Set Up a VMkernel Adapter for vSphere Replication Traffic on a Source Host

You create VMkernel adapters to isolate the outgoing replication traffic on source ESXi hosts.

Note: To ensure the best possible results, use one VMkernel adapter for one traffic type.

Perform this procedure for every ESXi host that is used as a replication source, and for which you want to isolate the replication traffic.

Prerequisites

• Verify that the vSphere Replication virtual appliance is deployed and registered with the vCenter Server.
• For distributed network switches, verify that you have a port group that you can dedicate to the new VMkernel adapter.

Procedure

1. In the vSphere Client, navigate to the ESXi host.
2. Click the Configure tab and under Networking, select VMkernel adapters.
3. Click the Add networking icon .
   The Add Networking wizard opens.
4. On the Select connection type page, select VMkernel Network Adapter and click Next.
5. On the Select target device page, select a port group or a standard switch and click Next.
6. On the Port properties page, under VMkernel port settings, configure the IP settings and TCP/IP stack to comply with your environment.
   Note: vSphere Replication requires that all components in your environment, such as vCenter Server, ESXi hosts, and the vSphere Replication appliance use the same IP version, IPv4 or IPv6.
7. Under Available services, select vSphere Replication and click Next.
8. Apply the IP settings, click Next, and Finish to complete the wizard.

Results

The VMkernel adapter that you created for outgoing vSphere Replication traffic appears in the list of adapters. The outgoing replication data from the ESXi host is sent to the vSphere Replication server through this adapter.

What to do next

You can add a vNIC to the vSphere Replication appliance and use the VRMS Appliance Management Interface to configure an IP address to use for incoming replication data.