Equipment Support > Hardware By Brand > Cisco > Configuring Trunking Between ESXi 5 server and CISCO Switch

Configuring Trunking Between ESXi 5 server and CISCO Switch

configure static dot1q trunks.
make sure the ip addys and vlan tags sit where they need for communication. getting an etherchannel is much more complex -- and not needed for this argument.

start small.

hit me up on skype if you need more help.

q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..."

reply to DocLarge
The basic config on the Cisco / Juniper / et al side would be your basic switchport / trunk commands you've
ever learned, including but not limited to :

switch#
switchport mode trunk
switchport permited vlans 1,3
switchport native vlan x dot1q x
...
 

reply to DocLarge
I do this every day. I find it absolutely trivial. What are you using to manage your ESXi server(s)? VLANs cannot be setup from the console (the yellow screen). They can be setup via CLI, but I wouldn't go there. The viclient is the recommended path -- either direct to the server or through vCenter.

Create a vSwitch. Assign a NIC to the vSwitch. Create your networks on the vSwitch. Within the configuration of each network is a setting for the VLAN -- "0" is untagged. The Cisco side is the same as any other trunk port.

reply to HELLFIRE
@ hellfire: Good god, man!!! What IOS version are you using??? *heh* I looked around for the "switchport permitted" command you referenced and I didn't find it anywhere. Did you mean "switchport trunk allowed vlan add 1, 3 ?"

Jay

reply to cramer

reply to DocLarge
@cramer
Thanks for that info. The next quote, unquote "server admin" that tries to claim a "network issue" when setting up
ESXi in this fashion, I'm gonna ask them "did you set up your VLANs right during initial config like this, this, and this?"

@DocLarge
...I didn't have an IOS switch in front of me when I went thru those commands... but you did go thru NA and get the gist
of setting up trunks in IOS, yes?

Regards

reply to DocLarge
Not sure if Im too late, or if ESXi 5 has changed since ESXi 4 but ...

When I set up my ESXi 4 host, I (had to?) configure the management VLAN ID from the text based configuration tool that you get access to from the box physically with a keyboard and screen after it boots up.

Log in and go in to a certain configuration section and you can set the VLAN ID to use for management. It is then a simple matter of trunking that VLAN ID to the box and youre off. Personally, I never use VLAN 1 for anything these days, I always choose a different VLAN for management, so Im not sure how this goes when it comes to native VLANs...

As for your screen shot showing no observed IP ranges, I get the same thing on my ESXi 4.1 host, so probably nothing wrong there (I guess because all of my packets are encapsed with VLAN headers as well.)

If you cant get management access going with a native VLAN, could you create a VLAN to do nothing (like 666 for evil), and set that as the native VLAN, allowing VLAN 1 to be tagged over the trunk, and configure your host to look for VLAN 1 as the management VLAN?

I think you might also be able to configure the VLAN ID of the management network from within the vSphere console by editing the VLAN associated with "vMotion and IP Storage".

No answer as of yet, Tom... You know how it goes, we all know how to do a task, but sometimes we have a bit of time trying to relay it to someone else.... I still appreciate the insight from everyone... I'm taking another break due to annoyance at this point. Seriously, I know it can't be this difficult to achieve what I'm after. *groan*

Any chance Dslreports will start a "Virtualization" forum?

I'm sensing "snowball's chance in hell" on this one... *heh*

reply to DocLarge

iSCSI

reply to DocLarge
In your diagram, ESX is connected to the network via a single ACCESS link. I'll assume that vmnic (0?) is attached to vSwitch0. ALL of the networks on vSwitch0 would have a VLAN of 0 (zero) because the switch isn't tagging any packets.

If you set the switch port to trunk, and assigned vlan 4 as the native vlan, and allowed vlans 2,3,4... vSwitch0 would have networks with VLAN: 0 (which is vlan 4 on the switch; not tagged to ESX) and networks with VLANs 2 and 3 (the tagged networks.)

vSwitch1 won't work (externally) until you assign it a vmnic that's connected to something. And you cannot put the same physical nic in multiple vSwitches. In my previous picture, vSwitch2 is attached to vmnic2 which isn't connected; that vSwitch only works *on that esx host*. (there are several hosts setup like that, with no nic assigned to the vSwitch)

[As previously mentioned "All (4095)" is a special case configuration where vmware does no processing on the traffic, passing un/tagged traffic right through to the VMs. Assigning a VMKernel or Service Console network to "All" will not work.]

Cramer, thanks for all of the input, it's greatly appreciated. This will serve as a good baseline. Normally, when I get to this level of detail, I generally have a "step by step" guide to accompany the diagram.

Can I get that from you to better associate "action" to "outcome?"

Thanks...

I don't "Do" documentation... (job (ob)security)

Maybe not in a 1, 2, 3... but everything is there in the previous posts. Starting from system install, the switch port had to be setup to allow it on the network -- installed from CD/USB, it'll ask basic questions about your network setup for the management interface. (I've never paid enough attention to the installer to remember if it asks for a vlan during setup. I netboot the installer so I have to be untagged.) You could have the switchport already setup for trunking -- native vlan being for the management interface, and tagged vlans for various VMs, etc.

From there everything is done from vcenter (add host) / viclient (direct to host.) Create any additional (tagged/untagged) networks on vSwitch0. Create any additional vSwitch's necessary for your setup.

Then configure your storage systems... local, NFS, iSCSI, fibre channel... I have iSCSI in my environment, so there's another entire book of steps I have to go through to get the storage set up; most of it not within vmware.

Then give it some VMs...

(I have 90% of this automated from an installer script. No, you cannot have that script.)

Lol @ "No you can't have the script"

reply to cramer
Lol @ "No you can't have the script"

reply to cramer

Heh. It's more a job of "we don't know what he does, but for God's sake, you want him doing it." My coworkers are very happy I'm doing what I do; even if I documented all of it, they wouldn't want to do it.