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USB Network Native Driver Fling for ESXi 8.0 Update 1

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Songtao and I are happy to share that we now have a compatible version of the USB Network Native Driver for ESX v1.12 Fling that supports the latest ESXi 8.0 Update 1 release! 🥳

This release also includes a couple of minor enhancement and fixes which are listed below:

  • Support for new DLINK RTL8156 device (0x2001:0xb301)
  • Updated maximum supported USB Network devices from 8 to 12
  • Resolved 2.5GbE link speed issue for RTL8156 adapter

Additionally, while ESXi 8.0 Update 1 has just been released, we know that not everyone will be on the latest version and these enhancement and fixes have also been ported to a version of USB Network Native Driver for ESX v1.12 Fling driver to also support ESXi 8.0, 8.0a, 8.0b, etc.

Use the following ESXi Component ZIP files based on your desired version of ESXi 8.x:

  • ESXi 8.0 - ESXi800-VMKUSB-NIC-FLING-64098182-component-21668107.zip
  • ESXi 8.0 Update 1 - ESXi80U1-VMKUSB-NIC-FLING-64098092-component-21669994.zip

Note: There are no plans to backport these enhancements/fixes to prior ESXi releases

Finally, if you are looking to create a custom ESXi ISO or Image Profile AND you either have an existing or can deploy a vCenter Server, please refer to this blog post for using vSphere Lifecycle Manager (vLCM) via the UI or PowerCLI to create your custom images.


If you do NOT have or can not deploy a vCenter Server (no hosts required), then you can refer to this blog post for using PowerCLI Image Builder to create your custom images, but make sure you update Python dependency to at least 3.7.9+ or you will run into this issue.

Building a custom Ubuntu image using Packer Examples for VMware vSphere project

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I am a HUGE fan of HashiCorp Packer and I have been using it for a number of years across many different projects including the VMware Event Broker Appliance (VEBA) solution. While it can certainly feel daunting at first, the same can be said for just about anything new, I typically point folks over to Ryan Johnson's fantastic Packer Examples for VMware vSphere project as a starting point, where you can find working Packer examples across a number of popular OS distributions for both Windows and Linux.

Most recently, I was helping out a few colleagues who was interested in automating the build of an Ubuntu Desktop image that could then be exported to an OVF/OVA. Of course, my recommendation was for them take a look at Ryan's project and they should be able to augment the existing Ubuntu Server 22.04 example. Interestingly enough, while I always recommend Ryan's Packer example repo, I have not personally used it myself and this is primarily due to the existing customization I have in my Packer builds which includes the use of custom OVF properties, which you can read more about HERE, HERE AND HERE.

Since I was recommending the project, I figure I should probably give it a try at least once and the Ubuntu Desktop addition should be a trivial thing to add ... right?

Ryan's project is extremely comprehensive and while things should just work if you use the default builds, but if you wish to make tweaks, I can certainly understand that you could feel overwhelmed, which is exactly how I felt when trying to figure out how to augment the existing Ubuntu Server 22.04 build.


While I do have experience in using Packer, it did take me a few attempts as I ran into some setup issues on my macOS system and just ended up deploying an Ubuntu 22.04 VM to then use as my build host. The required change to go from an Ubuntu Server to Ubuntu Desktop was minimal, you do need to understand the project layout and ultimately how the repo has been setup, which includes the use of Ansible Packer Provisioner, which was not something I had used before.

I wanted to put together this blog post, not only as a reference for myself but also for anyone who wants to start using Packer and Ryan's awesome repo but need a bit more guidance if you intend to perform further customization.

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How to audit vCenter Cloud Gateway & vCenter Server Registrations for vSphere+

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The vSphere+, vSAN+ and the VCF+ Cloud Service all leverage the vCenter Cloud Gateway (VCGW) to provide secure connectivity between your on-premises VMware infrastructure and the VMware Cloud (VMC) Console. The process to setup the VCGW is made up of the following two steps:

  1. Connect your VCGW to the VMC Console
  2. Register your vCenter Server or SDDC Manager (VCF+) to your VCGW

We had an interesting question from one of our vSphere+ customers that wanted to better understand who within their organization was performing the VCGW and vCenter Server registrations for the vSphere+ Cloud Service?

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