Port access requirements for VMware HCX
VMware® HCX™ must traverse the public internet and private lines, and connect to data center components, such as networks, switches, and port groups.
The following table lists ports that must be opened so that Hybrid Cloud Services virtual appliances can install successfully. Both the vSphere environment and the IBM Cloud® environment must allow Network Time Protocol (NTP) clock synchronization among vSphere on-premises devices and the IBM Cloud devices. UDP port 123 must be accessible to Hybrid Cloud Services virtual appliances and networks. Installed NTP Servers can be specified when the Hybrid Cloud Services Appliance is installed.
| Source | Target | Port | Protocol | Purpose | Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HCX | Customer DNS | 53 | TCP/UDP | Name resolution | DNS |
| HCX | NSX LB in IBM Cloud | 443 | TCP | Registration service | HTTPS |
| HCX | vCenter in IBM Cloud | 443 | TCP | HCX REST service | HTTPS |
| HCX | PSC in IBM Cloud | 443 | TCP | HCX REST service | HTTPS |
| HCX | connect.hcx.vmware.com | 443 | TCP | Registration service | HTTPS |
| Web Browser | HCX | 9443 | TCP | HCX Virtual Appliance Management Interface for HCX system configuration | HTTPS |
| Admin network | HCX | 22 | SSH | Administrator SSH access to Hybrid Cloud Services | SSH |
| HCX | ESXi Hosts | 902 | TCP | Send management and provisioning instructions from HCX to ESXi Hosts in IBM Cloud. | Internal |
| HCX | vCenter SSO Server | 7444 | TCP | vSphere Lookup Service | |
| HCX | NTP Servers | 123 | UDP | Time synchronization | |
| HCX | Syslog | User-configured | Connection between HCX (the client) and the Syslog server. Values for the Syslog port and protocol are specified in the vSphere Web Client. For example, port 514 for UDP protocol. | ||
| HCX | HCX-IX | 8123 | TCP | Send host-based replication service instructions to the HCX-IX. | HTTP |
| HCX | HCX-IX | 9443 | TCP | Send management instructions to the local HCX-IX by using the REST API. | HTTP HTTPS |
| HCX-IX | HCX-NE | 443 | TCP | Send management instructions from HCX-IX to HCX-NE when HCX-NE uses the same path as the HCX-IX. | HTTP HTTPS |
| HCX-IX | HCX-NE | 8443 | TCP | Bidirectional management instructions from HCX-IX to HCX-NE, when HCX-NE uses an alternative data path. | HTTP HTTPS |
| HCX-NE | HCX-NE (remote) | 443 | TCP | Bidirectional management instructions from HCX-IX to HCX-NE, when HCX-NE uses an alternative data path. | HTTP HTTPS |
| HCX-IX | ESXi hosts | 80, 902 | TCP | Management and OVF deployment | Internal |
| ESXi Hosts | HCX-IX | 31031, 44046 | TCP | Internal host-based replication traffic | Internal |
| HCX-IX | ESXi hosts | 8000 | TCP | vMotion (zero downtime migration) | |
| HCX-IX (local) | HCX-IX (remote) |
4500 | UDP | Internet Key Exchange (IKEv2) to encapsulate workloads for the bidirectional tunnel | IPsec |
| HCX-IX (local) | HCX-IX (remote) |
500 | UDP | Internet Key Exchange (ISAKMP) for the bidirectional tunnel | IPsec |