PowerEdge: Adding and Removing the VMNic Uplink in ESXI

Summary: Adding and removing VMNICS to the VSS(Standard Switch) and VDS(Distributed Switch)

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Instructions

  • View the current vSwitch configuration and vmkernel interface configuration using these commands: 
    esxcli network vswitch standard list # list current vswitch configuration
esxcli network vswitch dvs vmware list # list Distributed Switch configuration
esxcli network ip interface list # list vmkernel interfaces and their configuration
esxcli network nic list # display listing of physical adapters and their link state
  • Add or remove network cards (known as vmnics) to or from a Standard vSwitch using these commands: 
    esxcli network vswitch standard uplink remove --uplink-name=vmnic --vswitch-name=vSwitch # unlink an uplink
esxcli network vswitch standard uplink add --uplink-name=vmnic --vswitch-name=vSwitch # add an uplink
  • Add or remove network cards (known as vmnics) to or from a vNetwork Distributed Switch (vDS) using these commands: 
    esxcfg-vswitch -Q vmnic -V dvPort_ID_of_vmnic dvSwitch # unlink/remove a vDS uplink
esxcfg-vswitch -P vmnic -V unused_dvPort_ID dvSwitch # add a vDS uplink
     
    Note: If connectivity is lost when migrating management networking to a Distributed Switch, it may be necessary to remove or disable the existing management VMkernel interface and re-create it in a Standard vSwitch port group with the same IP configuration.

 

Example:-
Adding Vmnci4 to vSwitch (Standard)
cli adding vswitch 
Verify the vswitch now the vmnic 4 is add to uplink.
Verify the vswitch now the vmnic 4 is add to uplink 

Removing the VMNIC from uplink vSwitch 0
Removing the VMNIC from uplink vSwitch 0 
vswitch0 

Adding VMNIC4 uplink to VDS(Distributed Switch), 
Before adding the uplink port, make sure of the DVS Name and DVPort ID should be free port's in this example port no 11 was not in use.
adding vnic4 
Verify whether VMNIC is add to DVS uplink.
Verify whether VMNIC is add to DVS uplink 

Remove VMNIC Uplink from VDS,
Remove VMNIC Uplink from VDS,

Affected Products

VMware ESXi 6.7.X, VMware ESXi 6.x, VMware ESXi 7.x
Article Properties
Article Number: 000198710
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 02 Apr 2025
Version:  2
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