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Chaos2order
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ESXi on dedicated server won't give VM's internet access?

I've recently just brought a dedicated server I'm trying to setup and configure for my needs however I'm stuck on figuring out how to get internet access on any VM's i make when i install ESXi on my server.

My feeling at this point is that what i'm trying to do is either not possible or only possible if i use the vCenter Server program which isn't an option.

I've got ESXi working at home on my local network and configured it via the web management service. Everything works fine there but on my dedicated server it doesn't.

My assumption at this point, after going round and round trying to figure out what's going wrong, is that my dedicated server only has 1 public IP address available to it which has the internet on it but then wont forward it on to any of the guest host VM's i create. Whereas on my home network I've got my router giving out a DHCP LAN IP and can assign the guest hosts LAN IP's that share my main internet connection.

Assuming this is the cause of my problem is there a way i can get internet access without that kind of LAN access off of 1 NIC and one public IP from ESXi?

I've tried looking on the net for answers and guides and i think what I'm meant to do is to install PFSense to act as the router. The only problem is i can't understand how to get the internet to the PFSense VM from ESXi once installed?

So does anyone know how to do this or of some other way to get internet access to my VM's?

Any help appreciated.

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IRIX201110141
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Yeah..... you neet at least 2 public IPs or   one for the Router/FW and the ESXi behind the FW. The later one may gives a chicken and egg problem so it all depends on the hoster and co-location environment.

Regards,

Joerg

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IRIX201110141
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Every VM need an Internet Address or you need atleast a VM which acts as a router.

Btw. connecting an ESXi directly to the internet is not a good idea from security standpoint.

Another thing.... your Hoster needs to be aware of this because normaly they known their MAC addresses and block unknown MACs in the network

Regards,

Joerg

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Chaos2order
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Hey, thanks for the reply!

But how do i get the VM that acts as a router access to the internet from ESXi? That's the bit that doesn't make sense to me.

And isn't that the nature of having a dedicated server? In order to configure and access what i put on it i have to leave it vulnerable in some way so i can access it over the internet as well?

How else would i make it secure?

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Dave_the_Wave
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It appears you are talking about two ESXi hosts.

One in your home.

And a second one that's a "dedicated server".

Please elaborate with details. Is this co-located from a provider, and you have no physical access to it?

If so, you may need to be contacting them for help.

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Chaos2order
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Thanks for the reply.


My home ESXi isn't the problem. It's on a LAN with a router that just gives each VM its own LAN IP that has internet access.

The problem is the dedicated server i just brought.


It is co-located and i have no physical access to it.

I don't understand how i can get ESXi to work on it when all i've got is 1 public IP address seemingly locked to ESXi so i can see the web management page i need to configure ESXi and no NAT to provide more IP's to the VM's i create on it.

What really confuses me is that i installed ESXi through an OS reinstall script the company provides in its management area for the server. If they offer it as an option to install then surely there must be a way to give internet access to the VM's i create using it? Seems a bit silly to be able to install VM's only for them to have no internet access.

I've just gotten all excited about putting ESXi into promiscuous mode. I half understandingly read that, that might help make things work somehow. Unfortunately it turns out that was already set to reject.


Unfortunately there support is closed over the weekend.

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IRIX201110141
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Yeah..... you neet at least 2 public IPs or   one for the Router/FW and the ESXi behind the FW. The later one may gives a chicken and egg problem so it all depends on the hoster and co-location environment.

Regards,

Joerg

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sk84
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Typically, routers and firewalls are in front of the ESXi hosts and the hosts are directly connected to switches with multiple VLANs. Then you can easily route different IP networks over the different VLANs and the VMs get their IP addresses.

With a dedicated server at a hoster, it probably looks a bit different and there are different ways how this can be realized. But since this hoster offers the option to install and run ESXi, he will certainly have a solution for this problem. I would therefore contact the hoster and ask him how he can technically solve this IP problem.

--- Regards, Sebastian VCP6.5-DCV // VCP7-CMA // vSAN 2017 Specialist Please mark this answer as 'helpful' or 'correct' if you think your question has been answered correctly.
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Chaos2order
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Contacted the seller and they told me the only solution is to buy a second IP address.

Little miffed now because it feels like a hidden cost to getting a working product but it was only a couple of bucks more a month and for all the hassle it's been these last few days I'm more than happy to pay just to have a working solution at this point.

Thanks for everyone's help in trying to figure something else out though!

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