The following procedure will guide you through the steps that are required to set up the TCP/IP configuration for ESXi's management network:
- At the main screen of ESXi, hit F2 to log in to the DCUI by supplying the root password.
- Navigate to Configure Management Network and hit Enter:
- The Configure Management Network screen will present you with options to select the Network Adapters, assign a VLAN ID if necessary, and configure the IPv4/IPv6 settings and DNS configuration. Each of these sections can be selected by hitting Enter and then using the onscreen instructions to select/modify/confirm the settings:
- The Network Adapters section can be used to assign/unassign adapters to the Management Network Port Group. Use the onscreen instructions to make selections and confirm them:
- The VLAN (optional) section is used to supply a VLAN ID for the interface. The IPv4 Configuration section is used supply an IP Address/Subnet Mask/Default Gateway:
- The IPv6 Configuration section is used to supply IPv6 addresses. IPv6 is enabled by default. If IPv6 is not required for your environment, select the Disable IPv6 (restart required) option and hit Enter.
- The DNS Configuration section can be used to supply primary/alternate DNS server addresses and hostnames:
If you do not supply an FDQN when setting the hostname, then ensure that you configure a Custom DNS Suffix.
- Custom DNS Suffixes are optional if you used an FQDN as a hostname in the previous step:
- Once you are done with all the network configuration, while on the Configure Management Network: Confirm screen, hit Esc. You will be prompted to apply the changes by restarting the management network. Hit Y to apply the settings and reboot the hosts:
- Once the reboot is complete, you should be able to reach the ESXi host over the network. From here, the ESXi host can be managed directly using the host client or can be added to vCenter Server.