Managed Object - DistributedVirtualSwitch

Property of: DistributedVirtualSwitchInfo, DistributedVirtualSwitchManagerDvsProductSpec, DistributedVirtualSwitchManagerHostDvsMembershipFilter, DistributedVirtualSwitchManagerImportResult, DVPortgroupConfigInfo, DvsEventArgument
Parameter to: MergeDvs_Task, QueryCompatibleHostForExistingDvs, QueryDvsConfigTarget
Returned by: CreateDVS_Task, QueryDvsByUuid
Extended by: VmwareDistributedVirtualSwitch
Extends: ManagedEntity
See also: DistributedVirtualPort, DistributedVirtualPortgroup, DistributedVirtualSwitchPortCriteria, DistributedVirtualSwitchProductSpec, DVPortConfigSpec, DVPortgroupConfigSpec, DVSCapability, DVSConfigInfo, DVSConfigSpec, DVSHealthCheckConfig, DVSNetworkResourcePool, DVSNetworkResourcePoolConfigSpec, DVSRuntimeInfo, DVSSummary, EntityBackupConfig, HostSystem
Since: vSphere API 4.0

Managed Object Description

A DistributedVirtualSwitch managed object is a virtual network switch that is located on a vCenter Server. A distributed virtual switch manages configuration for proxy switches (HostProxySwitch). A proxy switch is located on an ESXi host that is managed by the vCenter Server and is a member of the switch. A distributed switch also provides virtual port state management so that port state is maintained when vCenter Server operations move a virtual machine from one host to another.

A proxy switch performs network I/O to support the following network traffic and operations:

Network traffic between virtual machines on any hosts that are members of the distributed virtual switch.
Network traffic between a virtual machine and a remote system on a physical network connected to the ESXi host.
vSphere system operations to support capabilities such as VMotion or High Availability.

A DistributedVirtualSwitch is the base distributed switch implementation. It supports a VMware distributed virtual switch implementation and it supports third party distributed switch implementations. The base implementation provides the following capabilities (DVSFeatureCapability):

NIC teaming
Network I/O control
Network resource allocation
Quality of service tag support
User-defined resource pools
I/O passthrough (VMDirectPath Gen2)

A VmwareDistributedVirtualSwitch supports the following additional capabilities (DVSFeatureCapability and VMwareDVSFeatureCapability):

Backup, restore, and rollback for a VMware distributed virtual switch and its associated portgroups.
Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) configuration.
Health check operations for NIC teaming and VLAN/MTU support.
Monitoring switch traffic using Internet Protocol Flow Information Export (IPFIX).
Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP).
Virtual network segmentation using a Private VLAN (PVLAN).
VLAN-based SPAN (VSPAN) for virtual distributed port mirroring.
Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) defined for uplink portgroups.

Distributed Virtual Switch Configuration

To use a distributed virtual switch, you create a switch and portgroups on a vCenter Server, and add hosts as members of the switch.

Create a distributed virtual switch (Folder.CreateDVS_Task). Use a DVSConfigSpec to create a switch for a third-party implementation. Use a VMwareDVSConfigSpec to create a VMware distributed virtual switch.

Create portgroups (CreateDVPortgroup_Task) for host and virtual machine network connections and for the connection between proxy switches and physical NICs. A DistributedVirtualPortgroup specifies how virtual ports (DistributedVirtualPort) will be used. When you create a distributed virtual switch, the vCenter Server automatically creates one uplink portgroup (config.uplinkPortgroup). Uplink portgroups are distributed virtual portgroups that support the connection between proxy switches and physical NICs.
Port creation on a distributed switch is determined by the portgroup type (DVPortgroupConfigSpec.type):
- If a portgroup is early binding (static), then DVPortgroupConfigSpec.numPorts determines the number of ports that get created when the portgroup is created. This number can be increased if DVPortgroupConfigSpec.autoExpand is true.
- If a portgroup is ephemeral (dynamic), then numPorts is ignored and ports are created as needed.
You can also specify standalone ports that are not associated with a port group and uplink ports that are created on ESXi hosts (DVSConfigSpec.numStandalonePorts).

