Completely Lost on Networking

[marco114]

I am new to all of VMWare products. I feel like I am completely missing the obvious or something.

I have a new ESXi install on a Dual Quad Core box, 4 x 1TB SATA, Adaptec RAID.

Install went fine.

I setup the default IP, 97.xx.xx.120

I created a new virtual machine running CentOS 5.3. Now how do I get the IP to be 97.xx.xx.121 for that virtual server? And, how do I add extra IPs to it? In the OS, I have configured the IP correctly, but it does not ping. The VMWare networking is quite confusing to me anyway after playing with server other competing products.

I don't understand all the concepts of the ports and switches and the such. It also says listening on what seems random IP ranges that I can't control.

Where do I start to understand how networking works?

[kjb007]

By default, you will have one vSwitch, vSwitch0. On that vSwitch will be portgroups that your vm's will connect to, as well as the default management portgroup. If during the wizard, you created a default virtual machine network, then that will exist on vSwitch0 as well. To view this, you use the vi client to connect to the management IP address of the ESXi host. Go to the configuration tab, and click on networking. Post that here if you need help, but if there isn't a vm netowrk, then you need to click add, and add a vm network portgroup. When that has been created, then you edit your vm settings, and click on the network, and select the portgroup that was created by default, or the one you just created. And, you should be on the network.

-KjB

VMware vExpert

[RParker]

I created a new virtual machine running CentOS 5.3. Now how do I get the IP to be 97.xx.xx.121 for that virtual server? And, how do I add extra IPs to it? In the OS, I have configured the IP correctly, but it does not ping. The VMWare networking is quite confusing to me anyway after playing with server other competing products.

It looks like everything is there. The network switch you setup, should be VM. There are 3 types, kernel, VM, and service console. The vkernel allows iSCSI/NFS traffic. Service Console is how you manage or connect to that ESX host. VM is for VM use. So did you setup a VM switch?

If so, is it plugged into your 97.xx network on the network switches? It's easy enough to diagnose, you take a laptop, unplug the cable from that ESX host (that is assigned for the 97.xx network) and plug it into the laptop. Can you ping from/to that laptop? That's how you can tell if there is a configuration issue with ESX, or the network.

If the laptop connects, then you just need to make sure that the NIC is assigned to that VM switch, because the physical order of NIC's in a machine do not always match the logical order in ESX (which is something of a problem for many people, and it's confusing). So really the problem may just be the NIC you THINK should work, may not be the actual NIC that ESX is using.

[marco114]

I am pretty sure I got this figured out.. it is working, but I don't know if it's correct.

I was surprised that you don't specify the 'allowed' IP addresses for each virtual server in the configuration. In a hosting environment, that could be bad that a customer added an IP that was assigned to another customer.

This is just a 1 server setup. My plan is to have 8 identical 'Virtual Machines' all sharing 1 NFS share. The particular app I am dealing with will work better this way.

[mcowger]

Thats correct.

The hosting provider problem you mention woudl be solved by VLANs on the switch level.

--Matt

VCP, vExpert, Unix Geek

[marco114]

thanks!