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How to deploy VLANs with VMware ESXi

Stephanie R.
Updated

Learn how to deploy multiple VLANs to privately network your ESXi VMs on your OVHcloud Dedicated Server with OVHcloud.

 

Requirements

 

Instructions

Setting up VLANs in VMware ESXi

VMware ESXi 6.5 will handle all traffic routing for any VMs on its host. Therefore, we first need to configure networking in ESXi to route traffic over the VLAN(s) we choose.

From the ESXi Host Client, add a port group by clicking Networking > Add a port group.

Enter a Name, a VLAN ID between 2 and 4000, and click Add.

esxi_add-port-group.png

NOTE: This example assumes you're changing settings on an existing VM. However, these settings can also be configured during VM creation in ESXi.

In the left-hand menu, click Virtual Machines and select your VM.

Make sure your VM is powered off, then click the Edit button.

esxi_vm-details.png

To route our VLAN-tagged traffic, we need to add another network adapter to the VM.

In the pop-up window, click Add network adapter, select the port group you just created (vRack Network in this example), and click SAVE.

esxi_vm-settings_add-vrack-network.png

 

Configuring the network

For examples of how to set up networking on VMs running Ubuntu or Windows Server, see the tabs below. If you are running a different operating system, the setup required will vary.

The final step in configuring networking for VLAN-tagged traffic is to assign the NIC a private IP address to use for routing traffic. To do so, first access your server via SSH or the built-in ESXi console. Then, enter the following command to find the name of your second interface.

$ ip add

NOTE: By default, ESXi will assign the name ens192 to the second NIC if you are using the VMXNET3 adapter. If you are not using the default adapter, it will be the second interface in the list.

We will configure the NIC that is not already configured for public networking (the one without an IP address assigned to it). To do so, open the Netplan configuration file in a text editor of your choice using the following command:

$ sudo vi /etc/netplan/01-netcfg.yaml

Once in the file, edit it to appear as follows. If you have already configured the public NIC, create the entry for the private NIC, directly below the public one. Do not delete the public NIC from the file.

# This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# For more information, see netplan(5).
network:
  version: 2
  renderer: networkd
  ethernets:
    ens192:
      dhcp4: no
      addresses: [192.168.0.1/24]

NOTE: You can use any private IP address you choose. The CIDR notation will determine the subnet on which the different IP addresses can communicate with one another. All IPs on a VLAN must exist on the same subnet.

Save and exit the file and then apply the changes using the following command:

$ sudo netplan apply

NOTE: For Windows to transmit any traffic to other devices, you will need to ensure that it is discoverable by other devices. When configuring the network, make sure that it is labeled "Private" so that other computers on the same network can discover it.

If you are running Windows Server, you will need to configure the second Ethernet interface with a private IP address to route VLAN-tagged traffic. To do so, log in to your Windows VM and then enter the Server Manager. Click Local Server on the left-hand sidebar and then click IPv4 address assigned by DHCP, IPv6 enabled button next to the second Ethernet adapter.

ethernet1.jpg

Now right-click the second Ethernet adapter and select Properties from the drop-down menu.

ethernet1.jpg

Double-click the Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) button.

ipv4.jpg

Choose Use the following IP address and enter a private IP address and subnet mask.

Remember that all private IP addresses communicating over a VLAN need to be on the same subnet. Define your subnet mask according to your needs.

NOTE: Do not enter a default gateway for the private (VLAN) adapter. Your public network adapter already has a default gateway configured for internet routing. Adding a second default gateway on the private adapter can cause routing conflicts and ambiguous outbound traffic.

Click OK when you are done.

ipv4.jpg

 

Go further

For more information and tutorials, please see our other Dedicated Servers support guides or explore the guides for other OVHcloud products and services.

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