I appreciate things change with time and vmware decided not to support directly the Intel 82576 NICs any more (a guess of mine)
however I went building a custom .ISO loading the "old" net-ing drivers as this is what my old 6.5 installation did use.
The ISO creation went well with no errors:
PS C:\Users\user\Desktop\vmware> .\ESXi-Customizer-PS.ps1 -v70 -izip .\ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard.zip -nsc -pkgDir .\vibs\ -load net-igb -vft
Security warning
Run only scripts that you trust. While scripts from the internet can be useful, this script can potentially harm your
computer. If you trust this script, use the Unblock-File cmdlet to allow the script to run without this warning
message. Do you want to run C:\Users\user\Desktop\vmware\ESXi-Customizer-PS.ps1?
[D] Do not run [R] Run once [S] Suspend [?] Help (default is "D"): r
This is ESXi-Customizer-PS Version 2.8.0 (visit https://ESXi-Customizer-PS.v-front.de for more information!)
(Call with -help for instructions)
Logging to C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\ESXi-Customizer-PS-36604.log ...
Running with PowerShell version 5.1 and VMware PowerCLI version .. build
Adding base Offline bundle .\ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard.zip ... [OK]
Connecting the V-Front Online depot ... [OK]
Getting Imageprofiles, please wait ... [OK]
Using Imageprofile ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard ...
(Dated 03/16/2020 10:48:54, AcceptanceLevel: PartnerSupported,
The general availability release of VMware ESXi Server 7.0.0 brings whole new levels of virtualization performance to datacenters and enterprises.)
Loading Offline bundles and VIB files from .\vibs\ ...
Loading C:\Users\user\Desktop\vmware\vibs\aacraid-6.0.6.2.1.52040-offline_bundle-6308160.zip ... [OK]
Add VIB scsi-aacraid 6.0.6.2.1.52040-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585 [OK, added]
Loading C:\Users\user\Desktop\vmware\vibs\vmware-esxi-drivers-scsi-aacraid-600.6.2.1.52040.-1.0.6.2494585.x86_64.vib ... [OK]
Add VIB scsi-aacraid 6.0.6.2.1.52040-1OEM.600.0.0.2494585 [IGNORED, already added]
Load additional VIBs from Online depots ...
Add VIB net-igb 5.3.2-99 [New AcceptanceLevel: CommunitySupported] [OK, added]
Exporting the Imageprofile to 'C:\Users\user\Desktop\vmware\ESXi-7.0.0-15843807-standard-customized.iso'. Please be patient ...
However trying to install this ISO the installation still complains about the "No network adapters were detected"
I am trying to understand what I'm doing wrong here...
Any tip?