Creating a Service Console on the 1Kv via CLI

[nashwj]

For future reference (and in the lab today) what is the process to create a Service Console via the ESX CLI on a system only connected to a 1Kv dvSwitch?

[sachthak]

Were you looking to detach the host from the N1k and readd a vswif to the vswitch? (Say if host mgmt connectivity is lost?)

Or were you looking to just add a service console to a vswitch (apart from the N1k)?

[Robert Burns]

The process of creating a SC on a DVS is the same for a VMware vDistributed Switch as it is for the Cisco 1000v DVS.

You'll need to know an available DV Port ID.  You can find one by issuing:

esxcfg-vswitch -l

Take note of a DV Port ID that hasn't been assigned.

Next to add a new vswif to your DVS use the following command:

esxcfg-vswif -a -P [DV Port ID] -V [1000v DVS Name] -i [SC IP Address] -n [SC Netmask] vswif2

* The vswif# at the end of the statement would be the next sequential # following your exisitng vswifs.

Unfortunately I've found that by default this dumps the newly created Service Console vswif into the "sytem-uplink" (or similar Uplink Port Profile) by default.  To get it in the right place I had to manually go into vCenter and change the port-group binding for the new vswif to use my DVS service Console Port Profile "dvs_SC". I know how to do this with a standard vSwitch, however the DVS is a little trickier apparently.

Give me some time and I'll figure out how to do this in one shot from the command line.

Stay tuned!

Robert

[nashwj]

Thank you Robert.  That's the point we got to as well and had the same problem.  We couldn't figure out how to get it in the right uplink.  Let me know what you find.

[Robert Burns]

As suspected you can't create a Service Console (vswif) on the 1000v DVS (or VMware DVS for that matter) from the CLI of a Host.

Regards,

Robert