SG220-26P - ESXi 6.5 VLAN Configuration

[sbrown6159]

Good afternoon.  This is probably an easy fix, so here it goes.  I have a requirement to have separate VLANS in my ESXi 6.5 environment that have to communicate with separate PCs on the outside.  I have only 1 NIC on the server so I've created 3 VLANS 101, 102, 103 inside the ESXI.  The problem I'm running into is that I can't seem to get the virtual machines in the VLANS on the ESXi to talk to the physical machines on the outside of the switch.  I've researched the different types of communications such as virtual switch tagging inside the ESXI, External Switch Tagging on the switch but both options don't seem to work.  The only reason I was looking at VST vs EST was because of only having 1 NIC on the server.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[daphnissov]

You'll have to show how you've configured your ESXi networking. But generally speaking, if you have only one port uplink for ESXi and you wish to use multiple VLANs down that uplink, your switchport will need to be in trunk mode and allowing those VLANs. From there, on the virtual switch side, you'll create port groups and apply the VLAN IDs to each port group.

[sbrown6159]

Sorry for not adding this to the original post.  Hope this helps in the question.  Thanks

[daphnissov]

GE24 needs to be a trunk interface allowing VLANs 101-103. From upstream on the client side, those clients need access to those VLANs as well, and they should all be switched to the ESXi host. If you need inter-VLAN communication, they must be made routable in addition.

[sbrown6159]

Thanks for the quick response.  I checked and port 24 (where the ESXi is connected to) is set to a 'trunk' interface as well as all other ports on the switch (I've never messed with the configuration of the switch except for updating the firmware).  Not sure what you mean by " From the upstream on the client side, those clients need access to those VLANs as well, and they should all be switched to the ESXi host".  How should I 'switch' them to the ESXi host?  I did test the internal VLAN capabilities and they work fine, its just the physical boxes that I can not connect to the individual VLANS I want them assigned to.  Thanks much

[daphnissov · Accepted solution]

What I mean is those physical boxes that you want to have connectivity over to the VMs running on ESXi must be in the same VLAN. It's probably easier for you to configure those ports in access mode for whatever VLAN you want. If, for example, port 5 on your switch is connected to a physical workstation and you want it in VLAN 101, you probably are best configuring port 5 as access for VLAN 101. That machine will then have access to VMs running on ESXi also in the same VLAN (provided the connectivity is correct). If, again for example, that physical machine on VLAN 101 needs access to other machines on other VLANs, routing must come into play. If this is a L3 switch, you can configure that there. If not, routing will have to take place at an L3 device elsewhere.

[sbrown6159]

Thanks much for the explanation.  Networking has never been my strong point.  I'll give it a shot and let you know.

[sbrown6159]

Thanks for the answer.  What I was doing wrong - Didn't put the port into 'access' mode like you mentioned and didn't put the 'VLANS' on the ESXi port.  Doing more testing but it seems to be working great.  Thanks again