The DVPortgroupConfigInfo.numPorts property is the total number of ports for a distributed virtual switch. This total includes the ports generated by the static and dynamic portgroups and the standalone ports.

If you have created additional uplink portgroups, use the ReconfigureDvs_Task method to add the portgroup(s) to the DVSConfigSpec.uplinkPortgroup array.

Retrieve physical NIC device names from the host (HostSystem.config.network.pnic[].device).

Add host member(s) to the distributed virtual switch. To configure host members:
- Specify hosts (DVSConfigSpec.host[]).
- For each host, specify one or more physical NIC device names to identify the pNIC(s) for the host proxy connection to the network (DistributedVirtualSwitchHostMemberConfigSpec.backing.pnicSpec[].pnicDevice)
- Use the DistributedVirtualSwitch.ReconfigureDvs_Task method to update the switch configuration.
When you add a host to a distributed virtual switch (DistributedVirtualSwitch.config.host), the host automatically creates a proxy switch. The proxy switch is removed automatically when the host is removed from the distributed virtual switch.

Connect hosts and virtual machines to the distributed virtual switch.

Host connection Specify port or portgroup connections in the host virtual NIC spec (HostVirtualNicSpec.distributedVirtualPort or HostVirtualNicSpec.portgroup).

Virtual machine connection Specify port or portgroup connections in the distributed virtual port backing (VirtualEthernetCardDistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo) for the virtual Ethernet cards on the virtual machine (VirtualEthernetCard.backing).

Backup, Rollback, and Query Operations

If you are using a VmwareDistributedVirtualSwitch, you can perform backup and rollback operations on the switch and its associated distributed virtual portgroups.

When you reconfigure a VMware distributed virtual switch (ReconfigureDvs_Task), the Server saves the current switch configuration before applying the configuration updates. The saved switch configuration includes portgroup configuration data. The Server uses the saved switch configuration as a checkpoint for rollback operations. You can rollback the switch or portgroup configuration to the saved configuration, or you can rollback to a backup configuration (EntityBackupConfig).

To backup the switch and portgroup configuration, use the DistributedVirtualSwitchManager.DVSManagerExportEntity_Task method. The export method produces a EntityBackupConfig object. The backup configuration contains the switch and/or portgroups specified in the SelectionSet parameter. To backup the complete configuration you must select the distributed virtual switch and all of its portgroups.

To rollback the switch configuration, use the DVSRollback_Task method to determine if the switch configuration has changed. If it has changed, use the ReconfigureDvs_Task method to complete the rollback operation.

To rollback the portgroup configuration, use the DistributedVirtualPortgroup.DVPortgroupRollback_Task method to determine if the portgroup configuration has changed. If it has changed, use the ReconfigureDVPortgroup_Task method to complete the rollback operation.

To perform query operations on a distributed virtual switch, use the DistributedVirtualSwitchManager methods.

Properties

Name	Type	Description
capability	DVSCapability	Capability of the switch. Capabilities are indicated at the port, portgroup and switch levels, and for version-specific features. When you retrieve this property from an ESXi host, capability.dvsOperationSupported should always be set to false.
config	DVSConfigInfo	Switch configuration data.
networkResourcePool*	DVSNetworkResourcePool[]	Network resource pool information for the switch. *Since* vSphere API 4.1
portgroup*	ManagedObjectReference[] to a DistributedVirtualPortgroup[]	Portgroups that are defined on the switch.
runtime*	DVSRuntimeInfo	Runtime information of the distributed virtual switch. *Since* vSphere API 5.1
summary	DVSSummary	Summary of the switch.
uuid	xsd:string	Generated UUID of the switch. Unique across vCenter Server inventory and instances.
Properties inherited from ManagedEntity
alarmActionsEnabled, configIssue, configStatus, customValue, declaredAlarmState, disabledMethod, effectiveRole, name, overallStatus, parent, permission, recentTask, tag, triggeredAlarmState
Properties inherited from ExtensibleManagedObject
availableField, value

