install VMware ESX 4.x Driver CD

How to install VMware ESX 4.x Driver CD from Readme.txt

Question

If you need assistance contact your VMware support. This DCF contains the README.txt that comes with most driver cd's from VMware. And a new KB that VMware wrote to install the driver with various options.

Answer

Async driver is the same as a driver CD it is any driver that is not built into ESX (called inbox) but comes via VMware from the 3rd party downloaded on the vmware.com site. How to install async drivers on ESX/ESXi 4.x
http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1032936

VMware ESX 4.0 Driver CD

Use the VMware ESX driver CD to install drivers on ESX or ESXi installations. You can use the driver CD in several ways:

A) To install drivers for devices as part of a new ESX installation
B) To update existing drivers or install new drivers for an existing ESX installation with esxupdate
C) To update existing drivers or install new drivers for an existing ESX or ESXi installation with vihostupdate

A) To install drivers for devices as part of a new ESX installation: (for ESX only)

Note: This procedure has changed since the 3.5 version of driver CD. You will need the ESX installation DVD to begin.
1. Place the ESX installation DVD in the DVD drive of the host.
2. Restart the host.
3. Accept the terms of the license agreement.
4. Select a keyboard type.
5. When prompted for Custom Drivers, select Yes to install custom drivers.
6. Click Add to eject the ESX installation DVD.
7. Place the driver CD in the DVD drive of the ESX host.
8. Select driver module to import drivers to the ESX host.
9. Click Next to continue. A dialog box displays the following message: Load the system drivers.
10. Click Yes. After loading the driver module, continue installing ESX. After the drivers are installed you are prompted to swap the driver CD with the ESX installation DVD

B) To update or add drivers on existing ESX installations using esxupdate:(for ESX only)

1. Power on the ESX host and log into an account with administrator capability.
2. Place the driver CD in the CD-ROM drive of the ESX host.
3. Mount the driver CD.
4. Navigate to <cd mount point>/offline-bundle/ and locate the <offline-bundle>.zip file.
5. Run the esxupdate command to install drivers using the offline bundle.

esxupdate --bundle=<offline-bundle>.zip update

C) To update or add drivers on existing ESX and ESXi installations using vihostupdate: (for both ESX and ESXi)

1. Power on the ESX or ESXi host.
2. Place the driver CD in the CD-ROM drive of the host where either the vSphere CLI package is installed or vMA is hosted.
3. Mount the driver CD.
4. Navigate to <cd mount point>/offline-bundle/ and locate the <offline-bundle>.zip file.
5. Run the vihostupdate command to install drivers using the offline bundle.

vihostupdate <conn_options> --install --bundle <offline-bundle>.zip

(For more details on vihostupdate, see the vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Reference Guide.)