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How to configure networking from the Service Console command line

Details

How can I get networking back up for my ESX Server host when I have access only to the service console?

Solution

  1. Ensure the network adapter you want to use is currently connected

    [root@server root]#  esxcfg-nics –l
    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

    Up indicates that the network adapter is available and functioning. 
  1. List the current virtual switches

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –l
    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 above example, there exists a virtual machine network named "VM Network" and no Service Console portgroup. For illustration, we will create a new virtual switch and place the service console port group on it.

  2. Create a new virtual switch:

    [root@server root]    # esxcfg-vswitch –a vSwitch1

  3. 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 we chose (Service Console), we 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 Recreate Service Console Networking from the Command Line (1000266).

  4. Up-link vmnic1 to the new virtual switch:

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –L vmnic1 vSwitch1

  5. 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.

  6. Verify the new virtual switch configuration:

    [root@server root]# esxcfg-vswitch –l

    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

  7. Create the vswif (Service Console) interface. For example:

    [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.

  8. Verify the configuration:

    [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

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

Keywords

ESX, network, networking, cos, service console, console, nic, nics, ip, configuration, restore

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Actions
  • KB Article: 1000258
  • Updated: Apr 24, 2009
  • Products:
    VMware ESX
  • Product Versions:
    VMware ESX 3.0.x