not able to ping newly installed ESX 3 server

[trungngo]

I just finished install esx 3.0 on a poweredge 2950 with two broadcom netxtreme II 1000 base-t. I gave it a static ip address with the appropriate default gateway, subnet mask, dns and hostname. The problem is that i can't even ping it . I know that network connection and the card is good because it was a running server before i installed esx 3 on it.

I tried to reconfigure using setup and netconfig but get this message

\[root@sjo-esx-01 root]# setup

-bash: setup: command not found

[bister]

Did you choose the right NIC for the COS connection? Try using ifconfig to see which MAC address is assigned to the NIC and look if this one is connected to the network switch.

Is the speed/duplex setting correct? I.e. same configuration as on the switch...

Respectfully,

Christian

Message was edited by:

bister

[TomasNL]

I had the same problem on another server. I could ping inside the esx box to my own ip adress. I recreated the vswitch en attached the service console to it. Then itm worked.

Tomas

[christianZ]

For network configuration you shouldn't use the normal linux commands.

Use the esx commands "esxcfg-..." or connect to the esx host over Virtual Center client - but that won't work by you because you haven't network configured yet.

You must configure one vswitch with console port inside - console port will get one ip address and gateway.

Hope that's clear.

[trungngo]

I'm a total noob at linux. Can you show me how to create a vswitch on esx.

[htoudiee]

You can use the VI Client to make or re-create the switch.

Just run the Virtual Infrastructure Client, point it to your ESX box and logon as root or your own username (if you created it during the install process). Go to Configuration tab and choose Networking, then you can add/remove switches. You need to have at least one switch attached to a live network for Service Console.

[trungngo]

My problem is that i can not access my esx box. I can't ping to it, so my network does not know that it is there. I can't even ping to outside from my esx box.

[trungngo]

I also notice on my other 3 esx boxes. they all have ifcfg-vswif0 in their network-scripts directory. The box i am having trouble with does not have this file.

[bister]

As root you need to use the command "esxcfg-vswitch".

But because you have nothing on your ESX running at the moment maybe it will be easier for you to reinstall ESX and take care the right NIC is selected during setup. This will cost you a maximum of 30 minutes, less than trying to learn how upper command works...

Respectfully,

Christian

[trungngo]

i tried reinstall but still have the same problem

[bister]

Did you try installing it on the 2nd NIC port?

[GlenMarquis2]

'esxcfg-vswitch'

or

'man esxcfg-vswitch' for the manual.

To create a new ServieConsole vswitch.

Are you sure you don't have any network connectivity issues as this is a new install????

I would unplug from SAN and rebuilt ESX.....

[TomasNL]

i had the same problem.

When i typed the command "[b]esxcfg-vswitch -l[/b]" (case sensitive)

In the output there must be a vmnic0 under uplinks.

In my case there wasn't. So i needed to bind a nic to this switch.

To bind a nic to the switch, type the following command

esxcfg-vswitch -L vmnic1 vSwitch0[/b] (case sensitive)

Now you can ping the service console

Look at this guide below, it is a must have!

on page 15 from this document you can read all the commando's you need.

http://www.rtfm-ed.eu/docs/vmwdocs/esx3.x-vc2.x-serviceconsole-guide.pdf

Tomas

Message was edited by:

Tomas NL

[trungngo]

thanks guys, i got it to work. There weren't any entry when i type in esxcfg- vswif -l, so i made a new vswif0 using the guide.

[mabedfo]

Hi all,

I just found 2 rather critical typo's in the RTFM documentation on how to re-create the portgroup on ESX 3 as we carried this out:

1. Logon locally to the ESX host or use your ILO card (do you have

choice!)

2. Create a new switch

esxcfg-vswitch -a vSwitch0

3. Create a new portgroup

esxcfg-vswitch -p "Service Console" vSwitch0

4. Assign a NIC

esxcfg-vswitch –L vmnic0 vSwitch0

5. Assign a vswif interface and set its ip/sn:

esxcfg-vswif –a vswif0 -p "Service Console" i 192.168.2.102 –n 255.255.255.0

On step 3 it should be a -A not a -p to ADD a new port group. So the line should read:

esxcfg-vswitch -A "Service Console" vSwitch0

On step 5 there is a '-' missing befreo the i switch so it should read:

esxcfg-vswif –a vswif0 -p "Service Console" -i 192.168.2.102 –n 255.255.255.0

With these typo's corrected re-creating the Service console portgroup if you 'stuff it up' works lovely.

[tekmeat]

The key is to recognize what adaptor you configured when first installing ESX. Linux tends to enumerate the PCI bus before embedded cards. If you went with the default and you have PCI cards that are on the wrong network, then you configured the wrong NIC for your service console. This is simple to fix from an iLO console session to your ESX host. When you installed ESX, it created a vSwitch0 and bound the NIC you selected (or left default) at the point of installation. All you need to do is --unlink the vmnic0 and --link it to (potentially) vmnic2 for example. With the root account, you execute a command like this "esxcfg-vswitch --unlink vmnic0 vSwitch0" to unlink the port from the switch. To link a new adaptor execute "esxcfg-vswitch --link vmnic2 vSwitch0" but use the appropriate NIC. You can also display the port configuration on the vSwitch using the command esxcfg-vswitch -l vSwitch0. This is all documented in the man pages man --esxcfg-vswitch. Hope this helps.