Configure the Management Network of the vCenter Server Appliance

The vCenter Server Appliance can obtain networking settings from a DHCP server, or use static IP addresses. You can change the networking settings of the vCenter Server Appliance from the Direct Console User Interface. You can change the IPv4, IPv6, and DNS configuration.

Prerequisites

To change the IP address of the appliance, verify that the system name of the appliance is an FQDN. If, during the deployment of the appliance, you set an IP address as a system name, you cannot change the IP address after the deployment. The system name is always used as a primary network identifier.

Procedure

1. Log in to the Direct Console User Interface of the vCenter Server Appliance.
2. Select Configure Management Network and press Enter.
3. Change the IPv4 settings from IP Configuration.

   Option	Description
   Use dynamic IP address and network configuration	Obtains networking settings from a DHCP server if one is available on your network
   Set static IP address and network configuration	Sets static networking configuration

4. Change the IPv6 settings from IPv6 Configuration.

   Option	Description
   Enable IPv6	Enables or disables IPv6 on the appliance
   Use DHCP stateful configuration	Uses a DHCP server to obtain IPv6 addresses and networking settings
   Use ICMP stateless configuration	Uses a Stateless Address Autoconfiguration (SLAAC) to obtain IPv6 addresses and network settings

5. Change the DNS settings from DNS Configuration.

   Option	Description
   Obtain DNS server address and hostname automatically	Obtains the DNS server address and host name automatically. Use this option if the IP settings of the appliance are obtained automatically from a DHCP server.
   Use the following DNS server address and hostname	Sets the static IP address and host name for the DNS server.

6. Set custom DNS suffixes from Custom DNS Suffixes.
   If you do not specify any suffixes, a default suffix list is derived from the local domain name.
7. Press Esc until you return to the main menu of the Direct Console User Interface.