dvSwitch IP address

[Ub]

When configuring netflow there is the option to supply an IP address for the dvSwitch. It is not clear which network this IP address applies to. Can I just supply an available address on any of the portgroups/VLANs on the dvSwitch?

Thanks

[MKguy · Accepted solution]

My understanding is that the connection to the Netflow collector will always occur from the ESXi vmkernel management address and not from the VDS IP you enter there (without any additional logic this would also cause loads of issues since you would have the same IP on multiple different physical hosts).

The IP a system Netflow Client is reporting for is transmitted on layer 7 in the actual Netflow protocol and does not concern the layer 3 IP packet source. So in the end it's pretty much irrelevant what IP you enter there or whether this IP range exists on your VDS. It's just to assign a common "label" and aggregate Netflow data on your collector for all hosts running the VDS.