18/07/2016

ConfiguringvNetworkDistributedSwitchforVMwareViewmyvirtualcloud.net

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ModifyingVMwareViewNetworkPorts
Reminder:CloudCampSydney2010v2,Aug6,2010
Aug042010

ConfiguringvNetworkDistributedSwitchfor
VMwareView
AvNetworkDistributedSwitchisanaggregationofperhostvirtualswitchespresentedand
controlledasasingledistributedswitchthroughvCenterServerattheDatacenterlevel.ThevDS
abstractsconfigurationofindividualvirtualswitchesandenablescentralizedprovisioning,
administration,andmonitoring.

ItisnothardtorealizehowaVMwareViewenvironmentwiththousandsofVMsandhundredsof
subnets,hostsandVLANscouldbenefitfromcentralizedadministration.Thetruthisthatwithout
dvSwitchesasimplenetworkchange,suchasaPortGroupcreation,couldendupbeingapainful
manualinterventiontoeachhost.Atbest,youhaveinhousePowershellskillsthischangecould
endupwiththecreationofacustomizedscript.
However,becauseofthewayVMwareViewLinkedCloningtechnologyworksitisnecessaryto
implementaparticularconfigurationinorderusedvSwitch.Butbeforemovingaheadletsseehow
dvSwitchesanddvPortGroupwork.
AdvPortGroupisagroupofdvPortsthatsharethesameconfigurationtemplate.Thisconfiguration
isinheritedfromthedvSwitchtothedvPortgroup.ESXhostskeepalocalcacheofthevDSand
DVPortinformation,tousewhenvCenterisunavailable:
HostDVPortstate:/etc/vmware/dvsdata.db
VMDVPortstate:/vmfs/volumes/<storage>/.dvsData
(botharenoneditablebinaryfiles)

WhenVMwareViewtriestorefresh,recomposeorrebalanceavirtualmachinemost
implementationsusingdvSwitcheswillendupwithanerrorthatsays:
Ageneralsystemerroroccurred:DVSerror:seefaultCause.CannotfindauseableportinDVS
dvSwitch.Thesourcevim.dvs.DistributeddVirtualPort116isinuse.DVSdvSwitchport116is
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connectedtoentityreplica8d2f5e511c4449168ab8a3dd0fc4a293vnic

ThiserrorisdisplayedeveniftherearefreeportsinthedvSwitches.VMwareViewrefresh,
recomposeorrebalanceprocesseswilltryusethesameportthathasbeenalreadyassignedtothe
replica.

TheDVPortbindingtypesareasfollows:
StaticBinding(Default):meansthatthedvPortisassignedtothevirtualmachineatconfiguration
time.Whenalltheportsarebookedbyvirtualmachines,itisnotpossibletoconnecttoanymore
virtualmachines,regardlessofwhethertheconnectedvirtualmachinesarepoweredupornot,and
anerrormessageisdisplayed.TheassigneddvPortisimmediatelypushedtothehost,writtentothe
hostscacheandwrittenintheVMsvmxfile.
DynamicassignedwhentheVMispoweredon,andthenpushedtothehost.Thereisno
guaranteethattheVMwillgetthesameDVPortonthenextpoweron.Howeveritusesaconcept
similartoDHCPinthatifthesameportisavailablethenitwillrenewthatoneandthisallowsfor
overcommittingthenumberofdvPorts.
Ephemeral(NoBinding)anewportoneverypoweron.TheportisdestroyedwhentheVM
disconnectsfromtheport.ThisbehaviourresemblesthebehaviourinthestandardvSwitch.Ifyou
selectthisoption,thenumbersofportsareautomaticallysetto0,andthePortgroupallocatesone
portforeachconnectedvirtualmachine,uptothemaximumnumberofportsavailableinthe
Switch.

IfyourVMwareViewimplementationisusingLinkedCloningtechnology(ViewComposer)itis
vitaltosetthedvPortGroupPortBindingtoeitherDynamicorEphemeral(nobinding).Ipersonally
liketosetthemasEphemeralnobinding.

