ethtool commands fail with "Operation not supported" in VMware RHEL guests'.

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • Error trying to set the NIC speed with ethtool in a RHEL guest on VMware ESX:
    # ethtool -s eth0 speed 100
    Cannot get current device settings: Operation not supported
      not setting speed
  • Error trying to enable auto negotiation:
    # ethtool -s eth0 autoneg on
    Cannot set new settings: Operation not supported
      not setting autoneg
  • When trying to flash NIC with ethtool command : # ethtool -p eth0 5 it fails with error operation not supported.

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
  • Guest running on VMware ESX
  • vmxnet3 driver

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