napp-in-one basics

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vjeko

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Sep 3, 2015
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I'll be frank - even with the documentation, with my knowldege I'm
lost - could someone please help.

This is where I'm at:
ESXi is installed on a local SATA SSD. I downloaded the napp-in-one,
unzipped and did file ->deploy OVF template to same local datastore as
ESXi (30.16GB is provisioned & used) .Browse datastore shows napp-it_15d and contents.

Via virtual machines -> napp-it_15d ->edit settings, I added the HBA via
add pci device & checked the allocated memory/cpu (I guess I don't need to
change anything eg as far as "reservation" figures are concerned).

I can see how to power on the VM - how do I get napp-it working ;) ?
 
V

vjeko

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Sep 3, 2015
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I followed the instructions and these threads:
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/esxi-5-5-vswitch-network-setup-all-in-one.4276/
ZFS All-In-One Instructions (complete) | Overclockers Forums

and was trying to set up the following:
vSwitch 0:
VM portgroup (VM network) 10.X.Y.A/24
VMkernel port (mgt) 10.X.Y.B/24 ->vnic
(using e1000 vnic)

vSwitch 1: VM portgroup (storagenet) 10.X.Z.A/24
VMkernel port (VMkernel_storagenet) 10.X.Z.B/24 ->no adapters
(using VMXNET3 vnic)

The VM console works and I can log into napp-it via web browser but have a few problems.
I've given e1000 vnic static ip address according to the instructions on napp-it Omnios web page but
for the vmxnet3 it says "Could not create address: Could not open DLPI link"
(BTW I didn't install VMware tools as it's not clear if it's built in to the all-in-one.)

Do the storagenet ip addresses need to be "registered" on the router
(I have 4 port based VLANS on the router but used a subnet for storagenet
which is not one of those VLANS) ? I know there is no nic so I was
a bit confused since I wasn't sure whether the router needs to know
the addresses ;)

What is the VMkernel default gateway address (both vnics use the same ip address)?
 
V

vjeko

Member
Sep 3, 2015
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Can someone please give me a pointer on how to proceed regarding my issues above - even
the obvious is not so obvious for a newbie ;)
 
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gea

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2010
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You only need one vswitch that is connected with your physical nic -
either to an untagged network or you can use a tagged connection to
a vlan capable switch

If you create a VM with one ore more vnics, you can connect the vnic
to the virtual switch either untagged or assigned to a vlan.

The vmkernel settings are only needed for ESXi management and services
like vmotion, nfs storage or high availability.
Creating a VMkernel Port (for ISCSI, vMotion, NFS and FT) on Standard and Distrubuted vSwitches

More than one vswitch allows a separate network for management or without
an externel nic connection, you can use this to connect VMs without external access.
 
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V

vjeko

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Sep 3, 2015
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The only equipment which I now have that is VLAN tagging is the router, so
for now I'm using port based VLAN.

The rest I understand to a large extent with a few things that are unclear:
(a)Did I understand it correctly that vmware tools is inbuilt into the napp-in-one
VM and no further installation is needed (I saw the entry for install/update
but wasn't sure whether it was already installed) ?
(b)Do I need a separate VMkernel for the Omnios NFS ?
(c)If I want a separate vswitch with vnic + no nic for the case of all VMs are on the
one machine / no need for external access , and VMkernel is needed , should
the subnet be "registered" on the router / what is the default gateway?
 
G

gea

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2010
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a.
yes, ESXi tools are included

b.
VMKernel, this is only for ESXi management and storage, not for guests -
they use a vnic with its own IP settings.

You should thing the connection from your physical nic.
If this is untagged, you connect to a vswitch and a vnic.
From VM view this is like connected to the physical nic

Next option are tagged vlans on your physical nic -> vswitch
In this case you can connect a vnic to one of the vlans or
you pass all vland to your vnic. In such a case, your OS must
support virtual nics and vlan tagging (OmniOS does).

c
Again, do not mix ESXi settings (VMKernel with an IP and a gateway)
wit VM settings ex in OmniOS (ip and gateway). There is also no
routing within ESXi.

To route, you can use your internet router, a l3 capable switch or
a software or hardware firewall

In any case a gateway is the router that can route traffic
to other networks. This router must know all local networks
to enable correct routing.
 
V

vjeko

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Sep 3, 2015
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Let's limit questions to all-in-one and port based VLANs - that's all I use now.

VM kernel for ESXI mgt - this I understand(eg using vsphere client).
OmniOS ip address (tied to OmniOS VM) / how we access OmniOS VM via napp-it via web browser - this I understand.

Regarding the rest, a few things are still unclear, let me try a few more questions:
(i)I need a VMkernel for NFS connectivity & it is a separate MVkernel (and in a separate
subnet) to the one used for ESXI mgt - correct ?

(ii)In the thread in my post #7:
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/esxi-5-5-vswitch-network-setup-all-in-one.4276/
The storage traffic (storagenet) with separate vswitch is there only
to be able to use the faster vnic (vmxnet) / have fastest speed for the VMs to access storage -correct ?

(iii)For the mentioned thread - are the storagenet ip addresses routed
(you said vmkernel is not) / what would be the default gateway ?

(iv)What could be the reason for not being able to setup the vmxnet vnic as per my post #7
"vmxnet3 it says "Could not create address: Could not open DLPI link" on the
separate vswitch ?
 
V

vjeko

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Sep 3, 2015
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In (ii) above, I meant to say:
The storage traffic (storagenet) with separate vswitch is there only
to be able to use the faster vnic (vmxnet) / have fastest speed for the VMs to access storage
if storage is used only by VMs on the server -correct ?
 
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gea

Well-Known Member
Dec 31, 2010
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Im not sure if I really understand your problem.

First, you can use e1000 and (if tools are installed) vmxnet3 vnics
but tool version must be compatible with ESXi
The included tools are for ESXi up to 6.0.0.b - should work with 6.0.0.u1 as well

Both work in software with more than 1Gb/s depend on CPU power
vmxnet3 is newer and faster with a lower CPU load.
There are known problems of both depending on hardware and ESXi version

about the gateway.
You are the only one to tell.

Usually you have an Internet router for Internet access ex 192.168.1.254
This gives you a local LAN 192.168.1.0 usually with a DHCP server with an ip range
example 192.168.1.100-192.168.1.200. You can use all other ip beside the router ip itself
example 192.168.1.1-192.168.1.99 for manual ip settings.

If you connect any computer (laptop, ESXi or a VM either via fixed ip or dhcp),
this computer works in this subnet with the router as gateway (above example 192.168.1.254)

This is the network, that you also use in ESXi or in the VMs that need Internet access with
this gateway. At home, you only need this single network on a single ESXi virtual switch
that you use for everything.

If you add a second vswitch (for what reason?) with another subnet, you do not need to set
a gateway as you do not have one or you must setup a firewall as a router for this network.
Normally you only add a vnic to a VM that you connect to the second vswitch to separate
traffic from the first vswitch.
 
V

vjeko

Member
Sep 3, 2015
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OK, first, looks like I need some extra courses in networking ;), but I'm following you - will
work on it further.

I thought the reason for the second vswitch as in the thread :
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/esxi-5-5-vswitch-network-setup-all-in-one.4276/
was as you said (to separate the traffic) so that everything on the second vswitch is done in
software/as fast as possible with no external connections , but after looking at your
"all-in-one" document setup diagram in section "3.3. VLAN settings" , I can't see much difference
compared to the two vswitches setup in the thread (where there is a separate VMkernel for NFS) because
both setups in the end have external connections.

I will then use one vswitch as I think I will have enough fun getting things to work ;)
 
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