Configure a Managed Host Transport Node

If you have a vCenter Server, you can automate the installation and creation of transport nodes on all the NSX-T Data Center hosts instead of configuring manually.

This task is only to prepare individual ESXi nodes as transport nodes. If you want to prepare a cluster so that all hosts in that cluster are prepared as transport nodes, apply the cluster with transport node profile. See Add a Transport Node Profile.

Prerequisites

• Verify that all hosts in the vCenter Server are powered on.
• Verify that the system requirements are met. See System Requirements.
• The reverse proxy service on all nodes of the NSX Manager cluster must be Up and running.

  To verify, run get service http. If the service is down, restart the service by running restart service http on each NSX Manager node. If the service is still down, contact VMware support.

• Verify that a transport zone is available. See Create Transport Zones.
• Verify that a transport node profile is configured. See Add a Transport Node Profile.
• (Host in lockdown mode) If your exception list for vSphere lockdown mode includes expired user accounts, NSX-T Data Center installation on vSphere fails. Ensure that you delete all expired user accounts before you begin installation. For more information on accounts with access privileges in lockdown mode, see Specifying Accounts with Access Privileges in Lockdown Mode in the vSphere Security Guide.
• With VMware vSphere^® Lifecycle Manager enabled on a cluster, these limitations apply:
  • You cannot prepare an individual host that is part of the cluster as a transport node. Even though a standalone prepared host can be included in the cluster, you must avoid moving such a transport node to the cluster. Because, when an administrator remediates the host, NSX-T VIBs are removed from the transport node. See vSphereLifecycle Manager Guide.
  • You cannot apply transport node profile to the cluster to prepare cluster hosts as transport nodes.

Procedure

1. From a browser, log in with admin privileges to an NSX Manager at https://<nsx-manager-ip-address>.
2. Select System > Fabric > Nodes > Host Transport Nodes.
3. From the Managed By drop-down menu, select an existing vCenter Server.
   The page lists the available vSphere clusters and/or ESXi hosts from the selected vCenter Server. You may need to expand a cluster to view the ESXi hosts.
4. Select a single host from the list and click Configure NSX.
   The Configure NSX dialog box opens.
   1. Verify the host name in the Host Details panel. Optionally, you can add a description.
   2. Click Next to move to the Configure NSX panel.
   3. Select the available transport zones and click the > button to include the transport zones in the transport node profile.
5. Verify the host name in the Host Details panel, and click Next.
   Optionally, you can add a description.
6. In the Configure NSX panel, expand New Node Switch.
7. In the Type field, select between N-VDS and VDS as the host switch type to prepare the transport node.
8. In the Mode field, depending upon the workload requirements, select the appropriate mode:
   • Standard mode that applies to all the supported hosts. It is used for regular workloads.
   • Enhanced Datapath is a networking stack mode that applies to only transport nodes of ESXi host version 6.7 and later type that can belong in a transport zone. It is used for telecom workloads that require relatively higher throughput and performance.
9. Select N-VDS as the host switch type and enter the switch details. Skip to the next step to select VDS as the host switch.

