Changing the load balancing policy in ESXi using Tech Support Mode

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps for changing the load balancing policy in ESXi using Tech Support Mode.
Warning: Tech Support Mode should only be used at the request of VMware technical support.

Symptoms:

Environment

VMware ESXi 3.5.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware ESXi 3.5.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0

Resolution

To change the load balancing policy using Tech Support Mode for ESXi 4.1 and earlier:

Log in to the ESXi host physical console using Tech Support Mode. For more information, see Tech Support Mode for Emergency Support (1003677).
Run the command:

vim-cmd /hostsvc/net/vswitch_setpolicy --nicteaming-policy='loadbalance_ip' vSwitch0

Note: This changes the Load Balancing policy to IP Hash, which is an appropriate setting for the EtherChannel.

The above command can also be run by logging into the ESXi host using Remote Tech Support mode. For more information, see Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.x (1017910)

To change the load balancing policy on an ESXi 5.x host, run this command:

esxcli network vswitch standard policy failover set -l iphash -v vSwitch0

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Additional Information

On ESXi 4.1 and earlier,

To change the load balancing policy to a route based on the originating virtual port ID, run this command:

vim-cmd /hostsvc/net/vswitch_setpolicy --nicteaming-policy='loadbalance_srcid' vSwitch0
To change the load balancing policy to a route based on the MAC hash, run this command:

vim-cmd /hostsvc/net/vswitch_setpolicy --nicteaming-policy='loadbalance_srcmac' vSwitch0

On ESXi 5.x,

To change the load balancing policy to a route based on the originating virtual port ID, run this command:

esxcli network vswitch standard policy failover set -l portid -v vSwitch0
To change the load balancing policy to a route based on the MAC hash, run this command:

esxcli network vswitch standard policy failover set -l mac -v vSwitch0

For additional information on EtherChannel configuration, see Sample configuration of EtherChannel / Link aggregation with ESX 3.x and Cisco /HP switches (1004048).

Also see, Changing Beacon Probing settings using the command line (1010736).

Changing Beacon Probing settings using the command line
Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1, ESXi 5.x, and ESXi 6.x