*May not be present

Methods

Methods defined in this Managed Object
AddDVPortgroup_Task, AddNetworkResourcePool, CreateDVPortgroup_Task, DVSRollback_Task, EnableNetworkResourceManagement, FetchDVPortKeys, FetchDVPorts, LookupDvPortGroup, MergeDvs_Task, MoveDVPort_Task, PerformDvsProductSpecOperation_Task, QueryUsedVlanIdInDvs, ReconfigureDVPort_Task, ReconfigureDvs_Task, RectifyDvsHost_Task, RefreshDVPortState, RemoveNetworkResourcePool, UpdateDvsCapability, UpdateDVSHealthCheckConfig_Task, UpdateNetworkResourcePool
Methods inherited from ManagedEntity
Destroy_Task, Reload, Rename_Task
Methods inherited from ExtensibleManagedObject
setCustomValue

AddDVPortgroup_Task

Creates one or more DistributedVirtualPortgroups and adds them to the distributed virtual switch.

Required Privileges: DVPortgroup.Create

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
spec	DVPortgroupConfigSpec[]	The specification for the portgroup.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation. The method does not return a value in the Task.info.result property. Use the portgroup property to obtain managed object references to the new portgroups.

Faults

Type	Description
DuplicateName
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidName
NotSupported	Thrown if called directly on a host.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

AddNetworkResourcePool

Add a network resource pool.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.ResourceManagement
Since: vSphere API 5.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
configSpec	DVSNetworkResourcePoolConfigSpec[]	the network resource pool configuration specification.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidName
NotSupported	Thrown if network I/O control is not supported on the vSphere Distributed Switch.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AddNetworkResourcePool" type="vim25:AddNetworkResourcePoolRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="AddNetworkResourcePoolResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

CreateDVPortgroup_Task

Creates a single DistributedVirtualPortgroup and adds it to the distributed virtual switch.

Required Privileges: DVPortgroup.Create
Since: vSphere API 5.1

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
spec	DVPortgroupConfigSpec	The specification for the portgroup.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object. The Task.info.result property contains a managed object reference to the new portgroup. The portgroup property also contains the reference.

Faults

Type	Description
DuplicateName	Thrown if a portgroup with the same name already exists
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
InvalidName	Thrown if name of the portgroup is invalid
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

DVSRollback_Task

This method determines if the distributed virtual switch configuration has changed. If it has changed, the method returns a VMwareDVSConfigSpec. Use the ReconfigureDvs_Task method to apply the rollback configuration to the switch. You can use the rollback method only on a VmwareDistributedVirtualSwitch.

If you specify the entityBackup parameter, the returned configuration specification represents the exported switch configuration. If the entityBackup matches the current switch configuration, the method does not return a configuration specification.

If entityBackup is not specified, the returned configuration specification represents a previous state of the switch, if available. When you use a VMware distributed virtual switch, each time you reconfigure the switch, the Server saves the switch configuration before applying the updates. If the vCenter Server is restarted, the saved configuration is not preserved and the method does not return a configuration specification.

To use the rollback method, you must have the DVSwitch.Read privilege.

Required Privileges: Dynamic - See discussion above
Since: vSphere API 5.1

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
entityBackup*	EntityBackupConfig	Backup of a distributed virtual switch, returned by the DVSManagerExportEntity_Task method.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation. If the distributed virtual switch configuration has changed, the Task.info.result property contains the DVSConfigSpec object.

