Configure RSPAN with VMware

1. Log in to the vSphere Web Client.
2. Click vCenter Inventory Lists.
   
   
3. In the left panel, click Distributed Switches.
   
   
4. Above the list of switches, click the Create a new distributed switch icon.
   
5. In the New Distributed Switch window, type a name for the switch, select the destination data center or network folder, and then click Next.
   
   
6. Select the distributed switch version and click Next.
   
   
7. Edit the following settings:
   
   
   1. Set the Number of uplinks to two or more if your SPAN traffic is on a dedicated NIC (recommended). Otherwise, set this value to 1.
   2. Click the Network I/O Control drop-down list and select one of the following options.

      Disabled

      If your SPAN traffic on a dedicated NIC. (Recommended)

      Enabled

      If your SPAN traffic is on the same NIC as your monitored traffic.

Complete the following steps to add port groups when you deploy a new virtual machine or add a new ESX host into your VDS environment. Port groups enable you to properly associate the new machine or host to the port group that is being monitored immediately.

1. Click on Networking.
   
   
2. Right-click the VDS and then select New Distributed Port Group.
   
   
3. In the New Distributed Port Group window, type a name for the port group and click Next.
   
   
4. Configure the following settings:
   
   
   1. Click the Port binding drop-down list and select Static binding.
   2. Click the Port allocation drop-down list and select Fixed.
   3. In the Number of ports field, type the number of ports you want to connect.
   4. Leave the default settings for the remaining items.
   5. Click Next.
5. Verify your settings and click Finish.
   The new port group appears on the Manage tab.
   
   
6. Repeat these steps for any additional port groups.

Complete the following steps to add a host to the VDS. Skip this procedure if all hosts have already been added to the cluster. We recommend that you dedicate one uplink for management and one uplink for spanning.

1. Click Networking.
   
   
2. Right-click the VDS and then select Add and Manage Hosts.
3. In the Add and Manage Hosts dialog box, click the Add Hosts radio button and click Next.
   
   
4. Click the plus icon to add a host.
   
   
5. In the list of available hosts, select the checkbox next to the host and click OK.
   
   
6. Select the host from the list and click Next.
7. Select the checkboxes next to the network adapters you want to add to the host and click Next.
8. Assign one of the NICs to the management port group.
   1. Select the network adapter from the list and click the Assign Port Group icon.
   2. In the Select Network pop-up window, select the port group to assign to the network adapter for management.
   3. Assign one NIC to the monitoring port group.
9. Select the network adapter from the list and click the Assign Port Group icon.
10. In the Select Network pop-up window, select the port group to assign to the network adapter for monitoring.
    
    
11. After you have assigned each adapter to a Destination Port Group (in the far right column), click Next.
    
    
12. On the Validate Changes screen, verify that the status has passed and click Next.
    
    
13. Select the Migrate Virtual Machine Networking checkbox.
    
    
14. Click the Assign Port Group icon and assign a network adapter for management and a network adapter for monitoring, and click Next.
15. Verify your settings and click Finish.
    
    
16. View the progress bar in the right panel and wait for the system to add the host.

    The following figure shows an example configuration.

    

Complete the following steps to add an uplink port to the VDS. You must assign one uplink port to the VDS for each associated host.

1. Browse to a host in the vSphere Web Client.
2. Click the Manage tab, and then select Networking > Virtual Switches.
   
   
3. From the list, select the distributed switch you want to add an uplink port to.
4. Click Manage the physical network adapters .
5. Click Add .
6. From the list, select a network adapter and then select the uplink port from the drop-down menu that you want to assign to the network adapter.
7. Click OK.

Complete the following steps to configure an RSPAN port mirror to view traffic on the VDS, to configure the local switch to view external traffic, and to configure the virtual Discover appliance to do a combination of both. The virtual Discover appliance can be deployed in environments with multiple ESX servers connected with a virtual distributed switch (VDS).

1. Click on Networking.
2. Select your VDS and ensure that the Settings tab is selected.
3. Click Port mirroring.
   
   
4. Click New....
5. In the Add Port Mirroring Session wizard, select Remote Mirroring Destination, and then click Next.
   
   
6. In the Name field, type a name to identify the port mirroring session.
7. From the Status drop-down, select Enabled.
8. Click Next.
   
   
9. Click the plus icon to add the source VLAN IDs that you want to monitor, and then click Next.
10. Specify the destination port where you want to send mirrored traffic. This port is the virtual port on the VDS that corresponds to the monitoring interface on your virtual Discover appliance.
11. Verify the summary information and then click Finish to add the port mirror.