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VMware NSX for vSphere to NSX-T Migration – End-to-End User Defined Topology

Reading Time: 12 minutes

Article Updated: 20th July 2023

In my previous post, I covered the end-to-end migration of VMware NSX for vSphere to NSX-T Data Center (VMware NSX from v4.0.0.1) via the Fixed Topology Option, however, in real life I don’t see this option utilised very often due to the limited number of supported topologies.

How then can we achieve the same in-place, end-to-end migration of unsupported topologies? This is where the User Defined Topology option comes into play, and it offers much greater flexibility by enabling customers to define/map their own logical routing topologies. This, of course, will require a design and, like the message I tried to impart in my previous post, this must be planned ahead of your proposed change/maintenance/migration window.

Continue reading → VMware NSX for vSphere to NSX-T Migration – End-to-End User Defined Topology

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VMware NSX for vSphere to NSX-T Migration – End-to-End Fixed Topology

Reading Time: 9 minutes

In a previous post, we discussed the value of pre-migration validation checks, identifying whether a customer environment is aligned to the supported fixed topologies and the process of creating and viewing the JSON output following the successful import of NSX for vSphere configuration.

In this post, we continue on the same theme and will use the NSX-T (VMware NSX from v4.0.0.1) Migration Coordinator to migrate an NSX for vSphere environment, end-to-end, to NSX-T via the Fixed Topology option.

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VMware NSX-T Migration Coordinator Report Export for Fixed Topology Migration

Reading Time: 4 minutes

With VMware NSX for vSphere (NSX-V) having gone end of general support on January 16th 2022, there are numerous customers now busily working on migrating to VMware NSX-T Data Center (VMware NSX as of v4.0.0.1).

In future posts, I will detail the end-to-end migration process for both Fixed and User Defined Topologies utilising the NSX-T Migration Coordinator, however, before we jump in, let us look at a rather handy report which is often helpful in validating customer readiness and environmental health for those looking to migrate via the Fixed Topology option.

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North East England VMUG – 26th September 2019

Reading Time: 4 minutes

That didn’t disappoint! I’ve wanted to visit the North East England VMUG for sometime, so being asked to present at the user group made it all the more special. As I sit here in Newcastle International Airport waiting for my flight home, I thought I’d summarise the event for those who’ve never been to a VMUG event, are thinking of doing so in the future, or are thinking of speaking at a local VMUG.

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North East England VMUG – 26th September 2019

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The next North East England VMUG will be taking place on Thursday 26th September at the Royal Station Hotel, Newcastle, and I’m excited to be presenting alongside so many fantastic individuals from throughout the vCommunity.

My session will be covering VMware NSX Data Centre for vSphere (NSX-V) and, more specifically, a real world look at micro-segmentation and the implementation of a zero-trust environment. NSX makes this fairly easy thanks to a number of built-in tools, and we’ll explore how we can use the NSX Application Rule Manager to visualise application dependencies in order to start fleshing-out our Distributed Firewall rules.

Continue reading → North East England VMUG – 26th September 2019

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VMware NSX Data Center for vSphere (NSX-V) – Dynamic Routing via OSPF

Reading Time: 8 minutes

VMware NSX Data Center for vSphere (NSX-V) has been able to leverage dynamic routing via Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) for some time and, in this article, I detail the process of configuring OSPF on both an Edge Services Gateway (ESG) and a downstream Distributed Logical Router (DLR).

OSPF, a Link State Protocol and member of the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) family (which also includes Routing Information Protocol (RIP), Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS), and Enhanced Internal Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP)), enables all participating routers to dynamically exchange network topology information to calculate the best shortest path (cost) of a route’s destination.

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VMware NSX-T Data Center Migration – Part 2 – NSX for vSphere (NSX-V) Preliminary Checks

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Welcome to the second article in the series detailing a migration of VMware NSX Data Center for vSphere (NSX-V) to NSX-T Data Center. In this article I focus on the preliminary checks to ensure the NSX-V environment is fit for migration.

In part 1 (VMware NSX-T Data Center Migration – Part 1 – Deploy Manager Appliance) I covered the process of deploying the NSX -T Data Center Manager Appliance, as well as a number of prerequisite tasks required to prepare the new NSX-T environment for the eventual migration (coming in part 3).

In this article I detail a number of preliminary checks within the NSX-V environment (including ESXi hosts, vSphere Distributed Switches, VXLAN configuration, VTEP, NSX Controllers, Edge Services Gateways, etc.) to ensure all is well prior to the migration process itself. Where any issues are identified, these must be resolved prior to the migration process.

Continue reading → VMware NSX-T Data Center Migration – Part 2 – NSX for vSphere (NSX-V) Preliminary Checks

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VMware NSX-T Data Center Migration – Part 1 – Deploy Manager Appliance

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Welcome to the first in a new series of articles detailing the migration process of VMware NSX Data Center for vSphere to NSX-T Data Center. The migration to NSX-T will be split into three steps:

  • Part 1 (this article) – Deploy NSX -T Data Center Manager Appliance, and prepare this new NSX-T environment for the migration of NSX Data Center for vSphere by adding a Compute Manager, and creating an IP Pool for Edge Tunnel End Points (TEPs).
  • Part 2 – Prepare NSX Data Center for vSphere for migration to NSX-T, including ESXi host, vSphere Distributed Switch, and NSX-V pre-flight checks (VXLAN, VTEP, Controllers, Edge Services Gateways).
  • Part 3 – Migrate NSX Data Center for vSphere to NSX-T Data Center.

Note – In this article, the process of deploying the VMware NSX-T Data Center Manager Appliance can be considered the same as whether you are a) deploying into a greenfield environment void of any NSX, or b) migrating NSX Data Center for vSphere to NSX-T.

Continue reading → VMware NSX-T Data Center Migration – Part 1 – Deploy Manager Appliance

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Networking and Security Extension Missing After VMware NSX Upgrade

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Following a recent upgrade of VMware NSX Data Centre for vSphere from 6.4.1 to 6.4.4, the option to access NSX’s Networking and Security extension from within the vSphere Client (HTML 5) had simply disappeared. This left me scratching my head a little, more so as I’ve completed this upgrade (what seems) a million times.

Scenario-wise, I had completed the initial NSX Manager upgrade, but after logging in to the vSphere Client, I noted the Networking and Security extension failed to display.

Networking and Security Extension Missing After VMware NSX Upgrade

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