One of the main configuration tasks in enabling Fault Tolerance functionality is to enable FT logging. Using the vSphere client, this is the same process as enabling vMotion. There are a few requirements in that the FT logging network/vlan should not be shared with any other traffic, and should be given dedicated NICs where possible to guarantee the bandwidth required.
I’ll walk through setting up FT logging, both using the vSphere client and using the CLI.
Configuring FT Logging Using the vSphere Client
Start by navigating to the host’s Configuration tab, then Networking. Click ‘Add Networking…’:
Select ‘VMKernel’ as the connection type. Click Next. On the next screen, in this example, I will create a new virtual switch and add two NICs to it:
On the next screen, select ‘Use this port group for Fault Tolerance logging’ and give the port group a name:
Next, specify an IP address for the host to use for FT logging:
Click next. On the summary screen, click Finish. Fault Tolerance logging is now configured for this host. The same steps will need to be completed for the other hosts in the cluster.
Configuring FT Logging Using the CLI
I’ll go over the same steps as above, this time using the CLI only. First of all, create the vSwitch:
~ # esxcli network vswitch standard add -v vSwitch1
Next, we’ll create the portgroup:
~ # esxcli network vswitch standard portgroup add -p FaultTolerance -v vSwitch1
Next step is the create the VMkernel interface to be used for FT logging:
~ # esxcli network ip interface add -i vmk1 -p FaultTolerance
Then give it an IP address:
~ # esxcli network ip interface ipv4 set -i vmk1 -I 10.10.20.1 -N 255.255.255.0 -t static
Next add the NICs to the vSwitch:
~ # esxcli network vswitch standard uplink add -u vmnic4 -v vSwitch1 ~ # esxcli network vswitch standard uplink add -u vmnic5 -v vSwitch1
Then make the NICs active:
~ # esxcli network vswitch standard policy failover set -a vmnic4,vmnic5 -v vSwitch1
There is one step remaining, which is to enable FT tagging. Unfortunately, ESXCLI doesn’t have this capability on 5.0 but it is possible when using 5.1, using the tag namespace, which is discussed here.