   Option	Description
   Name	Enter a name for the N-VDS switch.
   Transport Zones	Shows the transport zones that are realized by the associated host switches. You cannot add a transport zone if it is not realized by any N-VDS in the transport node profile.
   NIOC Profile	Select the NIOC profile from the drop-down menu. The bandwidth allocations specified in the profile for the traffic resources are enforced.
   Uplink Profile	Select an existing uplink profile from the drop-down menu or create a custom uplink profile. You can also use the default uplink profile.
   LLDP Profile	By default, NSX-T only receives LLDP packets from a LLDP neighbor. However, NSX-T can be set to send LLDP packets to and receive LLDP packets from a LLDP neighbor.
   IP Assignment	Select Use DHCP, Use IP Pool, or Use Static IP List to assign an IP address to virtual tunnel endpoints (VTEPs) of the transport node. If you select Use Static IP List, you must specify a list of comma-separated IP addresses, a gateway, and a subnet mask. All the VTEPs of the transport node must be in the same subnet otherwise bidirectional flow (BFD) session is not established.
   IP Pool	If you selected Use IP Pool for an IP assignment, specify the IP pool name.
   Physical NICs	Add physical NICs to the transport node. You can use the default uplink or assign an existing uplink from the drop-down menu. Click Add PNIC to configure additional physical NICs to the transport node. Note: Migration of the physical NICs that you add in this field depends on how you configure PNIC only Migration, Network Mappings for Install, and Network Mappings for Uninstall. To migrate a used physical NIC (for example, by a vSphere Standard Switch or a vSphere Distributed Switch) without an associated VMkernel mapping, ensure that PNIC only Migration is enabled. Otherwise, the transport node state remains in partial success, and the fabric node LCP connectivity fails to establish. To migrate a used physical NIC with an associated VMkernel network mapping, disable PNIC only Migration and configure the VMkernel network mapping. To migrate a free physical NIC, enable PNIC only Migration.
   PNIC only Migration	Before setting this field, consider the following points: Know whether the physical NIC defined is a used NIC or a free NIC. Determine whether VMkernel interfaces of a host need to be migrated along with physical NICs. Set the field: Enable PNIC only Migration if you only want to migrate physical NICs from a VSS or DVS switch to an N-VDS switch. Disable PNIC only Migration if you want to migrate a used physical NIC and its associated VMkernel interface mapping. A free or available physical NIC is attached to the N-VDS switch when a VMkernel interface migration mapping is specified. On a host with multiple host switches: If all host switches are to migrate only PNICs, then you can migrate the PNICs in a single operation. If some hosts switches are to migrate VMkernel interfaces and the remaining host switches are to migrate only PNICs: In the first operation, migrate only PNICs. In the second operation, migrate VMkernel interfaces. Ensure that PNIC only Migration is disabled. Both PNIC only migration and VMkernel interface migration are not supported at the same time across multiple hosts. Note: To migrate a management network NIC, configure its associated VMkernel network mapping and keep PNIC only Migration disabled. If you only migrate the management NIC, the host loses connectivity. For more information, see VMkernel Migration to an N-VDS Switch.
   Network Mappings for Install	To migrate VMkernels to N-VDS switch during installation, map VMkernels to an existing logical switch. The NSX Manager migrates the VMkernel to the mapped logical switch on N-VDS. Caution: Ensure that the management NIC and management VMkernel interface are migrated to a logical switch that is connected to the same VLAN that the management NIC was connected to before migration. If vmnic <n> and VMkernel <n> are migrated to a different VLAN, then connectivity to the host is lost. Caution: For pinned physical NICs, ensure that the host switch mapping of physical NIC to a VMkernel interface matches the configuration specified in the transport node profile. As part of the validation procedure, NSX-T Data Center verifies the mapping and if the validation passes migration of VMkernel interfaces to an N-VDS switch is successful. It is also mandatory to configure the network mapping for uninstallation because NSX-T Data Center does not store the mapping configuration of the host switch after migrating the VMkernel interfaces to the N-VDS switch. If the mapping is not configured, connectivity to services, such as vSAN, can be lost after migrating back to the VSS or VDS switch. For more information, see VMkernel Migration to an N-VDS Switch.
   Network Mappings for Uninstall	To revert the migration of VMkernels attached to an N-VDS switch during uninstallation, map VMkernels to port groups on VSS or DVS, so that NSX Manager knows which port group the VMkernel must be migrated back to on the VSS or DVS. For a DVS switch, ensure that the port group is of the type Ephemeral. To revert the migration of VMkernels attached to a NSX-T port group created on a vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) during uninstallation, map VMkernels to port groups on VSS or DVS, so that NSX Manager knows which port group the VMkernel must be migrated back to on the VSS or DVS. For a DVS switch, ensure that the port group is of the type Ephemeral. Caution: For pinned physical NICs, ensure that the transport node profile mapping of physical NIC to VMkernel interface matches the configuration specified in the host switch. It is mandatory to configure the network mapping for uninstallation because NSX-T Data Center does not store the mapping configuration of the host switch after migrating the VMkernel interfaces to the N-VDS switch. If the mapping is not configured, connectivity to services, such as vSAN, can be lost after migrating back to the VSS or VDS switch. For more information, see VMkernel Migration to an N-VDS Switch.