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails.
RollbackFailure	Thrown if there is no configuration specified in entityBackup and the previous configuration does not exist either.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

EnableNetworkResourceManagement

Enable/Disable network I/O control on the vSphere Distributed Switch.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.ResourceManagement
Since: vSphere API 4.1

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
enable	xsd:boolean	If true, enables I/O control. If false, disables network I/O control.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if the enabling/disabling fails.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
NotSupported	Thrown if network I/O control is not supported on the vSphere Distributed Switch.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="EnableNetworkResourceManagement" type="vim25:EnableNetworkResourceManagementRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="EnableNetworkResourceManagementResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

FetchDVPortKeys

Return the keys of ports that meet the criteria. On an ESXi host, the property shows only the connected ports currently on the host.

Required Privileges: System.Read

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
criteria*	DistributedVirtualSwitchPortCriteria	The port selection criteria. If unset, the operation returns the keys of all the ports in the switch.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
xsd:string[]

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="FetchDVPortKeys" type="vim25:FetchDVPortKeysRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="FetchDVPortKeysResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

FetchDVPorts

Return the ports that meet the criteria.

Required Privileges: System.Read

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
criteria*	DistributedVirtualSwitchPortCriteria	The port selection criteria. If unset, the operation returns the keys of all the ports in the portgroup.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
DistributedVirtualPort[]

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="FetchDVPorts" type="vim25:FetchDVPortsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="FetchDVPortsResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:DistributedVirtualPort" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

LookupDvPortGroup

Returns the portgroup identified by the key within this VDS.

Required Privileges: System.Read
Since: vSphere API 5.1

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
portgroupKey	xsd:string	The key that identifies a portgroup of this VDS.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a DistributedVirtualPortgroup

Faults

Type	Description
NotFound	Thrown if the portgroup for the specified key is not found.
NotSupported	Thrown if the operation is not supported.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LookupDvPortGroup" type="vim25:LookupDvPortGroupRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="LookupDvPortGroupResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="vim25:ManagedObjectReference" minOccurs="0"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

MergeDvs_Task

Merge an existing DistributedVirtualSwitch (source) to this switch (destination). The host members and the connected entity of the source switch will be transferred to the destination switch. This operation disconnects the entities from the source switch, tears down its host proxy switches, creates new proxies for the destination switch, and reconnects the entities to the destination switch.

In summary, this operation does the following:

Adds the config.maxPorts of the source switch to the maxPorts of the destination switch.
The host members of the source switch leave the source switch and join the destination switch with the same Physical NIC and VirtualSwitch (if applicable). A set of new uplink ports, compliant with the uplinkPortPolicy, is created as the hosts join the destination switch.
The portgroups on the source switch are copied over to destination switch, by calculating the effective default port config and creating a portgroup of the same name in the destination switch. If the name already exists, the copied portgroup uses names following a "Copy of switch-portgroup-name" scheme to avoid conflict. The same number of ports are created inside each copied portgroup.
The standalone distributed virtual ports are not copied, unless there is a virtual machine or host virtual NIC connecting to it. In that case, the operation calculates the effective port config and creates a port in the destination switch with the same name. Name conflict is resolved using numbers like "original-port-name(1)". The uplink ports are not copied over.
The virtual machine and host virtual NICs are disconnected from the source switch and reconnected with the destination switch, to the copied standalone port or portgroup.
If you are using a VmwareDistributedVirtualSwitch - Unless the PVLAN map contains exactly the same entries between the source and destination VMware distributed virtual switches, the method raises a fault if pvlanId is set in any port, portgroup, or switch that will be copied.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.Modify

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
dvs P	ManagedObjectReference to a DistributedVirtualSwitch	The switch (source) to be merged

P Required privilege: DVSwitch.Delete

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation.

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidHostState
NotFound
NotSupported	Thrown if called directly on a host.
ResourceInUse	Thrown if failed to delete the source switch
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

MoveDVPort_Task

Move the ports out of their current portgroup into the specified portgroup. If the moving of any of the ports results in a violation of the portgroup policy, or type of the source or destination portgroup, the operation raises a fault. A conflict port cannot be moved.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.Modify

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
portKey	xsd:string[]	The keys of the ports to be moved into the portgroup.
destinationPortgroupKey*	xsd:string	The key of the portgroup to be moved into. If unset, the port will be moved under the switch.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation.

