Not getting WAN IP (DHCP) in ESXi

[seraph9]

Hey everyone,

Hopefully someone has run into this before. I'm using a pfSense virtual appliance (2.1.5) on ESXi 5.5 to try and put in line with my cable modem and frontend all the traffic. I've got DHCP set up on the WAN side, and I don't seem to be getting an address. I've rebooted/defaulted the modem a few times, also called Armstrong (my provider) who said there isn't anything cached.

Topology looks like this:

Cable modem –> Cat2960 (access vlan 666, both cable modem & host vmnic) -> ESXi host -> pfSense virtual guest on an untagged, dedicated port-group/vSwitch for vlan 666.

I notice if I plug my laptop into a port on VLAN 666 and try to grab an address after defaulting the modem, it works just fine. I cannot, however, do the same for my pfSense guest on ESXi and I am not sure why. vSwitch config is attached, along with the MAC being learned on the 2960, etc...

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[seraph9]

Just a follow-up… I fixed it by plugging the cable modem right into the ESXi host vmnic, as opposed to plugging both cable modem & ESXi host in to switch ports in the same VLAN off the 2960. CDP/LLDP/keepalives were off, so not sure what caused it, but it's resolved.