Edge fastpath interfaces use the same vmnic

Products

• VMware NSX

Issue/Introduction

• On the vSphere Client, Host > Configure > Virtual switches, select the Edge VM and it shows that the Edge interfaces map to 2 vmnics
  
  
  
  
• ssh as root to the ESX where the Edge runs and it shows both Edge fastpath interfaces eth1 & eth2 are both using the same vmnic
  
  nsxcli -c get ports | grep Edge

<port>    DvsPortset-0          Edge.eth0                      <UUID>  00:50:56:##:##:##     vmnic0
<port>    DvsPortset-0          Edge.eth1                      <UUID>  00:50:56:##:##:##     vmnic2
<port>    DvsPortset-0          Edge.eth2                      <UUID>  00:50:56:##:##:##     vmnic2

Environment

VMware NSX

Cause

The vSphere Client does not show dynamic live mapping of VM vnic to ESX vmnics. It only shows the static configuration.
In this case since the segment has 2 active vmnics available, the UI will show the VM mapped to both but it doesn't mean they are both in use.
If both Edge vnics connect to the same segment then, the mapping of the vnics will be determined by the ESX host.

Resolution

This is expected behaviour for VMware NSX.

To solve this issue.

1. On NSX UI, System > Fabric > Uplink Profiles, edit the ESX uplink profile and select Teamings
   Add 2 additional rows and give it a Name that make sense to you, in this example "Label-A" maps to uplink-1 and "Label-B" maps to uplink-2 

   

2. On System > Fabric > Transport Zones, edit the TZ used by the hosts and add the 2 named teaming created in step 1
   
   
   
   
3. On System > Networking > Segments, edit the 2 segments to which the Edge will connect and apply the Uplink Teaming Policy accordingly

   

   
   
   
   
4. On System > Fabric > Nodes, map the Edge interfaces to the 2 segments
   
   
   
   
5. ssh as root to the ESX host where the Edge runs and validate the Edge vnic mapping is now distributed across both vmnics

nsxcli -c get ports | grep Edge

<port>    DvsPortset-0          Edge.eth0                      <UUID>  00:50:56:##:##:##     vmnic0
<port>    DvsPortset-0          Edge.eth1                      <UUID>  00:50:56:##:##:##     vmnic2
<port>    DvsPortset-0          Edge.eth2                      <UUID>  00:50:56:##:##:##     vmnic3