Connect my VMs to the Internet...

[centre21]

I'm very new to VMWare and ESXi 4 and I apologize if this question has already been answered. I've been looking on the discussion pages and the Internet for a while now and I'm not finding the exact answer to the following question:

Is there a way to configure ESXi 4 to allow my VM access to the Internet.

Here's the situation:

I have a Dell PowerEdge 2950 with two NICs running ESXi 4. One of the NICs is my Managment VLAN and the other is my Network VLAN. The Mgmt VLAN NIC is connected to my company's network to allow remote access to the VMWare server. The Network VLAN NIC is connected to a separate internal network as one of my VMs is running 2003 Server and hosting it's own Domain complete with DNS and DHCP. Unfortunately, as a result of its isolation, VMs on the Network VLAN cannot connect to the Internet, and it is vitally important that these VMs have Internet access.

I need some guidance about how to configure my ESXi Host to allow my VMs to connect to the Internet. I've attached a screenshot of my networking configuration in order to help make things a bit more clear.

Thank you in advance.

[RParker]

You need a NIC with access to the internet, or a proxy server somewhere on the network to allow those machines to pass through.

[centre21]

Just to make sure I'm understanding what you're saying, are you saying that I have to create a new VLAN and VMs on the NIC that's connected to the Internet (which would be the Management LAN NIC)? Is there no way to route or bridge the two NICs/VLANs?

Thanks

[golddiggie]

Post up the screenshot of how the vSwitches (both/all of them) are currently configured first... It will help us to understand how things are currently set up...

If you've explained things correctly, you could add a second vNIC to each of the VM's that connects them to the network (the non-isolated one) that has internet access...

Another option would be to create a vSwitch with no physical NIC's in it so that you have isolated traffic to just the VM's on that vSwitch. You could still connect them to the internet vSwitch, or segment on your LAN when you need to. You have the ability to turn vNIC's on and off at will on VM's.

I've done this in my own configuration (see screenshot)... The isolated vSwitch is for when I need to have VM's networked but not on my physical LAN.

VMware VCP4

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[centre21]

I thought I had already done that, but I'll try it again. Image attached.

[golddiggie]

Latest versions of Firefox have issues attaching files... Use IE (IE8 works fine)...

VMware VCP4

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[golddiggie]

Remove the VLAN ID on vSwitch1 and try it out... If that network switch (physical) normally has access to the rest of your LAN it should work... Provided all your values (in the VM's especially) are correct... Things like the DNS server and the Gateway address... If nothing else, manually enter the gateway address on the VM's...

VMware VCP4

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