Introduction: How to Migrate vmkernel vDS network to vDS LACP
When enabling LACP(LAG) in our vDS and using LACP on our vmkernel, we need to consider the timeout or even losing communication while LACP is enabled.
In the last article, we already check how the LACP runs on both sides(Physical and virtual), meaning that the LACP is working on your vSphere with LAG.
But to migrate a vmkernel (that could be using Active / Passive or even Active/Active Teaming), one physical adapter must be done each time. If not, you could lose connection to your ESXi host or to your Datastores if using NFS.
This article will show two examples: Moving our Management vmkernel and our NFS vmkernel(as we learned in previous articles, iSCSI is not supported using LACP).
Note
Before starting the migration, if you have two new physical adapters(vmnics) configuring a vDS with LACP, this migration is more straightforward. But if you plan to use vmnics that are in use, the migration must be done one vmnic at a time.
In one example, we will migrate Management vmnics(vmnic0, vmnic1) to an LACP vDS using the same vmnics, and in a second example, we will migrate the NFS vmnics(vmnic02, vmnic03) to new vmnics(vmnic5, vmnic6) that are already configured with LACP in the physical Switch.
Example of one of the 3 ESXi hosts in the Cluster.
And the existing vDS and vmkernel that we will migrate.
For Management Network
For Storage NFS Network
Note: As mentioned in our previous articles, we have successfully set up an iSCSI and NFS Storage Network. However, our focus in this blog post will be solely on NFS. While it is common for companies to have both iSCSI and NFS in their vSphere environment, a typical implementation would involve choosing one over the other.
Nevertheless, if we decide to migrate our NFS network vmkernel to an LACP, we must also migrate our vMotion vmkernel.
Migrate vmkernel to LACP vDS with new vmnics(no vmnics migration)
Let’s start by migrating the Storage NFS vmkernel.
We assume you have created the LACP vDS and assigned the vmnics to that vDS.
Start by editing the LACP vDS we created in the previous article and select Manage host Networking.
Next, select the ESXi hosts that we will migrate. Of course, this is all that is in the vDS/Cluster.
You can now add a link to the vmnics to the LAG in the vDS(if you haven’t done this before). Since we have already done this, click Next.
Now is the migration of the vmkernel to the new LACP vDS.
As the previous image shows, we must migrate vmk3(NFS) and vmk4(vMotion). Select the vmkernel, and it will show the related hosts that are connected(all in the Cluster) and then Assign port group. We will assign the LAG-Vembu BDRSuite portgroup.
After it is assigned, we click Next.
The following section is about the migration of VM Networking. We will not need to do this now since we already have done this in the previous article. But even if we did do it, we would skip this anyway, since this LACP vDS is for Storage and not Virtual Machines.
With both examples, you can learn how to migrate the VM Migration and vmkernel to an LACP vDS. For our case here, we need only to do one, and if we were also migrating the VM networking, we would not migrate this Storage vmkernel unless we were migrating VM Networking and the Management vmkernel that could use the same network.
After you skip the VM networking section, double-check the information, and if all is correct, click Finish.
And now all NFS Datastores are connected to the LACP vDS.
To make sure all is working correctly, ping your vmkernel IPs. In our case it is 192.168.10.119 and 192.168.0.113.
Also, double-check your Datastores if they are still available.
Completing this final step, we conclude the Storage NFS vmkernel network migration to newly configured vmnics in LACP vDs.
The migration process for the vmkernel can be performed from either a Standard Switch (vSS) or a vDS to an LACP vDS. The steps involved remain the same, with the only distinction being the source of the migration. However, there are no variations in the available migration process options.
If you wish to perform a similar migration process for your Management vmkernel to new vmnics, you can follow the same procedure outlined above. The purpose of the step-by-step process provided is to familiarize you with all the necessary steps and options for creating, migrating, and managing the LACP vDS.
However, if your LACP vDS is already fully configured (including vmnics linked to LAG, all ESXi hosts added, and LACP configured in the physical Switch).
Next, I will show a different way to perform this migration, but you must do it one ESXi host at a time. Here’s how you can do it.
Select your ESXi host that you want to perform the network migration, select the Configuration tab, and then Virtual Switches in the LACP vDS that you want to migrate the vmkernel network, select the option and then select Migrate Networking.
Here, the process and options are very similar to what we have seen in the previous example.
Skip the physical adapters option and go to the vmkernel adapters.
As we have done in the previous example, select the vmk you want to migrate and assign it to an LACP port group.
As the previous example shows, we have to migrate the vmk3 and vmk4 and assign them to a new LACP portgroup.
And all vmk are migrated and now with an LACP vDS. But bear in mind that this is only for one ESXi host. If you use this option, you must do this same task with all ESXi hosts in that LACP vDS.
The vSphere virtual network configuration has been updated with migrating our Management, NFS, and vMotion vmkernel networks to an LACP vDS.
This is the new network design between the physical and virtual network environments.
If you want to roll back any of the above migrations, you can use the same process: select the old Standard Switch or a vDS, select the option Migrate Networking, and roll back to the old portgroups. This can be rollback to a vDS or a simple Standard Switch.
Note: LACP needs to be disabled on the physical Switch before you rollback to a Standard Switch. Since vSS doesn’t support LACP.
With the rollback, we finished this article regarding migrating the vmkernel vDS network to a vDS with LACP.
In the next article, we will cover a section about LACP and vDS, where we will learn how to migrate vmkernel and vmnics to a new vDS with LACP using the same vmnics for Management and Storage vmkernel.
Read More:
VMware for Beginners – Create and configure vDSwitch: Part 18(a)
VMware for Beginners – How to use LACP in vDSwitch: Part 18(b)
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