esxi Displaying the ARP and Neighbor Discovery cache for VMkernel network interfaces

To review the ARP and ND cache for the VMkernel network interfaces on an ESX or ESXi host, use the local or remote esxcli command. This command is available at the local console of the ESX/ESXi host, and usable remotely from the vSphere Command Line Interface (vCLI) or from the vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) appliance. For installation and/or usage instruction, see the relevant documentation.

1. Open a console session to the location where the esxcli command is available.
   • Open a console to the ESX or ESXi host. For more information, see Unable to connect to an ESX host using Secure Shell (SSH) (1003807) or Using Tech Support Mode in ESXi 4.1 and 5.0 (1017910).
   • Install the vSphere Command-Line Interface command set, and open a console session where it was installed. For more information, see the vSphere Command Line Interface (vCLI) documentation.
   • Deploy the vSphere Management Assistant appliance, and open the console. For more information, see thevSphere Management Assistant (vMA) documentation.
2. Display the list of known network neighbors in the ARP and ND cache for all VMkernel network interfaces using one of the commands:
   • On ESXi 4.1:
     
     esxcli [--server hostname --username root --password rootpassword] network neighbor list
      
   • On ESXi 5.0:
     
     esxcli [--server hostname --username root --password rootpassword] network ip neighbor list
      
   Note: If running locally on the ESX/ESXi host console, no server hostname or authentication is required for the esxclicommand.
   
   The output appears similar to:
   
   Neighbor     Mac Address       vmknic Expiry(sec)
--------     -----------       ------ -----------
10.5.6.7     00:50:56:9a:00:7a vmk0   1200
10.5.6.8     00:50:56:9a:00:57 vmk0   1197
10.5.6.9     00:50:56:9a:00:3e vmk0   277
10.200.1.10  00:50:56:9a:01:09 vmk1   979