Q: Does a NetScaler VPX appliance hosted on VMWare EsXi support Virtual Media Access Control (VMAC) address configuration?

A: Yes, a NetScaler VPX appliance hosted on a VMWare ESXi, supports VMAC configuration. To configure the VMAC addresses, enable the Promiscuous mode on the virtual switch. You can configure a virtual switch on the VMware ESXi appliance. You use a virtual switch to connect a NetScaler VPX appliance to the LAN. If the Promiscuous mode is not enabled, it is not possible to access the virtual IP, Mapped IP, and Subnet IP addresses of a NetScaler VPX appliance.

When you configure a VMAC address on a NetScaler VPX instance, the Media Access Control (MAC) address on the VPX Network Interface Controller (NIC) is modified. However, the Hypervisor or the virtual switch is not aware of the modified MAC address.

By default, the network adapter only receives frames that are meant for it or broadcast addresses. When you use a VMAC address, the virtual switch receives traffic destined to the VMAC address and not the MAC address of the device. Therefore, if you enable the Promiscuous mode on the virtual switch port, the NetScaler VPX instance receives the traffic, regardless of the MAC address. However, if you do not enable the Promiscuous mode, the packets are not transmitted to the VMAC address of the NetScaler VPX.

Note: You must enable the Promiscuous mode and Forged transmits for Link Aggregation and Link Aggregation Control Protocol, where the MAC address of the NIC on the NetScaler VPX appliance is modified.
 

More Information

For more information about configuring Promiscuous mode and VMAC configuration, refer to the following articles: