LLDP not supported on vSphere standard switches.

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi
• VMware vCenter Server

Issue/Introduction

• LLDP information is not visible in the vCenter UI for the uplinks connected to vSphere standard switches.
• The LLDP information was only visible for the uplinks connected to vSphere Distributed switches in vCenter UI.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi

VMware vCenter Server

Resolution

• vSphere 5.0 and later supports Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) and Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP).
• CDP is available for vSphere standard switches and vSphere distributed switches connected to Cisco physical switches.
• LLDP is only available for vSphere distributed switches version 5.0.0 and later.
• Additional information about Switch Discovery Protocol can be seen in Switch Discovery Protocol

Additional Information

To enable CDP on a standard virtual switch installed on an ESX Server:

• Log in to the Service Console using SSH, remote console, or physical console as root. Verify the current CDP setting for the desired virtual switch. In this example, vSwitch1:

  • [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -b vSwitch1
    down

• Set the CDP status for a given virtual switch. The possible values are:

• • down
  • listen
  • advertise
  • both

  • [root@server root]#  esxcfg-vswitch -B <status> vSwitch1

• For example:
  

  [root@server root]#  esxcfg-vswitch -B both vSwitch1

• Verify the new setting:

  • [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -b vSwitch1
    both