Faults

Type	Description
ConcurrentAccess
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
NotFound
NotSupported	Thrown if called directly on a host.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

PerformDvsProductSpecOperation_Task

This method updates the DistributedVirtualSwitch product specifications.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.Modify

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
operation	xsd:string	The operation. See DistributedVirtualSwitchProductSpecOperationType for valid values. For VmwareDistributedVirtualSwitch, only upgrade is valid.
productSpec*	DistributedVirtualSwitchProductSpec	The product info of the implementation.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation.

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidState
NotSupported	Thrown if called directly on a host.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.
TaskInProgress

Events

Type
None

QueryUsedVlanIdInDvs

Return the used VLAN ID (PVLAN excluded) in the switch.

Required Privileges: System.Read

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.

Return Value

Type	Description
xsd:int[]

Faults

Type	Description
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryUsedVlanIdInDvs" type="vim25:QueryUsedVlanIdInDvsRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="QueryUsedVlanIdInDvsResponse">
            <complexType>
               <sequence>
                  <element name="returnval" type="xsd:int" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
               </sequence>
            </complexType>
         </element>

ReconfigureDVPort_Task

Reconfigure individual ports.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.PortConfig

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
port	DVPortConfigSpec[]	The specification of the ports.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation.

Faults

Type	Description
ConcurrentAccess
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidArgument	Thrown if the array have different elements for the same port.
NotFound
NotSupported	Thrown if called directly on a host or if the switch implementation doesn't support this API or if the spec includes settings for any vSphere Distributed Switch feature that is not supported on this switch.
ResourceInUse
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

ReconfigureDvs_Task

Reconfigures a distributed virtual switch. You can use this method to set switch properties or to reset the switch to a previous state.

Reconfiguring a Standard Distributed Virtual Switch

To reconfigure a DistributedVirtualSwitch, use a DVSConfigSpec to set the switch properties.

Reconfiguring a VMware Distributed Virtual Switch

If you use a VmwareDistributedVirtualSwitch, you can perform the following switch reconfiguration:

Use a VMwareDVSConfigSpec to set the switch properties.

Use the VMwareDVSConfigSpec returned by DVSRollback_Task to reset the switch to a previous state.

Reconfiguring the switch may require any of the following privileges, depending on what is being changed:

DVSwitch.PolicyOp if policy is set.
DVSwitch.PortSetting if defaultPortConfig is set.
DVSwitch.HostOp if policy is set. The user will also need the Host.Config.Network privilege on the host.
DVSwitch.Vspan if vspanConfigSpec is set.
DVSwitch.Modify for anything else.

Required Privileges: Dynamic - See discussion above

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
spec	DVSConfigSpec	The configuration of the switch

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation.

Faults

Type	Description
AlreadyExists
ConcurrentAccess
DuplicateName
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidArgument	Thrown if any of the hosts being added lack support for any of the overlay classes of the switch's overlay instances.
InvalidName
InvalidState
LimitExceeded
NotFound
NotSupported	Thrown if called directly on a host or if the spec includes settings for any vNetwork Distributed Switch feature that is not supported on this switch.
ResourceInUse
ResourceNotAvailable	Thrown if there is no port available in the portgroup
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.
VspanDestPortConflict	Thrown if a dvPort is used as desination ports in multiple Distributed Port Mirroring sessions.
VspanPortConflict	Thrown if dvPort is used as both the transmitted source and destination ports in Distributed Port Mirroring sessions.
VspanPromiscuousPortNotSupported	Thrown if a promiscuous port is used as transmitted source or destination in the Distributed Port Mirroring sessions.
VspanSameSessionPortConflict	Thrown if a dvPort is used as both the source and destination in the same Distributed Port Mirroring session.

