Nested ESXi 5.0 with Workstation 9 Networking issue

[timevisser]

I am using a standalone desktop with 16 gig memory with windows 7 and installed workstation 9.  I have created my based configuration, DC, ESXi-host1, ESXI-host2, ESXI-host3 and ESXI-host4.  I have also installed vcenter as a vm within workstation and I can access all of the hosts and vm's (DC,vcenter) by name and ip.  I can also from the DC and vcenter connect to the internet using vnet0 (workstation).  My management is vnet3 and my storage is vnet4.  I created a new vm called vcenter within ESXi-host1.  I then installed vcenter server and vsphere client.  That all works fine.  I went to install web client and for the adobe flash player it needs internet access.  For switch 0 I have vmnic0 active and vmnic1 standby.  The VM port group  has vm network which has vcenter vm and vmkernel port with management network.  I went into properties and accept promiscuous mode for both vswitch and vm network.  I still cannot access the internet.  This is where I do not know what next to do.  Suggestions?  If you need more data, let me know and I will provide it to you.

[a_p_]

Well you explained a lot, but the important part is missing From what you write I can just assume that vmnic0+1 are both connected to vnet3 in VMware Workstation!? Is vnet3 configured for either NAT or Bridged in order to get Internet access?

André

[ScreamingSilenc]

May be this article should help you Configuring VMware Workstation 8 Networking for Nested VM’s | Virtualized Geek

[timevisser]

Workstation is setup as vmnet0 bridged, vmnet3 custom host only, vment4 custom host only.  Vmnet3 is management, vmnet4 is storage.  Yes vmnic0+1 are connected to vmnet3 in workstation. vmnic2+3 are connected via vmnet4 for storage. The vm's in workstation dc and vcenter all have vmnet3 and vmnet0.  The vcenter has vmnet4 using Microsoft ISCSI target.  I hope that helps!!!

[a_p_]

With this setup, the nested virtual machines are connected to the host-only network, which explains why they cannot reac the Internet.

André

PS: Discussion moved from VMware ESXi 5 to Nested Virtualization

[ScreamingSilenc]

Can you configuring vmnet0 to NAT instead of bridged and give a try.

[timevisser]

I will try it with nat and see how it goes.  I will also look at the url that you provided above.

[VirtualizedGeek]

In addition during your troubleshooting I'd only have one VMNIC connected to one VMNET at a time.  Remember that VMWare Workstation networking is not switches.  A VMNET is closer to a HUB than a switch.  So technically you are connecting your VMNIC 0 + 1 to a hub which can lead to bad things.

[timevisser]

I was not aware of the hub aspect with workstation.  I am in the process right now rebuilding the lab and will have it done in a few hours.  I am switching it so that the vm's within ESXi are nat'd which should allow them access to the public network.  Only time that I will add additional vmnic will be for fault tolerance testing.  Thanks for your help everyone so far.

[timevisser]

I have reconfigured my lab.  I have attached the topology.  The vm network is nat'd and is able to reach outside network.  However, I cannot reach the DC and believe I need to add a virtual router in order to traverse different networks.  My next step is to add the host again within ESXi-host1 and configure it for vCenter and I will need to be able to route to the DC which is on a separate network.  However, watching VirtualizedGeek video, it did not appear that he had a virtual router.  Thoughts!!!

[ScreamingSilenc]

This is my home lab WS9 virtual network config where I have DC,VC,Nas & 2 ESXi host which is able to contact each other without router.

[timevisser]

Looks like we have a similar setup.  My Workstation with DC, VC and 2 ESXi's can ping each other.  The issue is when I create a vm inside of ESXi.  With the nat setup I can get to external network from the vm inside of esxi but I am not able to ping DC, VC and ESXi's. 

[VirtualizedGeek]

Sounds like everything is working, as it should.  Take a step back and think about what it is that you’ve configured.  You’ve created distinct environments/networks in your lab with your workstation acting as a limited router.

One environment is your management network, which includes the VMKernel of the ESXi host, the DC and a second environment is your Nested VM network presented to the vSwitch on your ESXi host. If this were a production network you wouldn’t be able to communicate across these networks unless there was a router between them.  Workstation has limited ability to NAT to your physical network but not route in-between the VMNET’s.

You could indeed build a virtual router within Workstation and assign all the VMNET’s to that router and route in-between the networks.  Once I got the Nested VM’s running in ESXi, I was always OK with having the limited access within the nested VM’s.  But your modified lab with a router would be interesting and you should share the results. 

[ScreamingSilenc · Accepted solution]

Since I didn't find any need to connect to external network I haven't deployed router. For testing I have deployed a virtual router now to connect external network and my VM's on nested ESXi can connect to external network and was able to ping the DC VC etc..

1) Deploy a Virtual Router download from here http://freesco.sourceforge.net/

2) Connect two network to the router as show in the snap and configure the router

3) Configure all VM's Default Gateway (i.e DC VC and ESXi Host) to use router's IP.

4) Finally VM's on nested ESXi will be able connect external network and ping to other VM's too.

[timevisser]

Thanks for the post Mustafa.  I did install the same router and it worked.  My limitation was how much of a router workstation is and did not know if I was doing something wrong or missing something.  But basic routing knowledge told me I needed a router.  Things are progressing with the lab and thanks for you and everyone's assistance.

[ScreamingSilenc]

Your most welcome

[NvR4GeT]

Hello all,

     I have an issue similar to the mentioned topic. But, my particular situation is slightly different. I am using an i7-3820 and 32 GB of RAM. I have Workstation 9.0 installed with ESXi 5.5 now installed as a VM. I have attached 2 vNetwork Adapters in Workstation to the ESXi guest. Both are on Custom (VMnet0) set for Bridging. I set up the second NIC after a while of playing around and realized i needed it. I can connect to the hypervisor via the host with vSphere client. I have deployed a guest OS "Windows Server 2008 R2" and the new "vCenter Server Appliance 5.5". I setup 2 vSwitches. One for the Virtual Machine Network and the other for the Management Network.

In Workstation i have manually set the network adapter to use my wireless adapter. So, I only have one actual connection to the internet.

I set the VMNICS within vSphere client to use the Virtual Machine Network. But they will not get a DHCP lease from the physical router. But, with a static ip address on my hypervisor, i was able to get out. I attempted static ip addresses in the Windows guest OS, but it still won't get out. I'm trying to figure out where my underlying issue is at.

I feel as if the bridging is not working properly. Because if it bridged the new NIC into my network the guests should be able to send out DHCP requests. And receive them back. Any ideas on what could be going on?