10. Select VDS as the host switch type and enter the switch details.

    Option	Description
    Name	(Hosts managed by a vSphere cluster) Select the vCenter Server that manages the host switch. Select the VDS that is created in vCenter Server.
    Transport Zones	Shows the transport zones that are realized by the associated host switches. You cannot add a transport zone if it is not realized by any host switch.
    Uplink Profile	Select an existing uplink profile from the drop-down menu or create a custom uplink profile. Note: Ensure MTU value entered in the NSX-T Data Center uplink profile and VDS switch is set to at least 1600. If the MTU value in vCenter Server for the VDS switch is lower than the MTU value entered in the uplink profile, then NSX-T Data Center displays an error asking you to enter an appropriate MTU value in the vCenter Server. You can also use the default uplink profile. Note: Link Aggregation Groups defined in an uplink profile cannot be mapped to VDS uplinks.
    IP Assignment	Select Use DHCP, Use IP Pool, or Use Static IP List to assign an IP address to virtual tunnel endpoints (VTEPs) of the transport node. If you select Use Static IP List, you must specify a list of comma-separated IP addresses, a gateway, and a subnet mask. All the VTEPs of the transport node must be in the same subnet otherwise bidirectional flow (BFD) session is not established.
    IP Pool	If you selected Use IP Pool for an IP assignment, specify the IP pool name.
    Teaming Policy Switch Mapping	Map the uplinks defined in the NSX-T uplink profile with the VDS switch uplinks. Alternatively, NSX-T uplinks can also be mapped to LAGs configured on the VDS switch. To configure or view the VDS switch uplinks, go to vCenter Server → vSphere Distributed Switch. Click Actions → Settings → Edit Settings.

    Note: For a VDS switch, Uplinks/LAGs, NIOC profile, LLDP profile can be defined only in vSphere ESXi host. These configurations are not available in NSX Manager. In addition, in NSX Manager, you cannot configure networking mapping for install and uninstall if the host switch is a VDS switch. To manage VMkernel adapters on a VDS switch, go to vCenter Server to attach VMkernel adapters to Distributed Virtual port groups or NSX port groups.
11. If you have selected multiple transport zones, click ADD SWITCH again to configure the switch for the other transport zones.
12. Click Finish to complete the configuration.
13. (Optional) View the ESXi connection status.

    # esxcli network ip connection list | grep 1235
    tcp   0   0  192.168.210.53:20514  192.168.110.34:1234   ESTABLISHED  1000144459  newreno  nsx-proxy
    

14. From the Host Transport Node page, verify that the NSX Manager connectivity status of hosts in the cluster is Up and NSX-T Data Center configuration state is Success. During the configuration process, each transport node displays the percentage of progress of the installation process. If installation fails at any stage, you can restart the process by clicking the Resolve link that is available against the failed stage of the process.
    You can also see that the transport zone is applied to the hosts in the cluster.
    Note: If you again configure a host that is part of a cluster that is already prepared by a transport node profile, the configuration state of a node is in Configuration Mismatch state.
15. (Optional) Remove an NSX-T Data Center VIBs on the host.
    1. Select one or more hosts and click Actions > Remove NSX.
    The uninstallation takes up to three minutes. Uninstallation of NSX-T Data Center removes the transport node configuration on hosts and the host is detached from the transport zone(s) and N-VDS switch. Similar to the installation process, you can follow the percentage of the uninstallation process completed on each transport node. If uninstallation fails at any stage, you can restart the process by clicking the Resolve link that is available against the failed stage of the process.
16. (Optional) Remove a transport node from the transport zone.
    1. Select a single transport node and click Actions > Remove from Transport Zone.

What to do next

When the hosts are transport nodes, you can create transport zones, logical switches, logical routers, and other network components through the NSX Manager UI or API at any time. When NSX Edge nodes and hosts join the management plane, the NSX-T Data Center logical entities and configuration state are pushed to the NSX Edge nodes and hosts automatically. You can create transport zones, logical switches, logical routers, and other network components through the NSX Manager UI or API at any time. When the hosts are transport nodes, these entities gets realized on the host.

Create a logical switch and assign logical ports. See the Advanced Switching section in the NSX-T Data Center Administration Guide.