Events

Type
None

RectifyDvsHost_Task

Deprecated. as of vSphere API 5.0. Use DistributedVirtualSwitchManager.RectifyDvsOnHost_Task instead.

Update the switch configuration on the host to bring them in sync with the current configuration in vCenter Server.

Required Privileges: System.Read

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
hosts*	ManagedObjectReference[] to a HostSystem[]	The hosts to be rectified.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
NotFound
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

RefreshDVPortState

Refresh port states.

Required Privileges: System.Read

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
portKeys*	xsd:string[]	The keys of the ports to be refreshed. If not specified, all port states are refreshed.

*Need not be set

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
NotFound
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RefreshDVPortState" type="vim25:RefreshDVPortStateRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RefreshDVPortStateResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

RemoveNetworkResourcePool

Remove a network resource pool.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.ResourceManagement
Since: vSphere API 5.0

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
key	xsd:string[]	The network resource pool key.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidName	Thrown if the name of the resource pool is invalid.
NotFound	Thrown if the resource pool does not exist on the dvs.
NotSupported	Thrown if network I/O control is not supported on the vSphere Distributed Switch.
ResourceInUse	Thrown if network resource pool is associated with a network entity
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveNetworkResourcePool" type="vim25:RemoveNetworkResourcePoolRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="RemoveNetworkResourcePoolResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

UpdateDvsCapability

Set the capability of the switch.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.Modify

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
capability	DVSCapability	The capability of the switch.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
NotSupported	Thrown if called directly on a host or if the switch implementation doesn't support this API.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateDvsCapability" type="vim25:UpdateDvsCapabilityRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateDvsCapabilityResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

UpdateDVSHealthCheckConfig_Task

Update health check configuration.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.Modify
Since: vSphere API 5.1

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
healthCheckConfig	DVSHealthCheckConfig[]	The health check configuration.

Return Value

Type	Description
ManagedObjectReference to a Task	Returns a Task object with which to monitor the operation.

Faults

Type	Description
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
NotSupported	Thrown if health check is not supported on the switch.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

UpdateNetworkResourcePool

Update the network resource pool configuration.

Required Privileges: DVSwitch.ResourceManagement
Since: vSphere API 4.1

Parameters

Name	Type	Description
_this	ManagedObjectReference	A reference to the DistributedVirtualSwitch used to make the method call.
configSpec	DVSNetworkResourcePoolConfigSpec[]	The network resource pool configuration specification.

Return Value

Type	Description
None

Faults

Type	Description
ConcurrentAccess	Thrown if a network resource pool is modified by two or more clients at the same time.
DvsFault	Thrown if operation fails on any host or if there are other update failures.
DvsNotAuthorized	Thrown if login-session's extension key does not match the switch's configured extensionKey.
InvalidName	Thrown if the name of the resource pool is invalid.
NotFound	Thrown if the resource pool does not exist on the dvs.
NotSupported	Thrown if network I/O control is not supported on the vSphere Distributed Switch.
RuntimeFault	Thrown if any type of runtime fault is thrown that is not covered by the other faults; for example, a communication error.

Events

Type
None

Show WSDL type definition

         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateNetworkResourcePool" type="vim25:UpdateNetworkResourcePoolRequestType"/>
         <element xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:vim25="urn:vim25" name="UpdateNetworkResourcePoolResponse">
            <complexType/>
         </element>

Host connection	Specify port or portgroup connections in the host virtual NIC spec (HostVirtualNicSpec.distributedVirtualPort or HostVirtualNicSpec.portgroup).
Virtual machine connection	Specify port or portgroup connections in the distributed virtual port backing (VirtualEthernetCardDistributedVirtualPortBackingInfo) for the virtual Ethernet cards on the virtual machine (VirtualEthernetCard.backing).