AfteryoucreatethedvPortGroupyouwillneedtochangethenetworkatyourMasterimagefrom
standardswitchtovDSwithdynamicorEphemeralportbindingandcreateanewsnapshot.After
thatyoumustrecomposeatestdesktopwiththenewsnapshot.
IfeverythingworksasexpecteditwillnotbenecessarytorecomposeallVMs(thiscouldtakea
longtimedependingonthesizeofyourenvironment).UsingthevNetworkDistributedSwitch
administrationinterfaceyouwillbeabletosimplychangethenetworkfromthestandardswitchto
vDS.DespitethisisanondisruptivetechnologyIrecommendasmalloutagewindowforthe
change.

VMwareKB1010593(vNetworkDistributedPortGroupconfiguration)providesadditional
informationonhowtoconfiguredvSwitches
AlthoughvNetworkDistributedSwitchesmayhaveadvantagesifcomparedwithStandard
vSwitchesasounddesignisrequiredinordertoprovidehighavailability.InmostcasesIwould
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18/07/2016

ConfiguringvNetworkDistributedSwitchforVMwareViewmyvirtualcloud.net

recommendahybridapproach.HereyouwillfindapostfromDuncanEppingwithPROsand
CONs.
Awhitepaper(VMwarevNetworkDistributedSwitch:MigrationandConfiguration)isalso
availablehere.
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8comments
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Skiptocommentform

1.
DavidHenderson

11/02/2013at2:18am(UTC7)
WithvSphere5.1andView5.2istheuseofephemeralbindingstilltherecommendationfor
View?Iamexperiencingtheexactbehaviordescribedinthisarticlewhenrecomposingmy
linkedclonepooloutofportsonmyDVPortgroupeventhoughthereareplentyavailable.
ThisVMWareblogrecommendsusingstaticbindingoverepemeral
http://blogs.vmware.com/vsphere/2012/05/whyusestaticportbindingonvds.html
Whatisbestpracticehere?

2.
AndreLeibovici

11/02/2013at11:39am(UTC7)
David,yes,youshouldutilizeephemeralbinding.

3.
David

11/02/2013at1:07pm(UTC7)
Thanksforthequickreply.Onelastquestion.IfmyvCentergoesofflinewillmyView
desktopsthatarealreadycreatedstillwork?Wehavethemsetsoeverytimesomeonelogs
offtheyarerefreshed.IthoughtIreadsomewherethatephemeralbindingneedsvCenter

4.
AndreLeibovici

11/02/2013at3:44pm(UTC7)
Yes,theywillcontinuetowork.DespiteconfigurationsaredoneviavCenter,theintelligence
isallhostbased.Insayingthat,fornonpersistentdesktopshighlyrecommendedtoutilize
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multiplevCenters.Seethishttp://myvirtualcloud.net/?p=5232

5.
Michael

01/25/2014at2:56pm(UTC7)
Iunderstandwhatthevmkportisinyourdiagram,butwhatdoesthescportstandfor?

6.
AndreLeibovici

01/26/2014at6:41pm(UTC7)
Michael,thisisanoldpost.InthepastESXusedtohaveaServiceConsoleport.Nowthisis
theManagementNetworkinESXiandnotfullfeaturedshellisavailableanymore.
Andre

7.
freddykid

03/04/2014at10:57am(UTC7)
Iamlookingintosomeerrorsthatlinkedtothisarticle,isthereaVMwaredocumentthat
describeswhyyoushouldnotusestaticbindingforvmviewlinkedclones?Ijustwantto
readuponitmore.Wehavesmallpoolsbutthedvportswereoriginallysetupasstatic.
Deletingavirtualmachineandthenhavingitrebuildbythecomposerhasalwaysworkedto
fixtheerror.

8.
Darwin

11/07/2014at8:37pm(UTC7)
Thatisagoodwayofaparticularconfiguration.Thanksforthisarticle.

1.View?????'sBlog
11/01/2010at12:15pm(UTC7)Linktothiscomment
[]ConfiguringvNetworkDistributedSwitchforVMwareView?http://myvirtualcloud.net/?
p=1012PagefilesandVDI.Notso[]

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