Change Device Aliases on a Stateful ESXi Host by Using ESXCLI Commands

You can modify a device alias on a stateful ESXi host that does not have an attached host profile by running ESXCLI commands on the host.

A device alias change can occur, for example, when the slot position of a device changes. For more information about changes in the device alias configuration, see Device Alias Configuration.

Note: The following ESXCLI commands might not be compatible with ESXi version 6.7 and earlier.

Procedure

1. To list the current assignment of aliases to device addresses, in the ESXi Shell, run localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ deviceInternal alias list.

   For I/O adapters that are based on PCI hardware, you usually see a logical and a PCI alias entry.

   For some I/O adapters, you usually see a logical alias entry only.

   For PCI hardware devices without I/O adapters, you usually see a PCI alias entry only.

2. To change an alias, replace the ALIAS, PCI_ADDRESS, and LOGICAL_ADDRESS placeholder values with actual values, and follow one of the substeps.
   1. If an I/O adapter has a logical and a PCI alias, run localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ deviceInternal alias store --bus-type logical --alias ALIAS --bus-address LOGICAL_ADDRESS and localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ deviceInternal alias store --bus-type pci --alias ALIAS --bus-address PCI_ADDRESS.
      The logical and PCI aliases must have the same value.
   2. If an I/O adapter has a logical alias entry only, run localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ deviceInternal alias store --bus-type logical --alias ALIAS --bus-address LOGICAL_ADDRESS.
   3. If a PCI hardware device has a PCI alias entry only, run localcli --plugin-dir /usr/lib/vmware/esxcli/int/ deviceInternal alias store --bus-type pci --alias ALIAS --bus-address PCI_ADDRESS.
      Modify a PCI alias only when you need the alias for another device.
   Note: Two different I/O adapters must not have the same alias, except I/O adapters that are based on PCI hardware and have a logical and a PCI alias entry.
3. Reboot the system.