Automated Networking Directives

The following scenarios are currently supported by automated networking:

  • Pure Virtual Machines Pods with no external networking.

  • Hybrid Pods with no external networking.

The following scenarios are not supported by automated networking but may be in future software versions:

  • Pods connecting to external networks or the internet.

Note

Some lab sets distributed and supported by NDG may require Internet access. Please refer to the respective content documentation.

pod.auto.net.supported

Enables or disables automated networking features for the entire pod design. Automated networking provides automation for network setup between virtual machines and real equipment in a pod.

Note

The administrator may disable automated networking on a per-pod basis if manual networking is desired.

Syntax

pod.auto.net.supported=<value>

Value

Meaning

1

Automated network setup is performed for this pod type.

  • Virtual networks can be created and removed automatically on a virtual machine host if pod.auto.net.host.setup.supported is also enabled.

  • Virtual machine network interfaces are bound to their specified networks automatically.

  • VLAN maps are applied to control switch ports in real equipment pods automatically.

0

No automated networking is performed for this pod. (default)

Example

# Required to enable automated networking for this pod type.
pod.auto.net.supported=1

pod.auto.net.host.setup.supported

If enabled, NETLAB+ will automatically create the pod’s networks on the virtual machine host when a pod starts.

  • On VMware vSphere, this includes creating virtual switches and port groups.

  • On Proxmox/KVM, this includes creating Linux bridges.

Note

The administrator may disable this feature on a per-pod basis if manual setup is preferred.

Syntax

pod.auto.net.host.setup.supported=<value>

Value

Meaning

1

Automatically create networks on virtual machine hosts. Bind virtual machine network interfaces to these newly created networks.

0

Do not automatically virtual networks. Virtual machine network interfaces will be bound to the specified networks if they exist when the pod starts. Use this setting to bind network interfaces to statically created networks. (default)

Tip

pod.auto.net.supported, pod.auto.net.host.setup.supported and pod.auto.net.host.teardown.supported are usually enabled together.

Example

# Setup networking automatically for this pod type.
pod.auto.net.supported=1

# Automatically create networks on virtual machine hosts.
pod.auto.net.host.setup.supported=1

# Automatically remove networks on virtual machine hosts.
pod.auto.net.host.teardown.supported=1

pod.auto.net.host.setup.enabled.default

Determines if host network setup is enabled by default when a pod is created.

Syntax

pod.auto.net.enabled.default=<value>

Value

Meaning

1

Automated networking is enabled by default when pods of this type are created (default).

0

Automated networking is available, but disabled by default when pods of this type are created. The system administrator must explicitly enable automated networking for pods of this type.

Example

pod.auto.net.enabled.default=1

pod.auto.net.host.teardown.supported

If enabled, virtual networks are removed from the virtual machine host when a pod reservation ends.

  • For VMware vSphere, this includes removing virtual switches and port groups.

  • For Proxmox/KVM, this includes removing Linux bridges.

Note

The administrator may disable this feature on a per-pod basis if manual teardown is preferred.

Syntax

pod.auto.net.host.teardown.supported=<value>

Value

Meaning

1

Enable automated network teardown for this pod design per the pod design advanced settings. (default)

  • Virtual switches and port groups are removed.

  • Virtual machine network interfaces are unbound from the specified networks.

  • Disable automated network teardown for this pod design.

0

Disable automated network teardown for pod design. (default)

Tip

pod.auto.net.supported, pod.auto.net.host.setup.supported and pod.auto.net.host.teardown.supported are usually enabled together. If setup is supported, teardown should be supported as well in order to free network resources.

Example

# Setup networking automatically for this pod type.
pod.auto.net.supported=1

# Automatically create networks on virtual machine hosts.
pod.auto.net.host.setup.supported=1

# Automatically remove networks on virtual machine hosts.
pod.auto.net.host.teardown.supported=1

pod.auto.net.host.teardown.enabled.default

Determines if automated network teardown is enabled by default when a pod is created. Usually this is what you want, so the default setting is 1. The administrator may disable automated networking on a per-pod basis if manual networking is desired.

Syntax

pod.auto.net.host.teardown.enabled.default=<value>

Value

Meaning

1

Automated network teardown is enabled by default when pods of this type are created (default).

0

Automated network teardown is disabled by default when pods of this type are created. The system administrator will have to explicitly enable automated network teardown for pods of this type.

Example

pod.auto.net.teardown.enabled.default=1