Customers running Citrix XenServer 5.5 Update 2 who wish to install a new version of the QLogic (previously NetXen) nx_nic driver, which was shipped with XenServer at version 4.0.231, and is at version 4.0.502 in this release. This driver supports new hardware, including the HP NC375T network interface card.
Issues Resolved In This Driver Disk

None (new driver).
New Functionality Added In This Driver Disk

New network interface card support:

* HP NC375T PCI Express Quad Port Gigabit Server Adapter

Installing the Driver Disk

Customers should use the XenServer CLI to install this driver disk. Once the driver has been installed, the server must be restarted, in order for the driver to be loaded. As with any software update, Citrix advises customers to back up their data before applying this driver disk.

Please note that the attachment to this article is a zip file. It contains both the drive disk ISO mentioned below, and the source code for the driver. The zip file should be unzipped (to produce the driver disk ISO image), before carrying out the steps below. The source code file is not necessary for driver disk installation: it is provided to fulfill licensing obligations.

Also present in the zip file is an MD5 checksum. This is the checksum of the driver disk’s metadata, not the driver disk ISO. If, when you install the driver disk, you elect to verify the driver disk when prompted, you should check that the checksum presented by the installer is the same as that in the MD5 checksum file included in this download.
Installing onto a Running XenServer System

1. Download the driver disk directly to the XenServer host to be updated (Citrix recommends storing it in the /tmp/ directory), or first download the file to an Internet-connected computer, and burn the ISO image to a CD.
2. Use XenCenter to access the XenServer host’s console, or use secure shell (ssh) to login directly.
3. Mount the driver disk image. Depending on whether the driver disk is still in ISO form, or has been burnt to CD, the directory to be mounted will vary. For a CD-ROM, use:

mkdir -p /mnt/tmp
mount /dev/ /mnt/tmp
cd /mnt/tmp/
./install.sh
cd /
umount /mnt/tmp

If instead the ISO file is used, the steps are:

mkdir -p /mnt/tmp
mount /tmp/ /mnt/tmp -o loop,ro
cd /mnt/tmp/
./install.sh
cd /
umount /mnt/tmp

4. In order to complete the installation, restart the host. This ensures that the driver will be loaded correctly.

Installing as Part of a Clean XenServer Installation

When XenServer is installed, users are given the option to install any drivers needed to enable hardware required for the installation (such as disk controllers). Whilst the installer already includes all the drivers that ship with XenServer, customers may need this driver disk to enable the latest hardware.

1. On the installation welcome screen select the Load driver button and insert the CD with the driver disk in it, or use one of the other methods such as installation over the network. Users should note that if installation over HTTP or FTP is to be used, the ISO image must be unpacked at that location (i.e. the installer expects to find the contents of the ISO at that network location, not the ISO itself).
2. The installer will proceed to attempt to load the driver. If this is successful, you can continue with the installation as normal. Near the end of the installation, you will be prompted to re-insert the driver disk so that the driver can be installed onto disk. After this, no further action is required.

If the installer fails to load the new driver from the driver disk, it is likely to be because an earlier version of the driver has already been loaded. In general, this is because a hardware component is present that is supported by the version of the driver that ships as part of XenServer (even if another component is present that requires a newer version of the driver). To avoid the existing driver being loaded, use the following procedure.

1. Reboot the host, leaving the XenServer installation CD-ROM in the drive.
2. At the boot: prompt, type:

shell

3. You will now be presented with a command prompt. Type the following:

rmmod nx_nic

If this succeeds (i.e. there are no error messages printed), the installer’s version of the driver has been unloaded. If error messages are presented, it is likely that other drivers depend on the driver you are attempting to unload. If this is the case, please contact Citrix Technical Support.
4. Type

exit

or press Control+D on your keyboard, to return to the installer.
5. Use the procedure described above to provide the driver disk to the installer, which should now load correctly.

Files
Driver Disk Files
File Name File MD5 Checksum
nx_nic.iso 289f0550578f81850907c1901ea010e1
Drivers Updated
Module Name Version RPM Name
nx_nic (Xen kernel) 4.0.502 hp-nx_nic-modules-xen-2.6.18-128.1.6.el5.xs5.5.0.505.1024-4.0.520-5.i386.rpm
nx_nic (Kdump kernel) 4.0.502 hp-nx_nic-modules-kdump-2.6.18-128.1.6.el5.xs5.5.0.505.1024-4.0.520-5.i386.rpm

More Information

For information on how to build driver disks, consult the XenServer Driver Development Kit guide.