Disabling vNetwork Distributed Switches

Products

• VMware vCenter Server
• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to disable vNetwork Distributed Switches from vCenter Server.

 

You may want to do this if:

• You need to move the Virtual Machines from a vNetwork Distributed Virtual (vDS)/Nexus 1000v Switch to a Standard vSwitch
• You need to remove vNetwork Distributed Switches from vCenter.
• You are downgrading a license, vNetwork Distributed Switches might not be supported by the downgraded license.
• You need to migrate all virtual machine, VMkernel, and service console networking from vNetwork Distributed Switches to vNetwork Standard Switches so that network connectivity is not lost.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5
VMware vCenter Server 5.5.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 4.0.x
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Installable
VMware vCenter Server 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 6.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.1
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware ESX 4.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.1.x
VMware vCenter Server 5.0.x
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.0
VMware ESXi 4.1.x Embedded

Resolution

To migrate virtual machine networking from a vNetwork Distributed Virtual Switch to a vNetwork Standard Switch:

1. In the vSphere Client, activate the Networking inventory view and select the vNetwork Distributed Switch.
2. Navigate to Inventory > Networking to go to the Networking View.
3. Right Click on the Distributed Virtual Switch in the inventory pane and then Click Migrate Virtual Machine Networking.
4. In the Select Source Network drop-down menu, select the dvPort group to migrate from.
5. In the Select Destination Network drop-down menu, select the port group to migrate to.
6. In the Select Virtual Machines field, select all virtual machines, and click OK.

To migrate VMkernel or service console networking from a vNetwork Distributed Switch to a vNetwork Standard Switch:

1. Log in to the vSphere Client and select the host from the inventory panel.
2. In the Configuration tab, click Networking.
3. Select the Distributed Virtual Switch view.
4. Click Manage Virtual Adapters.
5. Select the VMkernel or service console adapter to migrate, and click Migrate to Virtual Switch.
6. Select the vSwitch to migrate the adapter to, and click Next.
7. Enter a Network Label and optionally a VLAN ID for the adapter and click Next.
8. Click Finish.

To remove a vNetwork Distributed Switch from vCenter:

1. In the vSphere Client, activate the Networking inventory view and select the vNetwork Distributed Switch.
2. Navigate to Inventory > Distributed Virtual Switch and click Remove.

To remove a host from vNetwork Distributed Switch in vCenter:

1. Ensure that no virtual machine is connected to the Distributed Virtual Switch.
2. Navigate to Inventory > Networking and click Distributed Virtual Switch.
3. Click the Host tab.
4. Right-click the host to be removed and click Remove.

For related information, see Removing an ESX/ESXi host configured with a vDS from a vCenter Server system results in inconsistent networking state on the host (1017558)

For more information, see Introduction to vSphere Networking from the vSphere 5 Documentation Center.