Steps to change vMotion IP addresses to another subnet

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Changing vMotion IP addresses to a different subnet may be necessary for considerations of network segmentation, network isolation, security improvement, etc.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

Resolution

Steps to Change vMotion IP Address:

1. Access the vSphere Client and log in to vCenter server.
2. Click on the cluster where ESXi vMotion IP addresses will be modified.
3. Click Configure -> Services -> vSphere HA and temporarily turn off vSphere HA if it was originally on.
4. Click Configure -> Services -> vSphere DRS and temporarily change DRS automation level to "Manual" or "Partially Automated" if it was originally "Fully Automated"
5. Click the ESXi host where you want to modify the vMotion IP.
6. In the Networking tab of the selected host, find the vmk with vMotion tagging under "VMkernel adapters".
7. Click the three-dot and then Edit to change the IP address to a new one
8. Ensure the new subnet mask and gateway are properly configured as well.
9. Use above method to modify the vMotion IP address, subnet mask, gateway on other hosts
10. Change vSphere HA and vSphere DRS to original settings.

To validate the new configuration:

1. Ensure that there is a vmk with vMotion on every host
2. Ensure that the new vMotion IP is reachable from other hosts in the cluster and that there's no firewall or network isolation blocking vMotion traffic between hosts
3. Ensure that DNS or routing are updated if necessary
4. Ensure that the new network for vMotion is dedicated to vMotion traffic and does not interfere with other network traffic, such as production network, vSAN network, etc.
5. Try to migrate a VM between hosts and ensure that the vMotion works as expected.

 

Additional Information

Multiple-NIC vMotion in vSphere
Multihoming on ESXi