How to Configure Vmware Networking using Service Console

  1. Ensure the network adapter you want to use is currently connected

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-nics –l
    Name PCI Driver Link Speed Duplex Description
    vmnic0 06:00.00 tg3 Up 1000Mbps Full Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5721 Gigabit Ethernet
    vmnic1 07:00.00 tg3 Up 1000Mbps Full Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5721 Gigabit Ethernet

    Up indicates that the network adapter is available and functioning.
  1. List the current virtual switches

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –l
    Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks
    vSwitch0 32 3 32 vmnic0

    PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
     VM Network portgroup2 0 0 vmnic0

    In the above example, there exists a virtual machine network named "VM Network" and no Service Console portgroup. For illustration, we will create a new virtual switch and place the service console portgroup on it.

  2. Create a new virtual switch:

    [root@server root]    # esxcfg-vswitch –a vSwitch1

  3. Create the Service Console portgroup on this new virtual switch:

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –A “Service Console” vSwitch1

    Because there is a space in the name we chose (Service Console), we must enclose it in quotation marks.

  4. Uplink vmnic1 to the new virtual switch:

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –L vmnic1 vSwitch1

  5. If you need to assign a VLAN, use the command:

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -v -p “Service Console” vSwitch0

    where is the VLAN number. A zero here specifies no VLAN.

  6. Verify the new virtual switch configuration:

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –l

    Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks
    vSwitch0 32 3 32 vmnic0

    PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
     Service Console portgroup5 0 1 vmnic0

    Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks
    vSwitch1 64 1 64 vmnic1

     PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
    Service Console portgroup14 0 1 vmnic1

  7. Create the vswif (Service Console) interface. For example:

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswif –a vswif0 –i 192.168.1.10 –n 255.255.255.0 –p “Service Console”
    [‘Vnic’ warning] Generated New Mac address, 00:50:xx:xx:xx:xx for vswif0

    Nothing to flush.

  8. Verify the configuration:

    [root@esx]# esxcfg-vswif –l
    Name Port Group IP Address Netmask Broadcast Enabled DHCP
    v    swif0 Service Console 192.168.1.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.255 true false
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