Configuring networking from the ESX service console

Here you can find this VMware Knowledge Base that explains how to configure networking from the ESX service console command line.

Details

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

Solution

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:

1. 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.

2. 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 exists a virtual machine network named VM Network with no Service Console portgroup. For illustration, the proceeding steps show you how to create a new virtual switch and place the service console port group on it.

3. Create a new virtual switch with the command:
   [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -a vSwitch1

4. 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 time, you may need to delete all previous settings. For more information, see Recreating Service Console Networking from the command line (1000266).

5. Up-link vmnic1 to the new virtual switch with the command:
   [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic1 vSwitch1

6. If you need to assign a VLAN, use the command:
   [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch -v <VLAN> -p “Service Console” vSwitch0
   where <VLANID> is the VLAN number. A zero here specifies no VLAN.

7. 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

8. 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.

9. Verify the configuration with the command:
   [root@esx]# esxcfg-vswif -l
   Name Port Group IP Address Netmask Broadcast Enabled DHCP
   v swif0 Service Console 192.168.1.10 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.255 true false

10. Verify the networking configuration on the ESX host. See Verifying ESX host networking configuration on the service console (1003796) .