VmWare Vlan Configuration

ESX connecting to physical switch via VLAN

Purpose

This article describes connecting ESX (Server) to Cisco IOS switches VLAN port (trunk mode)

Resolution

VLAN Access and Layer 2 switching

• Physical LAN switch is configured for Virtual LAN (VLAN) segmentation.
• ESX simply connects to a switch port that belongs to a VLAN at physical switch level.
• Cisco defines a VLAN as a broadcast domain within a switched network.
• VLANs allow you to segment your switched network so that broadcast domains are smaller, leaving more bandwidth for your end nodes.
• Devices that are in one VLAN do not receive broadcasts from devices in another VLAN.
• For devices on different VLANs to communicate, a layer 3 device (usually a router) must be used.
• VLAN configuration is recommended for securing network traffic.

Physical Switch Configuration (Cisco)

The following commands are applied on Cisco IOS to configure switch port for VLAN access:
#Conf t
(config)#interface gig0/19 (let suppose it is 19 No port on physical switch with is connected to Virtual Machine
(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
(config-if)#switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
(config-if)#switchport trunk allowed vlan add 100, 107
(config-if)#ip address 172.21.107.254 255.255.255.0
(config-if)#end

Configuration within the VMware Infrastructure Client

To configure this within the VMware Infrastructure Client:

1. Highlight the ESX Server host.
2. Click Configuration > Networking > Properties.
3. Highlight the virtual switch
4. Click Edit.
5. Click the General tab. (can change no of ports on vswitch if require)
6. 2^nd option in Vswitch Properties is VM Network
7. VM Network> Edit
8. To change the Vlan ID click General>Vlan ID XXX (XXX is allowed and configured on Physical switch. (Other default options will remain same)
9. Verify that there is at least one network adapter listed under ActiveAdapters

To perform VLAN configuration and verification via command line:

• Run the following command:
  
  esxcfg-vswitch 

• If the VLAN ID is missing or incorrect, correct the VLAN ID value with the following command:
  
  esxcfg-vswitch -v <VLAN> -p “Service Console” vSwitch0

To change vmware host to one Network to another
Right Click on virtual host >Edit settings>Network Adapter> Network connections
Change it to desired Network