Last time when I was at a customer site I need to check a specific Network adapter against the VMware HCL. It was not that easy because I have not much information about the controller but there is a “simple” way to get all the required pieces (VID, DID, SVID and SSID) to identify the right network/storage adapter.

What is VID, DID, SVID and SSID?

VID – Vendor ID – is a unique number assigned to each computer hardware device that helps to identify the chipset manufacturer (e.g. Emulex, Qlogic, Broadcom, etc.)

DID – Device ID – is a unique number and identifies the specific device of the Vendor (VID)

SVID – SubSystem Vendor ID – is a unique number and identifies the card manufacturer (e.g. HP, IBM, etc.)

SSID – Subsystem ID – it’s like the Device ID and identifies a specific device from the Subsystem Vendor

How to get the VID, DID, SVID and SSID?

Method 1 – Command Line

First we need the correct vmhba or vmnic for which we want the correct identifier.

esxcfg-scsidevs -a

or esxcli storage core adapter list

Both commands gives you a list of all available vmhbas.

esxcfg-nics -l

or esxcli network nic list

These commands gives you a list of all available vmnics.

After we know the correct vmhba/vmnic adapter we can use the following command to get the required information:

vmkchdev -l |grep vmhba# or vmkchdev -l |grep vmnic# or numberless like vmkchdev -l |grep vmhba

Now you can enter this values into the VMware HCL which can be found here. The result should look like similar to this:

Method 2 – vSphere Web Client

You can also use the WebClient to get the required information. Select the ESXi host, go to Monitor and then Hardware Status. In the Hardware Status open under PCI the component from which you want the information. You can also use the search field which makes it lot easier. In my case I searched for the LSI controller and came up with this:

Depending on how you want to gather this information you can use either Command Line or the Web Client.