how to set up vmware channel between primary and secondary vCenter servers on two different ESXi hosts

[thuang2]

Hi,

I am trying to set up create a vDS (for VMware Channel IPs) for the two different ESXi hosts but it does not work.

[thuang2]

Also, for vDS, I tried version 5.0, 5.1 and 4.1 (btw, both of my esxi are 5.1).

[ssbkang]

vDS version won't matter.

Using vSS for ESXi Management and dvSwitch for vCSHB won't matter, was just wondering.

I think it's physical network layer issue, I don't think there is a mis-configuration on VMware layer, maybe firewall between datacentres?

[thuang2]

> I think it's physical network layer issue, I don't think there is a mis-configuration on VMware layer, maybe firewall between datacentres?

Firewall between data centers? How do I get around that? Turn off firewall on both ESXi hosts? Any other possibilities?

Also, if it's firewall between the datacenters, why do the public/mgmt IPs on primary and secondary work?

BTW, I am using vDS for ESXi management as well and configured Channel network vNICs (for both primary and secondary)

on the newly created vDS. However, the Channel network is still NOT working.

[thuang2]

Also, I've noticed the netmask is different on the two esxi hosts. Would that make a difference?

172.x.x.x (netmask: 255.255.255.0)

10.x.x.x (netmask: 255.255.240.0)

Is that possible that something needs to be enabled on the physical adapters? Or, there is gateway somewhere that needs to

configured for Channel network? (BTW, I did a 'tracert' on my primary and secondary servers; the traceroute used the default

gateway for my public/mgmt IP.)

[dmihaescu]

For a WAN deployment, you need to set up the Channel IP addresses in the same subnet as the Management/Public IP.

in the install guide, http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vcenter-server-heartbeat-65-installation-windows-2008-virtual-guide.pdf, WAN deployment, page 21, you can find the following:

"In this scenario, the Primary and Secondary server in the vCenter Server Heartbeat Pair will require unique Principal (Public) IP addresses in each subnet and a unique VMware Channel IP address in each subnet for each server ."

Because you have a WAN deployment, the channel packets (with private IPs) are not routed between the two datacenters where your servers are located. Assign each channel NIC one IP from the same subnet as the management

Since you have different subnets, you will also nee to configure static routing between the channel IP as advised on page 9: "When configured for a WAN deployment, configure the VMware Channel to use static routes over switches and routers to maintain continuous communications independent from corporate or public traffic."

[ssbkang]

Thanks a lot for correcting me, I should have read the document properly (RTFM to myself).