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VMware NSX & vCenter Setup

Forward supports collecting configuration and state from VMware environments using vCenter and NSX-T. These sources enable modeling of virtual networking, compute, and security constructs within the Forward topology.

This page describes how to add and manage VMware sources in Forward.

Before you begin​

Ensure the following prerequisites are met:

  • Network connectivity exists between the Forward Collector and VMware management endpoints.
  • Credentials with sufficient privileges are available:
    • vCenter credentials with read access
    • NSX-T credentials with access to inventory and configuration APIs
  • The VMware environment is reachable over HTTPS from the Collector.

Where VM platforms are configured​

VMware sources are configured from the Sources page under the VM platforms category.

Navigation path:
Sources → VM platforms

All VMware-related sources (vCenter and NSX-T) are managed from this category.

Order of adding VM platform sources​

VMware sources can be added in any order. Forward automatically correlates vCenter and NSX-T data once both sources are present.

However, in environments using NSX-T, it is often helpful to add the NSX-T Manager first.

When an NSX-T Manager is added and collected, Forward retrieves information about associated vCenter instances. These vCenters are then surfaced in the VM platforms -> NSX-T sources category, and can be added directly as vCenter sources. This flow helps establish clear semantic relationships between NSX-T managers and their corresponding vCenters.

Adding vCenter first is also supported. If vCenter and NSX-T are added independently or in reverse order, Forward still detects their relationship during collection and associates them automatically when shared references are discovered in the collected data.

No manual linking between vCenter and NSX-T sources is required regardless of the order in which they are added.

Adding a vCenter source​

A vCenter source represents a VMware vCenter Server and provides visibility into clusters, hosts, virtual machines, and virtual networking.

Procedure​

  1. Open Sources → VM platforms.
  2. Select Add source.
  3. Choose vCenter as the source type.
  4. Enter the vCenter connection details:
    • Hostname or IP address
    • HTTPS port (default 443 unless customized)
  5. Select or add credentials with vCenter access.
  6. Save the source.

If an NSX-T Manager has already been added, available vCenters discovered from NSX-T data may be presented as candidates for adding a vCenter source.

tip

VMware ESX hosts are automatically discovered by connecting to VMware vCenter servers via APIs. Adding ESX servers manually is not supported.

During vCenter setup, ESX host collection can optionally be enabled per host. ESX collection is optional (without it, ESX MAC/ARP tables are not available), but it is required for VMware NSX modeling because the next-hop MAC address is needed to model L3 traffic leaving the ESX host.

Adding an NSX-T source​

An NSX-T source provides visibility into logical networking, security policies, and distributed services.

NSX-T sources are configured independently of vCenter sources.

Procedure​

  1. Open Sources → VM platforms.
  2. Select Add source.
  3. Choose NSX-T as the source type.
  4. Enter NSX-T Manager connection details:
    • Hostname or IP address
    • HTTPS port
  5. Select or add NSX-T credentials.
  6. Save the source.

Summary​

  • vCenter and NSX-T sources are configured as separate sources.
  • When both vCenter and NSX-T sources are present, Forward correlates data collected from each system to build a unified model of the VMware environment. Association is based on references discovered during collection and does not depend on the order in which the sources were added.
  • No explicit linking between vCenter and NSX-T sources is required during configuration.

Managing VM platforms​

Once added, VMware sources appear in the VM platforms category list.

From this view:

  • Collection can be enabled or disabled
  • Source settings can be edited
  • Connectivity tests can be run
  • Authentication and connection errors can be reviewed

All management actions apply only to the selected VMware source.

Connectivity testing​

Connectivity tests validate reachability and authentication to vCenter and NSX-T managers.

To run a test:

  1. Open Sources → VM platforms.
  2. Select one or more VMware sources.
  3. Use Test connectivity.

Refer to Connectivity Test for details on test behavior and troubleshooting.