Dell Emulex Family of Adapters - Manual (Page 992)

Emulex Drivers Version 10.2 for VMware ESXi User Manual P010087-01A Rev. A
2. Installation
Preparing to Upgrade to ESXi 5.5
992
Driver Parameters Migration When Upgrading to ESXi 5.5
VMware's ESXi 5.5 release has two driver models:

vmklinux – the legacy driver model

native mode – the new driver model
vmklinux is a Linux compatibility layer for device drivers in all ESX releases from ESX
2.x to ESXi 5.1. This vmklinux layer allows IHVs to use their Linux drivers in ESXi with
only a few modifications. This consistent driver model usage along the ESXi release
train ensures that upgrades automatically copy the initial ram disk driver parameters
from the original operating system to the upgraded operating system. With the
introduction of ESXi 5.5, this is no longer true.
VMware recommends loading the drivers by default in native mode because this is the
preferred driver model for all subsequent releases. However, because native mode is
different than vmklinux and because there is no native mode in prior ESXi releases,
there is no driver parameter migration from vmklinux to native mode when migrating
to ESXi 5.5.
When you install ESXi 5.5 over your existing ESXi system, you will notice after
updating and rebooting the system that the driver parameter settings did not migrate.
For example, if you set the lpfc_lun_queue_depth driver parameter to 8 on ESXi 5.1 and
then update from ESXi 5.1 to ESXi 5.5, you will see the following when the driver
parameters are verified after the update:
~ # esxcfg-module -g lpfc
Unknown module name lpfc
In summary, when updating an existing ESXi system to ESXi 5.5, you must manually
set all of the driver parameter values.
Preparing to Upgrade to ESXi 5.5
Upgrading your server to ESXi 5.5 now requires an additional planning step. You must
evaluate the initial ram disk for the server that will be upgraded and document the
existing driver parameter values. After the upgrade, you must then manually
reprogram those initial ram disk values.
FC and FCoE Driver Example
The server administrator executes the following commands on the ESXi 5.0 or 5.1 server
prior to the ESXi 5.5 upgrade:
~ # esxcfg-module -g lpfc820
lpfc820 enabled = 1 options = 'lpfc_lun_queue_depth=8'
After upgrading to ESXi 5.5, the server administrator must run the following
command.
Note: The driver binary name is now the native mode Emulex LPFC driver.
~ # esxcfg-module -s "lpfc_lun_queue_depth=8" lpfc