Cisco Nexus 1000v Software Installation (Part 3)

In this article I will examine the process of configuring the default VMWare vSwitch with the VLANs needed to start the Nexus 1000v Install.

Assumptions: 

·         ESX is already installed

·         vCenter VM is already installed and configured

·         vSphere Client is installed on workstation

·         VLANs for Nexus Packet and Capture interfaces (can be the same VLAN) are created on the network.

·         VLAN for Nexus Management interface is created on the network.

·         The ESXi hosts have their ports configured as trunks with the Nexus Packet, Capture and Management VLANs allowed as well as the VLAN used for the ESX hosts’ IP addresses (VMK0).

The first steps to getting a Nexus 1000v installed are actually to get the basic VMWare vSwitch configured and operating.

Configuring ESXi vSwitch

1. Open vSphere Client and connect to vCenter.
2. Click on the host to configure.
3. Click on the configuration tab.
4. Click on networking. 

5. Click on properties.
6. Click on add.
7. Click on Virtual Machine and then Next 
8. Give the network a label and a VLAN ID (0 indicates the native vlan).  NOTE:  This label must be consistent on all hosts for vMotion.

Click finish to complete the process and repeat this on all of the hosts in the cluster being sure to make the network labels identical (case sensitive).  You will need to repeat this for every VLAN that you will need for the Nexus install including the Nexus Packet, Nexus Control and Management VLANs.