vCenter Plug-in

Use this chapter to troubleshoot the vCenter Plug-in functionality.

This chapter includes the following topics:

vCenter Plug-in Overview

The Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch is a software based Layer 2 switch for the virtualized server environments that are running VMware ESX. The Cisco Nexus 1000V provides a consistent networking experience across the physical and the virtual environments. It consists of two components: the Virtual Ethernet Module (VEM), a software switch that is embedded in the hypervisor and a Virtual Supervisor Module (VSM) that manages the networking policies and the quality of service for the virtual machines.

With earlier releases of Cisco Nexus 1000V, the system administrators had no visibility into the networking aspects of the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch. Starting with Cisco NX-OS Release 4.2(1)SV2(1.1), the Cisco Nexus 1000V Plug-in for the VMware vCenter Server (vCenter Plug-in) is supported on the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch. It provides the server administrators a holistic view of the virtual network and a visibility into the networking aspects of the Cisco Nexus 1000V virtual switch.

Starting with Cisco NX-OS Release 4.2(1)SV2(1.1), the vCenter Plug-in is supported on the Funware vSphere Web Clients only. The VMware vSphere Web Client enables you to connect to a VMware vCenter Server system to manage a Cisco Nexus 1000V through a browser. The vCenter Plug-in is installed as a new tab called Cisco Nexus 1000v as part of the user interface in the vSphere Web client.

With the vCenter Plug-in, the server administrators can export the necessary networking details from the vCenter server, investigate the root cause of and prevent the networking issues, and deploy the virtual machines with the suitable policies. The server administrators can monitor and manage the resources effectively with the network details provided in the vCenter Plug-in.

Requirements for VMware vSphere Web Client

Refer to the following pre-requisites before configuring the vCenter Plug-in functionality on Cisco Nexus 1000V:

  • VMware vCenter Server 5.0 and/or higher.
  • VMware vCenter Web Client 5.1. The vCenter Plug-in does not work with the vSphere 5.0 Web Client.
  • The following browsers are supported for version 5.1 of the vSphere Web Client:

– Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, 8, and 9.

– Mozilla Firefox 3.6 and later.

– Google Chrome 14 and later.

  • The vSphere Web Client requires the Adobe Flash Player version 11.1.0 or later to be installed.
  • Make sure that Cisco Nexus 1000V Release 4.2(1)SV2(1.1) is installed and configured to a vCenter.

Generating a Log Bundle

You can collect the diagnostic information for VMware vCenter Server by collecting vSphere log files into a single location. Complete the following steps to generate the vSphere Web Client log bundles from a vCenter Server:

1. Log in to the Windows server where the VMware vCenter Server is installed.

2. Click Start > All Programs > VMware > Generate vSphere Web Client Log Bundle.

You can use this step to generate the vSphere Web Client log bundles even when you are not able to connect to the vCenter Server using the vSphere Client. The log bundle is generated as a.zip file. See VMware documentation Collect vSphere Log Files for more information on collecting the log files.

Note Currently the login to the vCenter Plug-in is available via the administrator account only.