NSX Networks¶

This section describes how to create a Virtual Network backed by a logical switch in NSX-V or NSX-T.

In order to create, delete or import NSX networks, the NSX Manager needs to be correctly configured in OpenNebula.

Creating a new NSX Logical Switch¶

Let’s create first a new logical switch in NSX Manager, using Sunstone or the CLI.

Creating from Sunstone¶

In Sunstone proceed to Network --> Virtual Networks and click on the green “+” and then on Create. The create dialog will pop up, with different tabs:

In the General tab type:

Name: Logical switch name

Description: Logical Switch Description

Cluster: Select the appropiate cluster

In the Conf tab select “NSX”, the OpenNebula Host representing the vCenter cluster where you want this logical switch to be available and the Transport Zone, and the other attributes that better suit your use case.

Click on Address tab and type an address range

Afterwards, click on create, and the network will be created. To check that the network was created correctly, the next attributes should have values:

VCENTER_NET_REF: network id on vcenter

VCENTER_PORTGROUP_TYPE: “Opaque Network” or “NSX-V”

NSX_ID: network id on NSX

You can also verify into NSX, there is a network with the same id and the same name.

NSX-V, open vcenter server and go to Network & Security --> Logical Switches.

NSX-T open NSX Manager and go to Advanced Networking & Security --> Switching --> Switches.

Creating from CLI¶

In order to create a logical switch through the CLI you need a virtual network template.

Example template for NSX-T:

File: nsxt_vnet.tmpl
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME="logical_switch_test01"
DESCRIPTION="NSX Logical Switch created from OpenNebula CLI"
BRIDGE="logical_switch_test01"
BRIDGE_TYPE="vcenter_port_groups"
VCENTER_INSTANCE_ID=<vcenter_instance_id of the host>
VCENTER_ONE_HOST_ID=<id of the host>
VCENTER_PORTGROUP_TYPE="Opaque Network”
VN_MAD="vcenter"
NSX_TZ_ID=<id of the transport zone>
AR = [
  TYPE="ETHER",
  SIZE=255
]

Example template for NSX-V:

File: nsxv_vnet.tmpl
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME="logical_switch_test01"
DESCRIPTION="NSX Logical Switch created from OpenNebula CLI"
BRIDGE="logical_switch_test01"
BRIDGE_TYPE="vcenter_port_groups"
VCENTER_INSTANCE_ID=<vcenter_instance_id of the host>
VCENTER_ONE_HOST_ID=<id of the host>
VCENTER_PORTGROUP_TYPE=“NSX-V”
VN_MAD="vcenter"
NSX_TZ_ID=<id of the transport zone>
AR = [
  TYPE="ETHER",
  SIZE=255
]

Once you have your virtual network template file you can run the command:

onevnet create <file vnet template>

Afterwards you can follow the steps defined above to check that the new logical switch was created successfully.

Importing an existing NSX Logical Switch¶

This section describes how to import existing logical switches in NSX Manager, for both NSX-T and NSX-V. The procedure is the same as other vCenter networks.

All NSX networks (represented in vCenter) can be listed using the following CLI command:

onevcenter list_all -o networks -h <host_id>

In the list of available networks to import, it will show NSX-V and NSX-T (Opaque networks).

Importing from Sunstone¶

To import a Logical Switch go to Network --> Virtual Networks --> Import. Select the correct OpenNebula host and click “Get Networks”.

Select the network you want to import and click on “Import”. The following message indicates that the network was successfully imported:

To check that the network was imported correctly, the next attributes of the OpenNebual virtual network should have values:

VCENTER_NET_REF: network id on vcenter

VCENTER_PORTGROUP_TYPE: “Opaque Network” or “Distributed Port Group”

NSX_ID: network id on NSX

Importing from CLI¶

The import process from CLI is the same as other vCenter networks. For more details go to: Import networks with onevcenter.

Importing NSX networks when a VM is imported¶

OpenNebula automatically imports NSX networks attached to VMs.

If NSX credentails are defined, the imported network should have an NSX_ID attribute, allowing this network be able to use other NSX features as Security Groups.

If NSX credentials are not defined, the imported network won’t have a NSX_ID attribute, so other NSX features will not be available for these networks and it will be treated as a regular vCenter network.

Other Virtual Network Operations¶

The process of deleting, attaching and detaching a logical switch is the same as others Virtual Networks.

NSX Security Groups¶

Security Groups are supported only for NSX-T and NSX-V networks.

Note

NSX_STATUS as seen in the OpenNebula host must be OK before performs operations related to Security Groups.

Security Groups are made up of rules that are applied into Distributed Firewall as follows:

All rules are created under a section called “OpenNebula”.

The name pattern of the created rules is:

<sgID>-<sgName>-<vmID>-<vmDeployID>-<nicID>

sgID = OpenNebula Security Group ID

sgName = OpenNebula Security Group Name

vmID = OpenNebula instance ID

vmDeployID = vCenter vm-id

nicID = OpenNebula instance nic ID

The Security Groups rules are applied to a virtual machine logical port group.

All Security Groups rules are applied with action “ALLOW”

Warning

Modification of rules or sections created by OpenNebula using directly the NSX Manager interface is not supported, since the information won’t be synced back in OpenNebula.

Limitations¶

Not all attributes are available at creation time:

OpenNebula cannot create universal logical switches

OpenNebula cannot change IP discovery and MAC learning.

NSX-V creates a standard port group called “none” when creating an EDGE or DLR. This network has no host attached so OpenNebula will not be able to import it.

Imported NSX networks without NSX_ID must be manually updated to introduce this attribute or deleted and imported with NSX credentials.