmkmgmt_keyval -d
   For storage adapters, look for vmhbaX/Emulex.
3. Some inbox drivers do not support LPe35000-series adapters, as described in the following table.
   Table 1:  Operating System and Support for LPe35000-Series Adapters
   Operating System	Support for LPe35000-Series Adapters
   ESXi 6.5	No; use the latest I/O Vendor Partner (IOVP) certified driver.
   Workaround:
   Follow the guidelines in Table 1.
4. Revision A of the FOIT AFCT-57F3TMZ-ELX (16GFC longwave optic transceiver) does not support D_Port (also called ClearLink) for BrocadeB. switches and MDS Diagnostic for Cisco switches. 
   Workaround:
   None.
5. Neither Revision A nor Revision B of the FOIT AFCT-57F3TMZ-ELX (16GFC longwave optic transceiver) or 
   AFCT-57G5MZ-ELX (32GFC longwave optic transceiver) supports D_Port for Brocade switches. 
   Workaround:
   None.
6. Boot from SAN is not supported if FC-SP-2 authentication (DHCHAP) is enabled.
   Workaround:
   None.
7. Brocade switches using Fabric Operating System (FOS) version 8.2.1B and earlier might encounter the following issues with DHCHAP authentication:
   a. You might not be able to configure the secret pair between the switch and the HBA. When authentication is enabled on the switch, and authentication is disabled on the HBA, the switch disables the port, but it does not issue the expected status messages. 
   b. The Brocade switch authenticates the HBA port when authentication is disabled on the switch, or when a frame is dropped.
   Workaround:
   None.
8. The trunking speed is incorrectly displayed as 0 when you execute the esxcli storage san fc list command.
   Workaround:
   To view the correct trunking speed, use any of the following options:
   a. Execute the following keyval command:
     /usr/lib/vmware/vmkmgmt_keyval/vmkmgmt_keyval  -i vmhba<port instance>/Emulex  -g -k port
   b. Execute the following esxcli elxmgmt command:
     esxcli elxmgmt hbaport attributes -w <wwpn>
   c. Execute the following hbacmd CLI command:
     HbaCmd.exe h=<ESXi Host IP> m=cim portattributes <wwpn>
   d. Use the Emulex OneCommandB. Manager GUI. 
9. Dependency errors might occur when you use the esxcli command to upgrade from release 12.2 elxfccli or elxmgmt vib to release 12.4 elxfccli or elxmgmt vib, 
   Workaround
   Remove the existing release 12.2 vib and install the release 12.4 vib. 

ESXi 6.5 Known Issues
 There are no known issues.

Technical Tips
1. When the Virtual Machine Identifier (VMID) feature is used in an ESXi environment with ESXi mobility (vMotion), the VMID strings might not be available from the operating system on the backup server (the server to which vMotion moved) for 10 to 20 minutes. During this time, the VMID strings are not available for registration on the fabric switch. (BZ 199484, 199252)
   Workaround:
   After the vMotion action, wait until the operating system settles and the VMID strings are available.
2. ESXi servers can appear to have the same VMID Application ID. The VMID is the combination of the Application ID appended to the end of the N_Port ID, which provides uniqueness within the fabric.
3. To view VMID information on all VMs in a multipathing configuration, set the path policy to Round Robin.
4. The server must be in ESXi maintenance mode to safely change the firmware in flash memory.
   For operations, such as firmware download, bring the server into ESXi maintenance mode prior to flashing the firmware.
5. Install an offline bundle locally on an ESXi server using the esxcli command.
   Install an offline bundle on a VMware ESXi server locally using the esxcli command. 
   [root@testmachine ~]# esxcli software vib install --maintenance-mode -d <offline-bundle.zip>
   Where <offline-bundle.zip> is the file name of the offline bundle to be installed.
6. DHCHAP and Dynamic D_Port are mutually exclusive. If both features are enabled simultaneously, warning messages will result. You must either disable DHCHAP using the lpfc_enable_auth parameter, or disable Dynamic D_Port using the Emulex OneCommand Manager application.
7. D_Port and FA-PWWN cannot be enabled simultaneously. 
   Workaround:
   If D_Port is enabled and you want to enable FA-PWWN, you must first disable D_Port. If FA-PWWN is enabled and you want to enable D_Port, you must first disable FA-PWWN.




