Bug ID 1026005: BIG-IP Virtual Edition (VE) does NOT preserve the order of NICs 5-10 defined in the VMware ESXi hypervisor and NSXT platforms.

Last Modified: Sep 13, 2023

Affected Product(s):
BIG-IP TMOS(all modules)

Known Affected Versions:
13.1.0, 13.1.0.1, 13.1.0.2, 13.1.0.3, 13.1.0.4, 13.1.0.5, 13.1.0.6, 13.1.0.7, 13.1.0.8, 13.1.1, 13.1.1.2, 13.1.1.3, 13.1.1.4, 13.1.1.5, 13.1.3, 13.1.3.1, 13.1.3.2, 13.1.3.3, 13.1.3.4, 13.1.3.5, 13.1.3.6, 13.1.4, 13.1.4.1, 13.1.5, 13.1.5.1, 14.1.0, 14.1.0.1, 14.1.0.2, 14.1.0.3, 14.1.0.5, 14.1.0.6, 14.1.2, 14.1.2.1, 14.1.2.2, 14.1.2.3, 14.1.2.4, 14.1.2.5, 14.1.2.6, 14.1.2.7, 14.1.2.8, 14.1.3, 14.1.3.1, 14.1.4, 14.1.4.1, 14.1.4.2, 14.1.4.3, 14.1.4.4, 14.1.4.5, 14.1.4.6, 15.1.0, 15.1.0.1, 15.1.0.2, 15.1.0.3, 15.1.0.4, 15.1.0.5, 15.1.1, 15.1.2, 15.1.2.1, 15.1.3, 15.1.3.1, 15.1.4, 15.1.4.1, 15.1.5, 16.0.0, 16.0.0.1, 16.0.1, 16.0.1.1, 16.0.1.2

Fixed In:
17.0.0, 16.1.2.2, 15.1.5.1, 14.1.5

Opened: Jun 16, 2021

Severity: 4-Minor

Symptoms

The ordering of NICs 5-10 in VMware ESXi is based on PCI coordinates for the first boot and the order is ensured based on the /etc/ethmap script written by the kernel during initialization. BIG-IP VE does not follow/maintain the NIC order defined in the VMware ESXi hypervisor.

Impact

When using 5-10 NICs in VMware ESXi and NSXT platforms, automation is prohibited due to BIG-IP VE not maintaining the NIC order defined in the hypervisor.

Conditions

Using 5-10 interfaces, swap/remove/add an interface at the hypervisor level.

Workaround

N/A

Fix Information

Enabled BIG-IP VE scripts to honor the NIC order defined by the user in the VMware ESXi hypervisor and NSXT platforms.

Behavior Change

Guides & references

K10134038: F5 Bug Tracker Filter Names and Tips