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Configure external network traffic with the VMware vSphere Distributed Switch using RSPAN to allow Virtual Network Sensor to monitor data.

Important
Important
The following instructions are valid as of July 2023.
Note
Note
You must use a vCenter administrator account.

Procedure

  1. Turn off your Virtual Network Sensor.
  2. On the VMware vCenter console, click the circle_icon=GUID-20230729150101.png tab.
  3. Right-click the name of your data center, and go to Distributed Switch → New Distributed Switch....
    External_VDS_RSPAN1=GUID-20230729143231.png
  4. On the Name and location screen, specify the distributed switch name and location and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN2=GUID-20230729143232.png
  5. On the Select version screen, select your distributed switch version and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN3=GUID-20230729143233.png
  6. On the Configure settings screen, specify the number of uplinks and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN4=GUID-20230729143234.png
  7. On the Ready to complete screen, review the settings and click FINISH.
    External_VDS_RSPAN5=GUID-20230729143235.png
  8. Right-click the name of your switch and select Add and Manage Hosts....
    External_VDS_RSPAN6=GUID-20230729143236.png
  9. On the Select task screen, select Add hosts and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN7=GUID-20230729143237.png
  10. On the Select hosts screen, select your virtual machine and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN8=GUID-20230729143238.png
  11. On the Manage physical adapters screen, right-click the name of your NIC and select Uplink 1.
    External_VDS_RSPAN9=GUID-20230729143239.png
  12. Click NEXT.
  13. On the Manage VMkernel adapters screen, click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN10=GUID-20230729143210.png
  14. On the Migrate VM networking screen, click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN11=GUID-20230729143211.png
  15. On the Ready to complete screen, click FINISH.
    External_VDS_RSPAN12=GUID-20230729143212.png
  16. Click the name of your switch and click Networks.
    External_VDS_RSPAN13=GUID-20230729143213.png
  17. Right-click the name of your port group and select Edit Settings....
  18. Click VLAN, select VLAN trunking for VLAN type, and click OK.
    External_VDS_RSPAN14=GUID-20230729143214.png
  19. Click the VMware_vCenter_server_icon=GUID-20230329175050.png tab and then click the name of your virtual appliance.
    External_VDS_RSPAN15=GUID-20230729143215.png
  20. Click edit_settings_icon=GUID-20230729150707.png.
  21. On the Edit Settings screen, click Network adapter 2 and select Browse....
    External_VDS_RSPAN16=GUID-20230729143216.png
  22. Click the name of your port group and click OK.
    External_VDS_RSPAN17=GUID-20230729143217.png
  23. Click OK.
  24. Click the circle_icon=GUID-20230729150101.png tab and then click the name of your switch.
    External_VDS_RSPAN18=GUID-20230729143218.png
  25. Click Configure, click Port Mirroring, and click NEW....
  26. On the Select session type screen, select Remote Mirroring Destination and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN19=GUID-20230729143219.png
  27. On the Edit properties screen, select Enabled for the status and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN20=GUID-20230729143220.png
  28. On the Select sources screen, click ADD and type the VLAN ID you specified in your RSPAN settings.
    External_VDS_RSPAN21=GUID-20230729143221.png
  29. On the Select destinations screen, select the port where the mirrored traffic is sent to and click NEXT.
    External_VDS_RSPAN22=GUID-20230729143222.png
  30. On the Ready to complete screen, review the settings and click FINISH.
  31. Turn on your Virtual Network Sensor.
    After configuring your network settings, access the Virtual Network Sensor console and use the command show traffic to verify the Virtual Network Sensor is receiving traffic. For more information about troubleshooting, see Virtual Network Sensor FAQ and Virtual Network Sensor CLI commands.