Configuring vSwitch or vNetwork Distributed Switch from the command line in ESX/ESXi 4.x

To restore the Service Console connection to the proper VMNIC connecting to the correct network subnet:

Note: In ESX 4.0 Update 2, a new command-line tool, console-setup, was included to simplify the process of creating or restoring networking in the ESX service console. For more information, see Configuring or restoring networking from the ESX service console using console-setup (1022078).

• Apply these commands to regular vSwitches:
  
  esxcfg-vswitch -U #unlink an uplink
  esxcfg-vswitch -L # add an uplink
  
  Note: Unlink and relinking from or to a distributed switch depending on the scenario.
  
  
• Apply these commands to vNetwork Distributed Switches:
  
  esxcfg-vswitch -Q -V #unlink a DVS uplink
  esxcfg-vswitch -P -V #add a DVS uplink
  
  
• To create the vswif and uplink it to the DVS port:
  
  esxcfg-vswif -a -i -n -V -P vswif0
  
  For example:
  
  esxcfg-vswif -a -i 192.168.76.1 -n 255.255.255.0 -V dvSwitch -P 8 vswif0

For ESXi 4.x commands, see the vSphere Command-Line Interface Installation and Scripting Guide.

Note: The command-line tool provides limited functionality when running the esxcfg-vswitch command with vNetwork Distributed Switch. For example, you cannot create a dvportgroup or assign VLAN IDs to dvportgroups using this command.