Create a vSphere distributed switch on a data center to handle the networking configuration of multiple hosts at a time from a central place.

Procedure

  1. In the vSphere Web Client, navigate to a data center.
  2. In the navigator, right-click the data center and select Distributed Switch > New Distributed Switch.
  3. On the Name and location page, type a name for the new distributed switch, or accept the generated name, and click Next.
  4. On the Select version page, select a distributed switch version and click Next.
    Option Description
    Distributed Switch: 6.5.0 Compatible with ESXi 6.5 and later.
    Note: Distributed Switch 6.5.0 is not compatible with ESXi 8.0 and later.
    Distributed Switch: 6.0.0 Compatible with ESXi 6.0 and later. Features released with later vSphere distributed switch versions are not supported.
    Distributed Switch: 5.5.0 Compatible with ESXi 5.5 and later. Features released with later vSphere distributed switch versions are not supported.
    Distributed Switch: 5.1.0 Compatible with VMware ESXi 5.1 and later. Features released with later vSphere distributed switch versions are not supported.
    Distributed Switch: 5.0.0 Compatible with VMware ESXi 5.0 and later.

    Features released with later vSphere distributed switch versions are not supported.

  5. On the Edit settings page, configure the distributed switch settings.
    1. Use the arrow buttons to select the Number of uplinks.
      Uplink ports connect the distributed switch to physical NICs on associated hosts. The number of uplink ports is the maximum number of allowed physical connections to the distributed switch per host.
    2. Use the drop-down menu to enable or disable Network I/O Control.
      By using Network I/O Control you can prioritize the access to network resources for certain types of infrastructure and workload traffic according to the requirements of your deployment. Network I/O Control continuously monitors the I/O load over the network and dynamically allocates available resources.
    3. Select the Create a default port group check box to create a new distributed port group with default settings for this switch.
    4. (Optional) To create a default distributed port group, type the port group name in the Port group name, or accept the generated name.
      If your system has custom port group requirements, create distributed port groups that meet those requirements after you add the distributed switch.
    5. Click Next.
  6. On the Ready to complete page, review the settings you selected and click Finish.
    Use the Back button to edit any settings.

Results

A distributed switch is created on the data center. You can view the features supported on the distributed switch as well as other details by navigating to the new distributed switch and clicking the Summary tab.

What to do next

Add hosts to the distributed switch and configure their network adapters on the switch.