The documentation set for this product strives to use bias-free language. For the purposes of this documentation set, bias-free is defined as language that does not imply discrimination based on age, disability, gender, racial identity, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality. Exceptions may be present in the documentation due to language that is hardcoded in the user interfaces of the product software, language used based on RFP documentation, or language that is used by a referenced third-party product. Learn more about how Cisco is using Inclusive Language.
This chapter includes the following sections:
Each VMware ESX host has its own software-based virtual switch (vSwitch) in its hypervisor that performs the switching operations between its virtual machines (VMs). The Cisco UCS distributed virtual switch (DVS) is a software-based virtual switch that runs alongside the vSwitch in the ESX hypervisor, and can be distributed across multiple ESX hosts. Unlike vSwitch, which uses its own local port configuration, a DVS associated with multiple ESX hosts uses the same port configuration across all ESX hosts.
After associating an ESX host to a DVS, you can migrate existing VMs from the vSwitch to the DVS, and you can create VMs to use the DVS instead of the vSwitch. With the hardware-based VN-Link implementation, when a VM uses the DVS, all VM traffic passes through the DVS and ASIC-based switching is performed by the fabric interconnect.
In Cisco UCS Manager, DVSes are organized in the following hierarchy:
vCenter Folder (optional) Datacenter Folder (required) DVS
At the top of the hierarchy is the vCenter, which represents a VMware vCenter instance. Each vCenter contains one or more datacenters, and optionally vCenter folders with which you can organize the datacenters. Each datacenter contains one or more required datacenter folders. Datacenter folders contain the DVSes.
You must first create a datacenter in VMware vCenter. Do not create the folder inside the datacenter or the DVS in VMware vCenter.
The following example creates a vCenter, a datacenter with the exact same name as the datacenter in VMware vCenter, a DVS in the datacenter folder named Engineering, and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # create vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # set hostname 192.168.10.10 UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # set description "vCenter running on my laptop" UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # create data-center MyDatacenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center* # create folder Engineering UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder* # create distributed-virtual-switch LabSwitch UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch* # enable UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch #
Managing Distributed Virtual Switches
Command or Action | Purpose | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
||
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
||
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
||
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
||
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter # create folderfolder-name | (Optional) Creates the specified vCenter folder and enters system VM management VMware vCenter folder mode.
|
||
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter/folder # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example adds a vCenter folder named Lab 5 to the vCenter named MyVcenter and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # create folder Lab5 UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/folder* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/folder #
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter # delete folder folder-name | (Optional) Deletes the specified vCenter folder. |
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example deletes the vCenter folder named Lab5 from the vCenter named MyVcenter and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter # delete folder Lab5 UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter #
You must first create a datacenter in VMware vCenter. Do not create the folder inside the datacenter or the DVS in VMware vCenter.
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter # scope folder folder-name | (Optional) Enters system VM management VMware vCenter folder mode for the specified folder. |
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/ # create data-center data-center-name | Creates the specified datacenter and enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter mode. The datacenter name that you specify in Cisco UCS Manager must exactly match the name of the datacenter previously created in VMware vCenter. |
Step 7 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example adds a datacenter named SQA-Datacenter to the vCenter named MyVcenter and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # create data-center SQA-Datacenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center #
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter # scope folder folder-name | (Optional) Enters system VM management VMware vCenter folder mode for the specified folder. |
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/ # delete data-center data-center-name | Deletes the specified datacenter. The datacenter name that you specify in Cisco UCS Manager must exactly match the name of a datacenter previously created in vCenter Server. |
Step 7 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example deletes the datacenter named SQA-Datacenter from the vCenter named MyVcenter and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # delete data-center SQA-Datacenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter #
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter # scope folder folder-name | (Optional) Enters system VM management VMware vCenter folder mode for the specified folder. |
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter/ # scope data-center data-center-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter mode for the specified datacenter. |
Step 7 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter/data-center # create folder folder-name | Creates the specified datacenter folder and enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter folder mode. |
Step 8 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example adds a datacenter folder named SoftwareQA to the datacenter named MyDatacenter and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # scope data-center MyDatacenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center* # create folder SoftwareQA UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder #
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter # scope folder folder-name | (Optional) Enters system VM management VMware vCenter folder mode for the specified folder. |
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter/ # scope data-center data-center-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter mode for the specified datacenter. |
Step 7 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter/data-center # delete folder folder-name | Deletes the specified datacenter folder. |
Step 8 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt /vmware/vcenter/data-center # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example deletes the datacenter folder named SoftwareQA from the datacenter named MyDatacenter and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter # scope data-center MyDatacenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center # delete folder SoftwareQA UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center #
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter # scope folder folder-name | (Optional) Enters system VM management VMware vCenter folder mode for the specified folder. |
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/ # scope data-center data-center-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter mode for the specified datacenter. |
Step 7 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center # scope folder folder-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter folder mode for the specified datacenter folder. |
Step 8 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/folder/data-center/folder # create distributed-virtual-switch dvs-name | Creates the specified DVS and enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter folder distributed virtual switch mode. |
Step 9 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/folder/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch # {disable | enable} | Disables or enables the DVS. |
Step 10 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/folder/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example adds a DVS named TestSwitch to the datacenter folder named Engineering, enables the DVS, and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # scope data-center MyDatacenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center* # scope folder Engineering UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder* # create distributed-virtual-switch TestSwitch UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch* # enable UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder/distributed-virtual-switch #
Command or Action | Purpose | |
---|---|---|
Step 1 | UCS-A# scope system | Enters system mode. |
Step 2 | UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt | Enters system VM management mode. |
Step 3 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware | Enters system VM management VMware mode. |
Step 4 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter vcenter-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter mode for the specified vCenter. |
Step 5 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter # scope folder folder-name | (Optional) Enters system VM management VMware vCenter folder mode for the specified folder. |
Step 6 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/ # scope data-center data-center-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter mode for the specified datacenter. |
Step 7 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center # scope folder folder-name | Enters system VM management VMware vCenter datacenter folder mode for the specified datacenter folder. |
Step 8 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/folder/data-center/folder # delete distributed-virtual-switch dvs-name | Deletes the specified DVS. |
Step 9 | UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/folder/data-center/folder # commit-buffer | Commits the transaction to the system configuration. |
The following example deletes the DVS named TestSwitch from the datacenter folder named Engineering and commits the transaction:
UCS-A# scope system UCS-A /system # scope vm-mgmt UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt # scope vmware UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware # scope vcenter MyVcenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter* # scope data-center MyDatacenter UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center* # scope folder Engineering UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder* # delete distributed-virtual-switch TestSwitch UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder* # commit-buffer UCS-A /system/vm-mgmt/vmware/vcenter/data-center/folder #