Posts Tagged ‘nic’

Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Install the NEW Realtek driver on ESXi 9.0

Wednesday, January 14th, 2026

Minisforum MS-A2: How to Install the New Realtek Driver on VMware ESXi 9.0

Running VMware ESXi 9.0 on the Minisforum MS-A2 is a fantastic option for homelabs and edge deployments, but out of the box you may notice that not all Realtek network interfaces are detected.

In this guide, based on my latest episode of Hancock’s VMware Half Hour, I walk through installing the new Broadcom-compiled Realtek driver (available as an official Broadcom Fling) to unlock additional NIC support.

What This Guide Covers

  • Why Realtek NICs are limited by default on ESXi 9.0
  • Where to download the official Broadcom Fling driver
  • Installing the driver using esxcli
  • Rebooting safely and verifying NIC availability

Supported Realtek Network Adapters

The driver demonstrated in this guide supports the following Realtek PCIe devices:

  • RTL8111 – 1GbE
  • RTL8125 – 2.5GbE
  • RTL8126 – 5GbE
  • RTL8127 – 10GbE

Driver Installation Command

Once the driver ZIP has been copied to your ESXi datastore and the host is in maintenance mode, install it using:

esxcli software component apply -d path VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.00-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zip

After installation, a reboot is required for the new network interfaces to become available.

Video Chapters

00:00 - Start
00:03 - Welcome to Hancock's VMware Half Hour
00:37 - Todays video - HOW TO Install Realtek driver on ESXi 9.0
00:55 - Broadcom Released the Realtek Driver fling in November 2025
01:55 - Minisforum MS-A2 - VCF 9.0 Homelab of the Year 2025 !
02:26 - Available as a Broadcom Fling - Tech Preview - not for production
02:55 - I'm not a fan of Realtek let it be known!
03:11 - Go to Broadcom Fling Portal site to download - https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=Flings&freeDownloads=true
03:22 - Download the driver don't forget to Accept the Agreement!
03:51 - Enable SSH on Host, and use WinSCP to copy to local datastore
04:31 - Whoops Zoom is broke again!
05:07 - Connect to host using SSH
05:22 - Use lspci to show PCI devices in the host
06:05 - Use grep - lspci | grep Realtek
07:01 - Install the driver using esxcli software component apply -d /VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.00-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zip
07:59 - A reboot is required, reboot the server
08:36 - Reboot server
09:20 - The reason for the 10th Outake !
10:01 - Login to ESXi 9.0 using HTML Client
10:51 - Realtek driver is installed and network interfaces are available for use
11:07 - HenryChan1973 this video is for you!
12:23 - Thanks for Watching

Final Thoughts

This Broadcom Fling makes ESXi 8.0 far more usable on modern mini PCs like the Minisforum MS-A2, especially for homelabbers who rely on multi-gig Realtek networking.

Huge thanks to Henrychan1973 for their contribution and support.

If this guide helped you, consider subscribing on YouTube and checking out more VMware content on the blog.

– Andrew Hancock
Hancock’s VMware Half Hour

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Posted in All, computing, ExpertsExchange, Hancock's VMware Half Hour, homelab, intel, vExpert, Virtualisation, Virtualization, VMware | Comments Off on Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Install the NEW Realtek driver on ESXi 9.0

Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Install the NEW Realtek driver on ESXi 8.0

Sunday, January 11th, 2026


Minisforum MS-A2: How to Install the New Realtek Driver on VMware ESXi 8.0

Running VMware ESXi 8.0 on the Minisforum MS-A2 is a fantastic option for homelabs and edge deployments, but out of the box you may notice that not all Realtek network interfaces are detected.

In this guide, based on my latest episode of Hancock’s VMware Half Hour, I walk through installing the new Broadcom-compiled Realtek driver (available as an official Broadcom Fling) to unlock additional NIC support.

What This Guide Covers

  • Why Realtek NICs are limited by default on ESXi 8.0
  • Where to download the official Broadcom Fling driver
  • Installing the driver using esxcli
  • Rebooting safely and verifying NIC availability

Supported Realtek Network Adapters

The driver demonstrated in this guide supports the following Realtek PCIe devices:

  • RTL8111 – 1GbE
  • RTL8125 – 2.5GbE
  • RTL8126 – 5GbE
  • RTL8127 – 10GbE

Driver Installation Command

Once the driver ZIP has been copied to your ESXi datastore and the host is in maintenance mode, install it using:

esxcli software component apply -d path VMware-Re-Driver_1.101.00-5vmw.800.1.0.20613240.zip

After installation, a reboot is required for the new network interfaces to become available.

Video Chapters

00:00 - Intro
00:06 - Welcome to Hancock's VMware Half Hour
00:31 - Today’s Video – Minisforum MS-A2
01:01 - Installing the ESXi Realtek Driver for ESXi 8.0
01:16 - Shoutout to member Henrychan1973!
02:03 - HTML Client view of network interfaces
03:00 - Broadcom engineering compiled a driver for ESXi 8.0
04:00 - Driver is available as a Broadcom Fling
05:00 - Download the driver from Broadcom Fling portal
05:44 - WinSCP – Copy driver ZIP to ESXi datastore
06:14 - Put host into maintenance mode
07:11 - Only three interfaces supported out of the box on MS-A2
07:16 - Start an SSH session using PuTTY
07:34 - Using lspci | grep Realtek
08:22 - Supported Realtek PCIe devices
08:35 - Installing the driver using esxcli
09:59 - Whoops! Typo!
10:37 - Can you spot it?
11:08 - Driver installed – reboot required
11:27 - Nano KVM issue accepting root password?
11:41 - Reboot via the GUI
12:30 - MS-A2 restarting
13:42 - Driver installed and Realtek interfaces available
14:54 - Thanks to Henrychan1973!
15:15 - Thanks for watching

Final Thoughts

This Broadcom Fling makes ESXi 8.0 far more usable on modern mini PCs like the Minisforum MS-A2, especially for homelabbers who rely on multi-gig Realtek networking.

Huge thanks to Henrychan1973 !!!

If this guide helped you, consider subscribing on YouTube and checking out more VMware content on the blog.

– Andrew Hancock
Hancock’s VMware Half Hour

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Posted in All, computing, ExpertsExchange, Hancock's VMware Half Hour, homelab, vExpert, Virtualisation, Virtualization, VMware | Comments Off on Minisforum MS-A2 HOW TO: Install the NEW Realtek driver on ESXi 8.0

Part 36: HOW TO: Select an inexpensive HCL Certified 10GBe network interfaces for vSphere ESXi 7.0 for VMware vSphere vSAN

Saturday, October 12th, 2024


In this video presentation which is part of the Hancock’s VMware Half Hour HOW TO Video Series I explore two inexpensive 10Gbe network interfaces suitable for the #homelab for use with VMware vSphere vSAN.

 

  • Dell 0Y40PH Broadcom 57810S Dual Port 10GbE SFP+ Network Card Low Profile Dell P/N: 0Y40PH
  • Dell 0XYT17 Intel X520-DA2 Dual Port 10GB SFP+ NIC with SFP

Full details of the part numbers can be found here on my blog – Inexpensive HCL Certified 10GBe network interfaces for vSphere ESXi 7.0 and vSphere ESXi 8.0 #homelab

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Posted in All, computing, ExpertsExchange, Hancock's VMware Half Hour, vExpert, Virtualisation, Virtualization, VMware | Comments Off on Part 36: HOW TO: Select an inexpensive HCL Certified 10GBe network interfaces for vSphere ESXi 7.0 for VMware vSphere vSAN