When you try to install ESXi 5.x on an Intel Next Unit of Computing (NUC) system, the installation fails with the following error message:
No Network Adapters
No network adapters were detected. Either no network adapters are physically connected to the system, or a suitable driver could not be located. A third party driver my be required.
Ensure that there is at least one network adapter physically connected to the system before attempting installation. If the problem persists, consult the VMware Knowledge Base.
Affected models:
Intel NUC D54250WYK
Intel NUC D34010WYK
Intel NUC DC53427HYE
Intel NUC DC3217IYE
This message is caused by the Intel 82579LM Gigabit Ethernet Controller whose
drivers are not included in the ESXi Base Image. To fix that, you have to create an customized ESXi Image and add the proper drivers.
Create Customized ISO with ESXi-Customizer by v-front.de
ESXi-Customizer is a user-friendly program thats can be used to customize the original ESXi installation media with drivers that are not originally included. The script runs entirely on Windows.
Download required Files:
- ESXi 5.1 U1 ISO image (VMware-VMvisor-Installer-5.1.0.update01-1065491.x86_64.iso)
- ESXi-Customizer (ESXi-Customizer-v2.7.1.exe)
- Intel Driver (net-e1001e-1.0.0.x86_64.vib)
Run ESXi-Customizer-v2.7.1.exe to extract the required files
Run ESXi-Customizer.cmd
Select the ESXi Image and VIB File
Make sure to tick “Create (U)EFI-bootable ISO”
Press Run!
Burn the new created ISO file and use it in your Intel NUC
Create Customized ISO with PowerCLI
You can use PowerCLI to create a customized ISO. (Check this post if you are new to PowerCLI):
Required Files:
ESXi Offline Bundle (eg. VMware-ESXi-5.1.0-799733-depot.zip)
Intel Driver (net-e1001e-1.0.0-offline_bundle.zip)