Configuring networking from the ESX service console command line

Products

VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to configure networking for an ESX host when you only have access to the service console.

Environment

VMware ESX Server 3.0.x
VMware ESX 4.0.x
VMware ESX Server 3.5.x
VMware ESX 4.1.x

Resolution

Note: ESX 4.0 Update 2 introduces a tool that simplifies the process of creating or restoring networking in the ESX service console. For more information, see Configuring or restoring networking from the ESX service console using console-setup (1022078).

To configure networking from the ESX service console command line:

Ensure the network adapter you want to use is currently connected with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-nics –l

The output appears similar to:

Name PCI Driver Link Speed Duplex Description
vmnic0 06:00.00 tg3 Up 1000Mbps Full Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5721 Gigabit Ethernet
vmnic1 07:00.00 tg3 Up 1000Mbps Full Broadcom Corporation NetXtreme BCM5721 Gigabit Ethernet

In the Link column, Up indicates that the network adapter is available and functioning.
List the current virtual switches with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –l

The output appears similar to:

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks
vSwitch0 32 3 32 vmnic0

PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
VM Network portgroup2 0 0 vmnic0

In the example output, there is a virtual machine network named VM Network with no Service Console portgroup. For illustration, the steps below show you how to create a new virtual switch and place the service console port group on it.
Create a new virtual switch with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –a vSwitch1
Create the Service Console portgroup on this new virtual switch:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –A "Service Console" vSwitch1

Because there is a space in the name (Service Console), you must enclose it in quotation marks.

Note: To create Service Consoles one at a time, you may need to delete all previous settings. For more information, see Recreating Service Console Networking from the command line (1000266).
Up-link vmnic1 to the new virtual switch with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –L vmnic1 vSwitch1
If you need to assign a VLAN, use the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -v VLANID -p “Service Console” vSwitch0

Where VLANID is the VLAN number. A zero here specifies no VLAN.
Verify the new virtual switch configuration with the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –l

The output appears similar to:

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks
vSwitch0 32 3 32 vmnic0

PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
Service Console portgroup5 0 1 vmnic0

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports Uplinks
vSwitch1 64 1 64 vmnic1

PortGroup Name Internal ID VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks
Service Console portgroup14 0 1 vmnic1
Create the vswif (Service Console) interface. For example, run the command:

[root@server root]# esxcfg-vswif –a vswif0 –i 192.168.1.10 –n 255.255.255.0 –p “Service Console”
[‘Vnic’ warning] Generated New Mac address, 00:50:xx:xx:xx:xx for vswif0

Nothing to flush.
Verify the configuration with the command:

[root@esx]# esxcfg-vswif –l
Name Port Group IP Address Netmask Broadcast Enabled DHCP
vswif0 Service Console 192.168.1.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.255 true false
Verify the networking configuration on the ESX host. For more information, see Verifying ESX host networking configuration on the service console (1003796).
To change the vSwitch Load Balancing policies using the command line, see Changing the load balancing policy in ESXi using Tech Support Mode (1011520).

Note: In ESX, when creating vSwitches and port groups via shell, they may not appear in the console until you restart the hostd service. For more information, see Restarting the Management agents on an ESXi or ESX host (1003490_draft).

Additional Information

For translated versions of this article, see: