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matthewmagbee
Contributor
Contributor

Import / Export esxi network config for re-install or upgrade hosts

I am about to embark on a quite large host upgrade. We have 60-80 Vlan configurations. Typically I just run a script from the .csv file and it will import the vlans and switches. However , I still have to configure the physical adapters , iscsi etc. This is simple, but looking to streamline my process since I will be working with 300+ host. Just trying to work smarter. I have tried powershell scripts but doesnt seem to work. Is there a utility or application / fling that will back up my network config, and that I can push back out once my re-install / upgrade is complete on that host? Eager to hear the solutions.

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daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

If you're doing an upgrade, it won't blow away your vswitches, port groups, or any other networking configuration. If you're doing a wipe-and-reload then that will, but are really doing this on 300+ ESXi hosts??

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matthewmagbee
Contributor
Contributor

Yep:) Not all at once. Have a lot of 5.1 hosts that need to goto 6.0u3   then eventually to 6.5 - The upgrade will be more present for the 6.0-6.5   but for now the wipe is the best way.

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daphnissov
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Immortal

And you're not licensed for vDS on these where you could just backup and restore the entire vDS?

matthewmagbee
Contributor
Contributor

yea , we are not using any virtual distributed switches Smiley Sad would be nice

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daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal

Are these hosts licensed with something other than ESXi free?

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matthewmagbee
Contributor
Contributor

Yes Enterprise+  - But what I ended up doing was using the script which copies the same config over from any host. So , I manually updated one. Then ran the script on another one- It works and only required that I manually put the IP's in for vmotion and iscsi.=== from there I made a workflo for vrealize to run the script automatically when a new SSL cert is pushed in the new cluster. So after upgrading - I manually reconnect host and accept the new cert. Boom- script runs- config is pushed -

start to finish is about 25 min on each host.  better than 1.5 hours

jiwmware
Contributor
Contributor

I'm also looking for this solution.
I have problem that after reboot physical NIC are not connected to vSwitch (actually 2 NIC's to 2 vSwitch)

I can't find the solution for this problem (https://communities.vmware.com/thread/607658)

I would like to solve it but in between it could be nice that I fix this with re-installing whole network.

Now I have to do it manualy via putty

(so after reboot i re-install network)

Is it posible?

Sure, I'm interesting for both solutions.

Thank you for your answers.

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