Use Traceflow to inspect the path of a packet. Traceflow traces the transport node-level path of a packet. The trace packet traverses the logical switch overlay, but is not visible to interfaces attached to the logical switch. In other words, no packet is actually delivered to the test packet’s intended recipients.

Prerequisites

Verify that Manager mode is selected in the NSX Manager user interface. See NSX Manager. If you do not see the Policy and Manager mode buttons, see Configure the User Interface Settings.

Procedure

  1. With admin privileges, log in to NSX Manager.
  2. Select Plan & Troubleshoot > Traceflow.
  3. Select an IPv4 or IPv6 address type.
  4. Select a traffic type.
    For IPv4 addresses the traffic type choices are Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast. For IPv6 address the traffic type choices are Unicast or Multicast.

    Note: Multicast and broadcast are not supported in a VMware Cloud (VMC) environment.

  5. Specify the source and destination information according to the traffic type.
    Traffic Type Source Destination
    Unicast Select a VM or a logical port. For a VM:
    • Select a VM from the drop-down list.
    • Select a virtual interface.
    • The IP address and MAC address are displayed if VMtools is installed in the VM, or if the VM is deployed using OpenStack plug-in (address bindings will be used in this case). If the VM has more than one IP address, select one from the drop-down list.
    • If the IP address and MAC address are not displayed, enter the IP address and MAC address in the text boxes.
    For a logical port:
    • Select an attachment type: VIF, DHCP, Edge Uplink, or Edge Centralized Service.
    • Select a port.
    		Select a VM, a logical port, or IP-MAC. For a VM:
    • Select a VM from the drop-down list.
    • Select a virtual interface.
    • The IP address and MAC address are displayed if VMtools is installed in the VM or if the VM is deployed using OpenStack plug-in (address bindings will be used in this case). If the VM has more than one IP address, select one from the drop-down list.
    • If the IP address and MAC address are not displayed, enter the IP address and MAC address in the text boxes.
    For a logical port:
    • Select an attachment type: VIF, DHCP, Edge Uplink, or Edge Centralized Service.
    • Select a port.
    For IP-MAC:
    • Select the trace type (layer 2 or layer 3). For layer 2, enter an IP address and a MAC address. For layer 3, enter an IP address.
    Multicast Same as above. Enter an IP Address. It must be a multicast address from 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255.
    Broadcast Same as above. Enter a subnet prefix length.
  6. (Optional) Click Advanced to see the advanced options.
  7. (Optional) In the left column, enter the desired values or input for the following fields:
    Option Description
    Frame Size The default is 128.
    TTL The default is 64.
    Timeout (ms) The default is 10000.
    Ethertype The default is 2048.
    Payload Type Select Base64, Hex, Plaintext, Binary, or Decimal.
    Payload Data Payload formatted based on selected type.
  8. (Optional) Select a protocol and provide related information.
    Protocol Parameters
    TCP Specify a source port, a destination port, and TCP flags.
    UDP Specify a source port and a destination port.
    ICMPv6 Specify an ICMP ID and a sequence.
    ICMP Specify an ICMP ID and a sequence.
    DHCPv6 Select a DHCP message type: Solicit, Advertise, Request, or Reply.
    DHCP Select a DHCP OP code: Boot Request or Boot Reply.
    DNS Specify an address and select a message type: Query or Response.
  9. Click Trace.
    Information about the connections, components, and layers is displayed. The output includes a table listing Observation Type (Delivered, Dropped, Received, Forwarded), Transport Node, and Component, and a graphical map of the topology if unicast and logical switch as a destination are selected. You can apply a filter ( All, Delivered, Dropped) on the observations that are displayed. If there are dropped observations, the Dropped filter is applied by default. Otherwise, the All filter is applied. The graphical map shows the backplane and router links. Note that bridging information is not displayed.