VLAN Issue on Distributed Switch

[sloaner14]

I have a distributed switch that has 30 port groups, which I put in separate vlans, but I have an issue where I cannot use VLAN IDs 1-9 or 36+. Any suggestions on the issue or what I am missing?

This is in my classroom for my students to complete labs.

Any help would be appreciated!

[daphnissov]

Can you be more specific as to when you say

I cannot use VLAN IDs 1-9 or 36+.

There is no restriction within vCenter as far as "blocked" VLAN IDs are concerned.

[sloaner14]

I was in the middle of talking to students and forgot to add some details. I create port groups for my students and issue them different VLAN IDs. It works great on VLAN IDs 10 to 35 and the VMs assigned within a port group can communicate. If I create a port group with a VLAN outside of that range, the VMs cannot communicate with each other.

My understanding is that I should be able to use VLAN ID from 1 to 4000+. Am I wrong?

[a_p_]

You can basically use any VLAN that you want (except for some reserved VLANs, e.g. 1002...1005 with Cisco switches IIRC).

Note that routing needs to be configured separately, i.e. is not done by the virtual switch.

André

[a_p_]

Sorry, I missed "... within a port group ...". That's indeed strange, VMs on the same port group should be able to communicate if they are in the same subnet/broadcast domain.

André

[daphnissov]

I create port groups for my students and issue them different VLAN IDs. It works great on VLAN IDs 10 to 35 and the VMs assigned within a port group can communicate. If I create a port group with a VLAN outside of that range, the VMs cannot communicate with each other.

Then you have a switching/routing problem in your upstream networking infrastructure responsible for this. vSphere or the vDS would not be causing this behavior.

[sloaner14]

Yes! That is it! I didn't even think about it, but the physical switch didn't have those VLAN IDs configured. Thank you!