To get VMotion working the networking setup plays a big part, any of the following could cause you big issues:

  • A spelling mistake in a PortGroup name
  • A missing PortGroup
  • A PortGroup configured incorrectly
  • A non-existing PortGroup on one of your hosts
  • etc

This is why automation and PowerCLI is key to the setup of your vSwitches and PortGroup’s, you could add each vSwitch manually and then create a PortGroup for each VLAN you have trunked to your hosts manually but what are the chances you will miss one, what are the chances you will get the VLAN ID incorrect ?  And you sure do get bored of the wizard when you have 4 vSwitches and around 20 PortGroups !

The following code will take you through copying all vSwitches and PortGroups from an existing ESX server over to a new server, ensuring they are exactly the same.  It sure does save me time !

$VISRV = Connect-VIServer (Read-Host "Please enter the name of your VI SERVER")
$BASEHost = Get-VMHost -Name (Read-Host "Please enter the name of your existing server as seen in the VI Client:")
$NEWHost = Get-VMHost -Name (Read-Host "Please enter the name of the server to configure as seen in the VI Client:")

$BASEHost |Get-VirtualSwitch |Foreach {
   If (($NEWHost |Get-VirtualSwitch -Name $_.Name-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)-eq $null){
       Write-Host "Creating Virtual Switch $($_.Name)"
       $NewSwitch = $NEWHost |New-VirtualSwitch -Name $_.Name-NumPorts $_.NumPorts-Mtu $_.Mtu
       $vSwitch = $_
    }
   $_ |Get-VirtualPortGroup |Foreach {
       If (($NEWHost |Get-VirtualPortGroup -Name $_.Name-ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)-eq $null){
           Write-Host "Creating Portgroup $($_.Name)"
           $NewPortGroup = $NEWHost |Get-VirtualSwitch -Name $vSwitch |New-VirtualPortGroup -Name $_.Name-VLanId $_.VLanID
        }
    }
}