Connecting EVE-NG lab to other VMs on ESXi (Port Group / VLAN)

[loki]

Hello,

We are running a VMware ESXi environment where we host an EVE-NG VM.
Inside EVE-NG, we have built a lab simulating several network devices (routers/switches).
Our goal is to allow the simulated devices inside the EVE-NG lab to communicate with other VMs running on the same ESXi host.

Current setup:
- A port group named Port-192, configured with VLAN 200.
- The port group is attached to the physical adapter vmnic0.
- Other VMs on this ESXi host also use this port group to communicate on VLAN 200.

We would like to know:
What is the recommended method to connect the EVE-NG lab to this port group (e.g. via EVE-NG "Cloud" interfaces)?

Which configurations are required on both sides:
- EVE-NG side (bridge / additional interfaces),
- ESXi side (port group configuration, trunking, etc.)?

Is a specific EVE-NG license (Community / Professional / Learning Center) required to enable such connectivity between the lab and external VMs?

Do you have documentation or best practices for integrating EVE-NG labs with VMware ESXi networking?

Thank you in advance for your support.

[rusty725]

watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj1Tclmn8NE
no license is required to do this.