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Verifying ESX host networking configuration on the service console

Purpose

This article provides steps to verify the networking files on your ESX host.

Resolution

To verify that the current networking configuration is valid and correct:
  1. Verify the format and content of /etc/hosts .

         Here is an example of the hosts file:

    127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain localhost
    192.168.1.10    server.domain.com server

  2. Verify the contents of /etc/sysconfig/network . Confirm that the proper values for your environment exist for the fully qualified hostname and gateway. Consult your network administrator if you are unsure of the proper values.

    Here is an example of the network file:

    NETWORKING=yes
    HOSTNAME=server.domain.com
    GATEWAY=192.168.1.1
    GATEWAYDEV=vswif0

  3. Verify that /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-vswif0 has the correct settings for IP address (IPADDR), subnet mask (NETMASK), and network (NETWORK). Consult your network administrator if you are unsure of the correct settings.

    Here is an example of the ifcfg-vswif0 file:

         DEVICE=vswif0
    BOOTPROTO=static
    BROADCAST=192.168.1.255
    IPADDR=192.168.1.10
    NETMASK=255.255.255.0
    NETWORK=192.168.1.0
    ONBOOT=yes
    PORTGROUP="Service Console"
    MACADDR=00:50:56:4a:66:ba

  4. To display the routing table, run the command:

    [root@server root]# route –n

    The output looks similar to:

         Kernel IP routing table
    Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
    192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 vswif0
    169.254.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U     0      0        0 vswif0
    0.0.0.0         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 vswif0

    Ensure that the second column of the row flagged with UG matches the gateway address for your environment.
  5. Verify that the DNS information in /etc/resolv.conf is correct for your environment.

    Here is an example of the resolv.conf file:

    search domain.com
    nameserver 192.168.1.2
    nameserver 192.168.1.3

  6. Verify network connectivity between systems. See Testing network connectivity with the Ping command (1003486).
Note: Changes to the network and ifcfg-vswif0 files require a restart of the network service. T o restart the network service, run the following command and press Enter:
 
[root@server root]# service network restart

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Actions
  • KB Article: 1003796
  • Updated: Aug 14, 2009
  • Products:
    VMware ESX
  • Product Versions:
    VMware ESX 3.0.x
    VMware ESX 3.5.x