Installing Mellanox InfiniBand Driver

Do the following to install the Mellanox InfiniBand driver for the VMware vSphere ESXi host:

  1. Ensure the Mellanox InfiniBand driver for VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5 is available. If necessary, download the driver from the Download tab on the Mellanox website:

    http://www.mellanox.com/page/products_dyn?product_family=36&mtag=vmware_drivers

  2. Using a secure file transfer client (for example, FileZilla), copy the ZIP file containing the driver to a known location on the ESXi host; for example, the /var/log/vmware directory.

  3. From the ESXi system’s direct console (DCUI), access the main screen, and then press Alt+F1 to open a virtual console window.

  4. Log in as root.

  5. Enter the following ESXCLI command to install the Mellanox InfiniBand driver:

    #> esxcli software vib install -d  <path>/<bundle_zip_file>

    Where

    • <path> is the location you previously copied the ZIP file containing the driver to.

    • <bundle_zip_file> is the name of the ZIP file containing the driver.

    For example

    #> esxcli software vib install -d  /var/log/vmware /MLNX-OFED-ESX-1.8.2.4-10EM- 500.0.0.472560.zip
  6. Reboot the ESXi host.