Update: ESXi 5.0 on HP G7 blades, now a Go!

About three weeks back I reported on Emulex firmware problems that prevented the use of ESXi 5.0 on HP G7 blade hardware. This was fixed now, somehow...

HP has now updated the advisory that describes the issue and published an updated firmware that fixes the VLAN handling problems with ESXi 5.0 if it is used together with the be2net driver 4.0.355.1.

Be sure that you read the release notes of the firmware! It looks like it is an emergency/workaround release that leaves many issues unresolved. A firmware version that you can really trust for production will probably be available mid-November.

Update (2012-12-09): HP and Emulex published the final version of the OneConnect firmware (4.0.360.15a) on Nov 19th. VMware's KB2007397 also lists the recommended drivers to use with this firmware for both ESXi 4.1 and 5.0.

Update (2012-03-09): HP has published yet another firmware update on March 5th. Download version 4.0.360.15b. The previous link has become invalid.

Update (2012-04-16): Please refer to my HP & VMware links page to find the download for the latest version of the firmware.