6.0

Enable Cisco Discovery Protocol on a vSphere Distributed Switch
Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) allows vSphere administrators to determine which Cisco switch port
connects to a given vSphere standard switch or vSphere distributed switch. When CDP is enabled for a
particular vSphere distributed switch, you can view properties of the Cisco switch (such as device ID,
software version, and timeout) from the vSphere Client.
Prerequisites
Launch the vSphere Client and log in to a vCenter Server system.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vSphere Client and select the Networking inventory view.
2 Right-click the vSphere distributed switch in the inventory pane, and select Edit Settings.
3 On the Properties tab, select Advanced.
4 Select Enabled from the Status drop-down menu.
5 Select Cisco Discovery Protocol from the Type drop-down menu.
6 Select the CDP mode from the Operation drop-down menu.
Option Description
Listen
ESXi detects and displays information about the associated Cisco switch
port, but information about the vSphere distributed switch is not available
to the Cisco switch administrator.
Advertise
ESXi makes information about the vSphere distributed switch available to
the Cisco switch administrator, but does not detect and display
information about the Cisco switch.
Both
ESXi detects and displays information about the associated Cisco switch
and makes information about the vSphere distributed switch available to
the Cisco switch administrator.
7 Click OK.
Enable Link Layer Discovery Protocol on a vSphere Distributed Switch
With Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP), vSphere administrators can determine which physical switch
port connects to a given vSphere distributed switch. When LLDP is enabled for a particular distributed
switch, you can view properties of the physical switch (such as chassis ID, system name and description,
and device capabilities) from the vSphere Client.
LLDP is available only on vSphere distributed switch version 5.0.0 and later.
Prerequisites
Launch the vSphere Client and log in to a vCenter Server system.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vSphere Client and select the Networking inventory view.
2 Right-click the vSphere distributed switch in the inventory pane, and select Edit Settings.
3 On the Properties tab, select Advanced.
4 Select Enabled from the Status drop-down menu.
5 Select Link Layer Discovery Protocol from the Type drop-down menu.
vSphere Administration with the vSphere Client
294 VMware, Inc.