Create a virtual server and bind it to a Distributed Load Balancer service.

This task can be performed both from the NSX UI and NSX APIs.

The API command to create a virtual server is PUT https://<NSXManager_IPAddress>/policy/api/v1/infra/lb-virtual-servers/<lb-virtual-server-id>.

Prerequisites

  • Create a server pool for the Distributed Load Balancer.
  • To use IPv6 addresses as the virtual IP of Distributed Load Balancer, on the Global Networking Config page (Networking > Global Networking Config), ensure L3 Forwarding Mode to IPv4 and IPv6.

Procedure

  1. With admin privileges, log in to NSX Manager.
  2. Go to Networking → Load Balancing → Virtual Servers.
  3. Click Add Virtual Server -> L4 TCP.
  4. To configure a virtual server for a Distributed Load Balancer, only the following fields are supported.
    Field Description
    Name Enter a name for the virtual server.

    IP Address

    Supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

    Enter the IP address of the Distributed Load Balancer virtual server. All client connections arrive at this IP address of the Distributed Load Balancer virtual server.

    Ports

    Virtual server port number.

    Multiple ports or port ranges are not supported in the virtual server of a Distributed Load Balancer.

    Load Balancer

    Attach the Distributed Load Balancer instance that is associated to the virtual server. The virtual server then knows which policy group the load balancer is servicing.

    Server Pool
    Select the server pool. The server pool contains backend servers. Server pool consists of one or more servers that are similarly configured and are running the same application. It is also referred to as pool members.
    Note: If the virtual IP address of the Distributed Load Balancer is IPv4, the server pool members must be of the same versions. Likewise if you use IPv6 version of virtual IP address.

    Application Profile

    Select the application profile for the virtual server.

    The application profile defines the application protocol characteristics. It is used to influence how load balancing is performed. The supported application profiles are:
    • Load Balancer Fast TCP Profile
    • Load Balancer Fast UDP Profile

    Default Pool Member Ports

    Optional field.

    Enter one port number to be used when member ports are not defined. Multiple ports or port ranges for default pool member ports are not supported in the virtual server of a Distributed Load Balancer.

    Persistence

    Optional field.

    Select Source IP or Disabled.
    The Distributed Load Balancer configuration is complete.

Results

Verify whether the DLB is distributing traffic to all the servers in the pool based on the algorithm defined in the configuration. If you choose the Round_Robin algorithm, then DLB must be able to choose servers from the pool in a round robin fashion.

In the ESXi host, verify whether the DLB configuration is complete.

What to do next

See Verifying Distributed Load Balancer Configuration on ESXi Hosts.