Two service console one host

[tyu7]

Hello

Sorry for the basic questions but I am new to this and seeking some assistance.

One ESX host had been setup (no VC available, managing through VI client) by an ex-colleague. 2 service consoles were setup, one managing a VM port group and the other isn't managing any port groups (at least visually, under networking it's not attached directly to any port groups).

Is it likely that the SC on it's own is setup for non-admin access for the VM port group already attached to the other SC? When I connect to it I cannot access the console for for the VMs.

Thanks

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Some terminology issues up front.

vswif does not 'manage' any portgroups it connects to one.

So you have 2 vswif devices when you login to the SC? esxcfg-vswif -l will show these.

One appears to be connected to a portgroup on a vSwitch and the other does not?

If so then the second one is not talking to anything and not accessible. If it is accessible then something else is going on.

Perhaps you could post the output of:

esxcfg-vswif -l
esxcfg-vswitch -l

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

CIO Virtualization Blog: http://www.cio.com/blog/index/topic/168354

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[tyu7]

Thanks for your reply, excuse the terminology!

Yes, I have 2 vswif devices when I log into SC, one is connected to a port group on a vSwitch0, the other is connected to vSwitch1, but no port group on this switch. If I log into either I can see all my VMs but weren't able to access them from their console, until I five mins ago reserved the IP address of the 2nd vswif device in DHCP and now I can see VMs via their consoles. How could this be possible?

Sorry but not close to ESX box, and cannot putty as it seems the root password is saying access is denied. Not sure why as I am the only person who connects via putty and I was able to connect previously. The root password via VI works though.

I am only now getting an error for one of the VMs, when I click on the console tab, I get the error "Virtual machine config ile does not exist", any ideas with this one? or should I open another thread?

Thanks

[Texiwill]

Hello,

I would open another thread for that issue.

vswif devices should notr use DHCP. They should be set to distinct values. The apparent reason for the second vSwif was either for redundancy sake, which it is not really redundant or for iSCSI usage, but that can be achieved with only one as well.

Redundancy is achieved by using NIC Teaming within a vSwitch and not by using multiple vSwitch/vSwif combinations. Unfortunately I do not know the full configuration of the virtual environment to say whether this is what you ultimately desire or there was some reason for the connectivity.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

CIO Virtualization Blog: http://www.cio.com/blog/index/topic/168354

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[tyu7]

Hello

If it's ok I will post the output of the commands you sent me on Monday when in front of the host.

most probaby using iSCSI as there's no SAN.

Many thanks

[benpott · Accepted solution]

If your unable to login to root through Putty, root access is probably restricted via SSH. Try logging in under another user ID (create one on the VIC if you need too) and then login through putty with that and use "su -" to switch to root access. You might also need to add that user to the "wheel" group depending on how the previous guy setup the box.

I'm new to all this stuff too. Your in the right spot though!

[tyu7]

Hi

I've managed to putty to root and here's the output as you requested, you mentioned that the IP address should be distinct values, what are the commands for this? How can I set it up?

esxcfg-vswif -l

Name Port Group IP Address Netmask Broadcast Enabled DHCP

vswif0 Service Console 10.90.9.60 255.255.0.0 10.90.255.255 true true

vswif1 Service Console 2 10.90.9.70 255.255.0.0 10.90.255.255 true true

esxcfg-vswitch -l

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports MTU Uplinks

vSwitch0 64 9 64 1500 vmnic0

PortGroup Name VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks

VM Network 0 5 vmnic0

Service Console 0 1 vmnic0

Switch Name Num Ports Used Ports Configured Ports MTU Uplinks

vSwitch1 64 4 64 1500 vmnic1

PortGroup Name VLAN ID Used Ports Uplinks

Service Console 2 0 1 vmnic1

[tyu7]

Thanks benpott, hopefully I can get up to speed sooner rather than later

Good luck as a newbie too!

I managed to putty to root afterall, someone answered in anothe thread, I created a new user via VI and then logged on with that account using putty and then su - and it worked!

[Texiwill]

Hello,

WHat address does your iSCSI or NFS server use? That would tell us why the extra SC port. Run the following so we can see how the vmkernel devices are setup. That will also tells us quite a bit.

esxcfg-vmknic -l

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

CIO Virtualization Blog: http://www.cio.com/blog/index/topic/168354

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization