Virtual Machine: MANA Driver Not Loading — Hypervisor Compatibility Issue

Question

Virtual Machine: MANA Driver Not Loading — Hypervisor Compatibility Issue

vignesh-2484 0

Problem description

I am experiencing an issue with my Linux-based Azure Virtual Machine where the Microsoft Azure Network Adapter (MANA) driver is not loading, and the device is not detected by the operating system. This problem started around August 30, 2026, and prevents the VM from utilizing accelerated networking features such as sub-second NIC firmware upgrades, higher throughput, and lower latency. The MANA PCI device appears in the system, but the kernel driver fails to probe it, and no error codes are logged.

Environment

Azure Virtual Machine running Linux in an Asia region (UTC+05:30). The VM size is Standard_D8s_v6 with Accelerated Networking enabled. OS is Ubuntu Server 22.04.5 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish).

What I've already tried

No troubleshooting steps have been documented in the support exchanges. No commands like lsmod | grep mana, dmesg | grep mana, or NIC settings have been reviewed or shared.

Current status

The MANA driver still does not appear in the VM’s kernel modules, and the underlying Ethernet device does not show as the Microsoft MANA adapter. I am seeking urgent escalation and engineering-level support to resolve the hypervisor compatibility issue and enable the MANA driver to probe successfully.

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1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello @vignesh-2484

First, verify the kernel version before treating this as a hypervisor compatibility issue.

Microsoft's current MANA support matrix lists Ubuntu 22.04 with kernel 5.15, but specifies a minimum recommended Azure kernel of 5.15.0-1096.105 for MANA.

Please check:

uname -r
grep /mana*.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/modules.builtin || \
find /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel -name 'mana*.ko*'
lspci -nn | grep -i -E 'microsoft|1414:00ba'
lsmod | grep mana
dmesg | grep -i mana

Documentation indicates that 1414:00ba is the MANA VF PCI device. If the PCI device is visible but mana.ko isn't present for the running kernel, update Ubuntu's Azure kernel/packages and reboot before escalating to the platform team.

Also, MANA-capable hosts retain the synthetic network path and compatibility with the previous accelerated-networking NIC path. Microsoft notes that if the OS doesn't support MANA, connectivity can fall back through the hypervisor virtual switch. Therefore, seeing the MANA PCI device without the driver attached does not, by itself, prove a hypervisor fault.

If you're already running the supported/current Azure kernel and the MANA device still fails to probe, open an Azure VM support case with the uname, lspci, lsmod, dmesg outputs, VM resource ID, region/zone, and the approximate time the behavior started.

References: Linux VMs with MANA | MANA overview

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