Category: VMware ESXi 6.7

VMware – Linux CentOS VMware Tools Installation

September 23, 2020
VMwareVMware ESXi 6.7VMware vCenter Server 6.7

The article in this link provides step by step instructions for installing VMware Tools on Linux virtual machines.

Additionally, upon executing the command ./vmware-install.pl, as the root user, I was met with an access denied error. The solution was to run the command perl ./vmware-install.pl.

VMware ESXi 6.7 – View the ARP Table

April 30, 2020
NetworkScriptingVirtualizationVMware ESXi 6.7

Recently, I needed to select the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses for various VMkernel adapters. In selecting IP addresses you must be certain that the IP address is not already in use to avoid an IP address conflict. One way to determine this is to ping the IP address in question. However, what do you do if ICMP traffic is filtered?

In that case, you can ping the IP address in question from another host on the subnet and view it’s Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) table. The command below may be used to view the ARP table of a VMware ESXi 6.7 host.

esxcli network ip neighbor list

VMware ESXi 6.7 – View CDP Information

April 15, 2020
VMware ESXi 6.7

Have you ever connected a VMware ESXi 6.7 host to a switch port that wasn’t tagged with the correct VLAN for the management network and you weren’t able to physically trace the network cable back to the switch? If so, you know the result is that you are unable to connect to the host. However, all hope is not lost as VMware ESXi utilizes the Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) to provide you with the hostname, IP address, and switch port that the VMNIC/s are connected to for the management network. With that said, below you’ll find the procedure and commands to view the CDP information.

NOTE: This example assumes you are connecting to the DCUI from an iDRAC or iLO.

  1. From the VMware Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) enable the ESXi shell (Troubleshooting Options > Enable ESXi Shell)
  2. Press Alt+F1 to enter the ESXi shell
  3. Enter the root authentication credentials
  4. Enter the following command to view the CDP information for VMNIC0: vim-cmd hostsvc/net/query_networkhint –pnic-name=vmnic0
  5. In the output verify the following information:
    • connectedSwitchPort
      • devId = “switch_hostname“
      • address = “x.x.x.x“
      • portID = “GigabitEthernetx/x/x“
  6. Exit the ESXi shell
  7. Press Alt+F2 to enter the DCUI
  8. Disable the ESXi shell
  9. Logout of the DCUI

Lastly, more information may be found using this VMware knowledge base article.