Verifying ESX Server host networking configuration on the service console

To verify the current networking configuration is valid and correct:

1. Verify the format and content of /etc/hosts .

   The hosts file is expected to have the following format:
   
   127.0.0.1       localhost.localdomain localhost
   192.168.1.10    server.domain.com server

2. Verify the contents of /etc/sysconfig/network . Confirm that the proper values for your environment exist for the fully qualified hostname and gateway. Consult your network administrator if you are unsure. For example:

   NETWORKING=yes
   HOSTNAME=server.domain.com
   GATEWAY=192.168.1.1
   GATEWAYDEV=vswif0
   
   
   

3. Verify that /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-vswif0 has the correct settings for IP address (IPADDR), subnet mask (NETMASK), and network (NETWORK). Consult your network administrator if you are unsure. For example:

   DEVICE=vswif0
   BOOTPROTO=static
   BROADCAST=192.168.1.255
   IPADDR=192.168.1.10
   NETMASK=255.255.255.0
   NETWORK=192.168.1.0
   ONBOOT=yes
   PORTGROUP=”Service Console”
   MACADDR=00:50:56:4a:66:ba

4. Run the following command to display the routing table:

   [root@server root]# route –n

   You will see output similar to the following:

   Kernel IP routing table
   Destination     Gateway         Genmask         Flags Metric Ref    Use Iface
   192.168.1.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.255.0   U     0      0        0 vswif0
   169.254.0.0     0.0.0.0         255.255.0.0     U     0      0        0 vswif0
   0.0.0.0         192.168.1.1     0.0.0.0         UG    0      0        0 vswif0

   Ensure that the second column of the row flagged with UG matches the gateway address for your environment.

5. Verify the DNS information in /etc/resolv.conf is correct for your environment.

   search domain.com
   nameserver 192.168.1.2
   nameserver 192.168.1.3

6. Verify network connectivity between systems. See Testing network connectivity with the Ping command (1003486).

Note: Changes to the network and ifcfg-vswif0 files require a restart of the network service. Type the following command and press Enter to restart the network service:

[root@server root]# service network restart