n1000v vcenter and vsm on the same host

[Roman Rodichev]

When migrating host DVS to N1000V it requires that there are no active VMs on host's vswitch. Does this mean there's no way to run vcenter on a vm on this host?

[Robert Burns]

Deploy your 1000v, create your port profiles first, then migrate your VMs from the vSwitch to the DVS.  This way you can create the required port profiles (with system vlans) ahead of time that will support the vCenter VM on the DVS.

Robert

[Roman Rodichev]

If I have one host with vcenter running on it, can I deploy 1000v on it and migrate vswitch to dvs? Or do I need to have a second host where I can move vcenter to first, then migrate first host vswitch to dvs, then move vcenter back to first host, and finally migrate second host vswitch to dvs?

[Robert Burns]

You can do it all with one host, assuming you have multiple vmnic uplinks.

The DVS reqiures its own uplinks as does the vSwitch.  So this can be done.

Ex.

vSwitch has vmnic0 for uplink, with vCenter attached

-Deploy 1000v VM on vSwitch

-Add host to DVS, using vmnic1 as the uplink

-Create approrpriate port profiles on 1000v DVS

-Migrate VMs from vSwitch port groups to 1000v port profiles

-Migrate any vmknic/service console/managment interfaces from the vSwitch to DVS

-Detatch your vmnic0 from the vSwitch, attach to DVS uplink

-Remove vSwitch (optional)

Robert

[Roman Rodichev]

Got it thanks Robert!

One more question. If I forgot to create uplink port profile with an uplink port on DVS switch and lost access to the ESXi host after moving host to DVS switch, what would you recommend in this situation?

[Robert Burns · Accepted solution]

You shouldn't have been able to add a host to the DVS without an uplink port profile...

Assuming you had one, and then deleting by some chance, and have no access to the host, you'll need to log into the ESXi console and "Recover Standard vSwitch".  This will re-create the vSwitch and pull your Management interface back over to it.  This will kill access to your DVS network, as the uplinks will be ported from DVS to vSwtich - but since you don't have an uplink port profile anyways, this shouldn't matter.

Once recovered, ensure your Management IP and VLAN are assigned approrpriately so you can re-gain acess to the Host.  Open VI Client to the host directly, and make sure your vCenter is assigned to a vSwitch port group with approrpriate VLAN ID.  Once vCenter is back online with access, log into it, fix your missing Uplink Port Profile and re-start the migration process

Let me know if you get stuck anywhere in the process.

Regards,

Robert

[Roman Rodichev]

Robert thatnks for the info, I appreciate it.