6.5.1

Before you connect network-backed virtual serial ports, you must add one of the following firewall rule
sets to prevent the firewall from blocking communication:
n
VM serial port connected to vSPC. Use to connect the serial port output through a network with the
Use virtual serial port concentrator option enabled to allow only outgoing communication from the
host.
n
VM serial port connected over network. Use to connect the serial port output through a network
without the virtual serial port concentrator.
Important Do not change the allowed IP list for either rule set. Updates to the IP list can affect other
network services that might be blocked by the firewall.
For details about allowing access to an ESXi service through the firewall, see the vSphere Security
documentation.
Configure Virtual Machine Communication Interface Firewall
You can configure the virtual machine Communication Interface firewall (VMCI) to restrict virtual machines
accessing the hypervisor-based services and VMCI-based services.
You can restrict VMCI usage to a subset of VMCI-based services on each virtual machine. For example,
you can allow certain virtual machines to access VMCI services and deny access to others for security
reasons.
Currently, VMCI devices support guest to host communication. A virtual machine can communicate with
VMCI services through the following means:
n
ESXi hypervisor
n
Services installed on the host operating system in the form of a vmkernel module
n
Applications installed by a verified vSphere Installation Bundle
Change the Serial Port Configuration
You can connect the virtual serial port to a physical serial port or to a file on the host computer. You can
also use a host-side named pipe to set up a direct connection between two virtual machines or a
connection between a virtual machine and an application on the host computer. In addition, you can use a
port or vSPC URI to connect a serial port over the network. You can add up to 32 serial ports to a virtual
machine.
Virtual machines can be in a powered-on state during configuration.
Prerequisites
n
Check that you know the correct media types for the port to access, vSPC connections, and any
conditions that might apply. See Using Serial Ports with vSphere Virtual Machines.
n
To connect a serial port over a network, add a Firewall rule set. See Adding a Firewall Rule Set for
Serial Port Network Connections.
vSphere Virtual Machine Administration
VMware, Inc. 115