ESXi 4 - I have 2 vmkernels on two separate networks, why only allowed 1 gateway?

[ThePitViper]

I have not had this issue with ESX Classic because I can set the Service Console for Management traffic and have a separate gateway.

My issue is ESXi has 2 completely different networks....1 for Management, and 1 for SAN. The Management address is public address with the correct gateway, but the SAN is a private address, but it automatically gives the second Kernel the Managements Gateway. Why cant I change the SAN gateway without messing with the Management gateway.

[ionut19]

Because you have only one network interface and the traffic goes through that interface, you can have annother gateway if you plug in a second network interface.

[Dave_Mishchenko]

You can only have one vmkernel gateway and that it shows up on the screen for the other vmkernel IP is not a problem.

Dave

VMware Communities User Moderator

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[ThePitViper]

Yes, actually it is. One Nic is running say a 10.x.x.x network and the other interface is running a 192.x.x.x network.

The 10.x.x.x interface has a gateway 10.x.x.1

The 192.x.x.x should have no gateway because it is on its own switch where the SAN resides.

So when the SAN communicates with the ESXi, the server responds back through the gateway on its 10.x.x.x address, so the SAN wants to communicate through that instead of the private network on 192.x.x.x

[ionut19]

I believe you need to change the interface in the vmkernel and make it go through the interface that you want it to go through

[vanak]

Hi,

Did you find a solution for your problem ? Same kind of issue here. Tips will be appreciated

[jpdicicco]

This is standard networking behaviour for IP. You can only have 1 default route, which is what this setting represents. You have 2 options to set IP routing for iSCSI:

1. Setup another VMK NIC on the subnet of your target. This should cause packets to automatically route out that interface.

2. On the service console, use the esxcfg-route command to build a VMk routing table to your liking.

JP

[cskowmh · Accepted solution]

esxcfg-route is indeed the answer, but no service console on ESXi makes it a little more complicated.

In the end, we ended up issuing the command via the vMA with something like this:

esxcfg-route -a 192.168.0.0/16 192.168.1.1 -vihost $(SERVERNAME)

You could also log in on the console in unsupported mode and do it by hand without the -vihost above.

After you add it, you should run a vmkping on your destination and make sure you got the result you were looking for.