Copyright(c) 2013 - 2018 Intel Corporation

This release includes the native i40en VMware ESX Driver for Intel(R) Ethernet Controllers X710, XL710, XXV710, and X722 family

Driver version: 1.5.8

Supported ESXi releases: 6.0
Compatible ESXi versions: 6.5

=================================================================================

Contents
--------

- Important Notes
- New Features
- New Hardware Supported
- Bug Fixes
- Known Issues and Workarounds
- Command Line Parameters
- Previously Released Versions

=================================================================================

Important Notes:
----------------

Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) supports Intel X710 and XL710 adapters with FW 6.0 and later.
Set LLDP driver load param to allow or disallow LLDP frames forwarded to the network stack

  LLDP agent is enabled by default (Default FW setting)
  Set LLDP=0 to disable LLDP agent
  Set LLDP=1 to enable LLDP agent back
  Set LLDP to anything other then 0 or 1 will fallback to the default setting (LLDP enabled)
  LLDP agent is always enabled when MFP (Multi Functional Port, i.e. NPAR) enabled, regardless of the driver load param LLDP setting.

When the LLDP agent is enabled in firmware, the ESXi OS will not receive LLDP frames and Link Layer Discovery Protocol information will not be available on the physical adapter inside ESXi.


New Features:
-------------

- None


New Hardware Supported:
-----------------------

- None


Bug Fixes:
----------

- Fix duplicated packets under heavy traffic when VMkernel adapter's MAC address is the same as PF's MAC address

- NIC occasionally stops working right after updating the firmware


Known Issues and Workarounds:
----------------------------

- Unable to reload VF driver on SLES 12SP2 and ESXi 6.0 update 3
	Workaround: Upgrade to ESXi 6.0 Update 3a or ESXi 6.5. Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2149955.
- Very low throughput when sending IPv6 to a Linux VM that uses a VMXNET3 adapter
	Workaround: Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2057874
- Driver is unable to configure the maximum 128 Virtual Functions per adapter due to the kernel limitation
	Workaround:
	- ESXi 6.0: reduce the number of VFs
	- ESXi 6.5: Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2147604


Command Line Parameters:
------------------------

ethtool is not supported for native driver.
Please use esxcli, vsish, or esxcfg-* to set or get the driver information, for example:

- Get the driver supported module parameters
  esxcfg-module -i i40en

- Get the driver info
  esxcli network nic get -n vmnic1

- Get an uplink stats
  esxcli network nic stats -n vmnic1

- Get the private stats
  vsish -e get /net/pNics/vmnic1/stats


=================================================================================

Previously Released Versions:
-----------------------------
-Driver Version: 1.5.6
	Hardware Supported: Intel(R) Ethernet Controllers X710, XL710, XXV710, and X722 family
	Supported ESXi releases: 6.0 and 6.5
	New Features Supported:
		- Log an error message if an SFP+ module does not meet the thermal requirements
		- Add LLDP driver load param to allow or disallow LLDP frames forwarded to the network stack
		  This feature only supports Intel X710 and XL710 adapters with FW 6.0.x and  later
	Bug Fixes:
		- ESXi crashes when NPAR-EP is enabled with 2 or more devices
		- Fix incorrect PHY type, 0x20, detection for XXV710 adapter
		- Fix VF guest VLAN tagging issue for Windows GOS
		- VF link status is still up after pulling the cable and the PF is down
		- Fix Windows GOS VF connectivity issues
		- VF traffic does not resume after PF reset
		- Unable to set auto negotiation when physical link is removed on X710 10GBASE-T adapter
		- Disabling uplink during heavy traffic causes a network hang
		- Possible TX queue hang during heavy VMDq traffic
		- No connectivity between NPAR master / slave ports from the same PF
		- The driver does not report pause frame statistics
	Known Issues:
		- Unable to reload VF driver on SLES 12SP2 and ESXi 6.0 update 3
			Workaround: Upgrade to ESXi 6.0 Update 3a or ESXi 6.5. Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2149955.
		- Very low throughput when sending IPv6 to a Linux VM that uses a VMXNET3 adapter
			Workaround: Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2057874
		- Driver is unable to configure the maximum 128 Virtual Functions per adapter due to the kernel limitation
			Workaround:
			- ESXi 6.0: reduce the number of VFs
			- ESXi 6.5: Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2147604


-Driver Version: 1.4.3
	Hardware Supported: Intel(R) Ethernet Controllers X710, XL710, XXV710, and X722 family
	Supported ESXi releases: 6.0 and 6.5
	New Features Supported:
		- None
	Bug Fixes:
		- Fix Link speed changing
		- There is no traffic when vmknic and VF are configured using the same PF port
		- Unable to set Pause Parameters
		- Duplicate Packets across queues when SR-IOV is enabled
		- SFP+ module swap link down
	Known Issues:
		- ESXi crashes when NPAR-EP is enabled
		  Workaround: Use only one i40en adapter in the system when NPAR-EP is enabled
		- Very low throughput when sending IPv6 to a Linux VM that uses a VMXNET3 adapter
		  Workaround: Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2057874
		- Driver is unable to configure the maximum 128 Virtual Functions per adapter due to the kernel limitation
		  Workaround:
			- ESXi 6.0: reduce the number of VFs
			- ESXi 6.5: Please look at the VMware Knowledge Base 2147604


-Driver Version: 1.3.1
	Hardware Supported: Intel(R) Ethernet Controllers X710, XL710, XXV710, and X722 family
	Supported ESXi releases: 6.0 and 6.5
	Features Supported:
		- Rx, Tx, TSO checksum offload
		- Netqueue (VMDQ)
		- VxLAN Offload
		- Hardware VLAN filtering
		- Rx Hardware VLAN stripping
		- Tx Hardware VLAN inserting
		- Interrupt moderation
		- SR-IOV (supports four queues per VF, VF MTU, and VF VLAN)
		        Valid range for max_vfs
		        1-32 (X710 based devices)
		        1-64 (XL710 based devices)
		- Link Auto-negotiation
		- Flow Control
		- Management APIs for CIM Provider, OCSD/OCBB
	Bug Fixes:
		- None
	Known Issues:
		- There is no traffic when vmknic and VF are configured using the same PF port
		  Workaround: none
		- ESXi crashes when NPAR-EP is enabled
		  Workaround: Use only one i40en adapter in the system when NPAR-EP is enabled



