Install a vSphere Distributed Virtual Switch in your data center

If you are using NSX Data Center for vSphere (NSX-V), then a distributed virtual switch (dvSwitch or vDS) is required.

This topic does not apply to NSX-T deployments.

A dvSwitch is not available with NSX-V vShield Endpoint or Standard. For these license types, you can use a standard vSwitch (vSS).

Follow these instructions to install a dvSwitch. For the most up-to-date instructions, see the VMware documentation.

  1. In vSphere Web Client, go to your data center in your networking inventory.
  2. Right-click on the data center. Select New vSphere Distributed Switch to display the New Distributed Switch wizard.
  3. Select Distributed Switch Version: 5.5 or later.
  4. Type a name for the distributed switch a name. Select the number of uplink ports. Click Next.
  5. Select Add now and select one or more physical network adapters. Click Next.
  6. Select Automatically create a default port group, confirm your settings, and click Finish.
  7. Group your ESXi servers into clusters, even if you only have one ESXi in one cluster. The ESXi servers must be connected to the vDS before they are moved into clusters.