Virtual machines lose VMware NSX for vSphere 6.x routing services after vMotion

Products

• VMware NSX Networking

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• After migrating both NSX Edge Services Gateway and Distributed Logical Router to a different ESXi host using vMotion, the network connectivity for virtual machines relying on the routing services fails for several seconds.

Environment

VMware NSX for vSphere 6.0.x
VMware NSX for vSphere 6.1.x

Cause

This issue occurs when a virtual machine is moved to another ESXi host using vMotion, a gratuitous ARP (GARP) can be sent to update the MAC address tables and help the physical switch to understand on which physical port the virtual machine vNIC is currently connected. Some third-party physical switches do not act on the GARP, and the MAC address table entry is not deleted until the configured aging timer expires.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, the Notify Switches option needs to be set to Yes in the Load Balancing and Failover Policy on the ESXi host. For more information on setting the Notify Switches option, see A virtual machine loses network connectivity after vMotion (1007464).