VLAN micro-segmentation walks you through selecting clusters, assigning uplinks, and migrating VMkernal (VMK) ports.

The simplified VLAN micro-segmentation workflow includes:
  • A transport node profile is created and assigned to the selected cluster. The profile name can be edited after deployment.
  • Users select the uplink to physical NICs (pNICs) mapping for each cluster. Both vSphere 7, and the NSX-T Virtual Distributed Switch (N-VDS) are supported.
  • Optional - NSX-T migrates selected VMkernal (VMK) ports to the N-VDS that is automatically created. The user specifies a VLAN segment for each of the VMK interfaces. Power off all virtual machines before migration.
  • For ESXi hosts that are version 6.7 and earlier, NVDS is created and the uplink to physical NICs mapping is displayed.
  • If you have both version 7.0 ESXi hosts and version 7.0 VDS, the uplink mapping is displayed. These uplinks are then mapped onto the VDS.
  • VMkernal migration is not supported with VDS.
Before going through the wizard for VLAN backed micro-segmentation, you must have a compute manager.
  1. Navigate to System > Get Started. To prepare clusters for micro-segmentation using VLAN, click Get Started - Prepare Clusters for VLAN Micro-segmentation.
  2. Select the cluster you want to prepare from the list of available clusters. Only clusters which do not have a transport node profile applied are listed. Expand each cluster to view the hosts it contains. No stand-alone hosts are listed.
  3. To filter the cluster by cluster name, host IP address, host name, or host version, click the filter icon on the right of the screen.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Select the physical NICs (pNICs) that are assigned as uplinks for the N-VDS, or VDS on each cluster. pNICs that are common across the cluster are listed. Both vSphere 7 and VDS are supported.
  6. Click Next.
  7. (Optional) To configure the interfaces for VMkernal migration, where virtual NICs are migrated to VLAN segments, click Select. Power off all virtual machines before migration.
  8. (Optional) Select an existing segment, or create a segment by entering a segment name and the VLAN ID.
  9. (Optional) Click Apply. The segment is automatically mapped to the VMkernal.
  10. Click Finish.