need help with ESXI

[Original Poster]

I am trying to get my VM to connect to the network with its own IP address ... but I am having a bit of trouble getting that done..

I have done it before a few months ago but I have forgotten what I did... I firstly a problem was with the OS its self (linux in this case ubuntu server) the eth0 was not activated ... so I activated it (sudo ifconfig eth0 up) ... it has now been connected... I really dont know what to do my VM is on the correct NIC... here are some snap shots which should be better at explaining then me...(attached)

any suggestions on what i need to do?

Edited February 27, 2013 by Brian M
Removed attachments at op's request.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Does your machine have more than one physical port? It's usually best practice to separate the Machine Port Group and the VMkernel Port.

[farmeunit]

Which NIC adapter did you pick for your VM? As in E1000, VMXNET3, etc.

[Original Poster]

Does your machine have more than one physical port? It's usually best practice to separate the Machine Port Group and the VMkernel Port.

I do have more the one port yes, surely that would not be an issue?

Which NIC adapter did you pick for your VM? As in E1000, VMXNET3, etc.

e1000 i think :p

[wererwerwerwerwerwerwer]

Try re-adding the adapter or setting a static IP on your webserver.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

I do have more the one port yes, surely that would not be an issue?

e1000 i think :p

sure - just throwing out ideas

we use the VMXNET3, but i cant tell you why

[+BudMan MVC]

If you used e1000 the native driver in ubuntu should work, if you used the vmxnet3 driver then you would have to install the tools, which you don't have installed.

As to multiple nics in the host.. What jdawg was stating was its BAD security practice to run your management network over the same physical network as your guests network. Its best to isolate these, even if on the same IPspace - its best to use the other physical nic from a bandwidth perspective, etc.

[Original Poster]

If you used e1000 the native driver in ubuntu should work, if you used the vmxnet3 driver then you would have to install the tools, which you don't have installed.

As to multiple nics in the host.. What jdawg was stating was its BAD security practice to run your management network over the same physical network as your guests network. Its best to isolate these, even if on the same IPspace - its best to use the other physical nic from a bandwidth perspective, etc.

its deffo E1000 ... but I cannot see why its being like this... it must be something with the dhcp ??

il set up your suggestion once i get it working at all lol

[+BudMan MVC]

And what is your dhcp server? Something on your physical network connected via your vmnic2 that you have connected to your vswitch?

So your located at The University of snipped? I wouldn't suggest you post your IP like that, That is a public IP -- I sure hope its not open to the public net for your vmhost management?

[Original Poster]

And what is your dhcp server? Something on your physical network connected via your vmnic2 that you have connected to your vswitch?

So your located at? I wouldn't suggest you post your IP like that, That is a public IP -- I sure hope its not open to the public net for your vmhost management?

crap... I thought I removed everything to do with the IP ? what did I leave in ? can you please edit your post to remove the name of my uni I have reported my own post to get images taken down

edit ... damn i see it FML ..

[+BudMan MVC]

Its in your vswitch image. I edit my post to take out the name. Figured that was vague enough to not be an issue, but sure can understand your concern so I snipped it.

So your VMs would be getting an IP on that same range? Do you control the dhcp server? Possible they have some sort of NAC or NAP in place, for example here on our network if your device (mac) is not listed your never going to get an IP, even if you plug into a port that is active.

But I would not put your vmhost management on a connection that allows unknowns to connect to it. I would assume its behind a firewall even if public so I wouldn't be able to connect for example. But what about others on that network that might be outside your control.

I would put the management on the private side of your setup, and use the other nic in your host for connectivity that gives you wider network access/internet access. You could then use a VM to route the traffic for you.

This is how I am setup, I run pfsense as my internet gateway as vm. And then other vms are just connected to the vswitch that is connected to the private side only. My physical boxes (all under my control) share the same IP space. And I don't have 3rd physical nic to breakout the VMKernel port group (managment) to its own physical nic - or I would.

Maybe you trust all the devices on that network -- but unless this is meant to be wide open to the network, I would isolate it.

[Original Poster]

Its in your vswitch image. I edit my post to take out the name. Figured that was vague enough to not be an issue, but sure can understand your concern so I snipped it.

So your VMs would be getting an IP on that same range? Do you control the dhcp server? Possible they have some sort of NAC or NAP in place, for example here on our network if your device (mac) is not listed your never going to get an IP, even if you plug into a port that is active.

But I would not put your vmhost management on a connection that allows unknowns to connect to it. I would assume its behind a firewall even if public so I wouldn't be able to connect for example. But what about others on that network that might be outside your control.

I would put the management on the private side of your setup, and use the other nic in your host for connectivity that gives you wider network access/internet access. You could then use a VM to route the traffic for you.

This is how I am setup, I run pfsense as my internet gateway as vm. And then other vms are just connected to the vswitch that is connected to the private side only. My physical boxes (all under my control) share the same IP space. And I don't have 3rd physical nic to breakout the VMKernel port group (managment) to its own physical nic - or I would.

Maybe you trust all the devices on that network -- but unless this is meant to be wide open to the network, I would isolate it.

the DHCP is supplied its on their network ... I am going to create my own network to run the system on next week when I have another few hours in the lab to see if its just a DHCP issue, I will obviously set up my own DHCP.. but first I am going to give it its own hardware which should work like a charm I hope, I just need the internet and I dont know why its being a douche ... if all else fails I will set up my own network with its own dedicated IP for the WAN which should then work... I am really stumped though no one can see the problem :/

their is no kind of access list here, and it worked before previously some months ago so I am lost to the problem ... security will be an issue somewhat later but at the moment its just to work their is nothing important on their at the moment ...

[+BudMan MVC]

Well do a simple sniff then - you should see your dhcp discover go out, do you get back an offer? Then you should send out request and then get back an ack.

Dhcp is fairly easy to troubleshoot. In your screenshot there I see 6000 some rx packets, what is odd is that 377 dropped, are you running a firewall on the linux box that could be blocking dhcp?

If you want to verify the nic is working - give it static on that network, and then see if you can connect. I would make sure you pick and IP that is not in use ;)

edit: btw your IP is still listed there in your vswitch image. You might want to remove that image, that can be done in neowin cp under image management.

edit2: Other things I notice which has nothing to do with your problem, but are you running esxi 5.1, if so your using old vm8 vs the newer vm9 versions. Also I would suggest you install the vmware tools on all your guests.