External Link

To solve this issue You need to get D-Link 528T adapter driver and log on to ESXi with ssh.

First download D-Link 528T ethernet driver from here , unzip it and upload to your ESXi datastore.

Then enable SSH access to your ESXi host as below:

Open some ssh client software for example Putty and type your host credentials login in to ESXi:

Then change your support level on ESXi

~ # esxcli software acceptance set –level=CommunitySupported

For VMware ESXi version 6.7/7:

~ # esxcli software acceptance set –-level CommunitySupported

Host acceptance level changed to ‘CommunitySupported’.

After that You can install driver like as below:

~ # esxcli software vib install -v /vmfs/volumes/datastore1/DLink-528T-1.x86_64.vib
Installation Result
Message: The update completed successfully, but the system needs to be rebooted for the changes to be effective.
Reboot Required: true
VIBs Installed: DLink_bootbank_DLink-528T_1
VIBs Removed:
VIBs Skipped:

You can check your Network adapter with this command:

~ # lspci | grep net
00:07:00.0 Network controller: D-Link System Inc DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

It is required to reboot ESXi host. After reboot new adapter shows on command line output.

~ # lspci | grep Net
00:00:19.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation 82579V Gigabit Network Connection [vmnic0]
00:07:00.0 Network controller: D-Link System Inc DGE-528T Gigabit Ethernet Adapter [vmnic1]

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