VIO Instances are not able to communicate with each other using floating IP addresses

Products

• VMware
• VMware Integrated OpenStack

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

•  Instances connected to the same internal network, are able to communicate each other using internal IP address only.
•  Those Instances are not able to communicate each other using their associated floating IP addresses.

Environment

VMware Integrated OpenStack 3.1.x
VMware Integrated OpenStack 4.x

Cause

By default, two Instances on the same internal network, will not be able to communicate via their floating IPs, because of the NAT rule which sets the floating IP to be created on the Edge's external interface.

Resolution

To allow Instances (connected on the same internal network) communicate each other, using their own floating IP addresses, follow these steps:

1.     Using SSH, log in to VMware Integrated OpenStack Manager.
2.     From VMware Integrated OpenStack Manager, use SSH to log into one of the controller nodes (i.e. controller01).
   1.     ssh controller01
   2.     sudo su -  
   3.     Edit the /etc/neutron/plugins/vmware/nsxv.ini file, modifying bind_floatingip_to_all_interfaces = False parameter in to bind_floatingip_to_all_interfaces = True.
   4.     Save and close the file.
3.     Restart VIO-Controller-0, from vCenter Server:
   1.         Navigate to the vSphere Web Client.
   2.         In the Inventories tab, click VMware Integrated OpenStack> OpenStack deployments> Click on your deployment.
   3.         Select VIO-Controller-0.
   4.         From the All Actions dropdown, click Restart Services.
4.     Once VIO-Controller-0 completely restarts, modify the /etc/neutron/plugins/vmware/nsxv.ini file on controller02, restart VIO-Controller-1.
5.     Ensure that the ingress and egress rules are correctly configured in Security Groups, associating them to the involved Instances.
6.     If floating IP address were already associated to the involved Instances, disassociate and associate them back.
7.     Test if Instances are able to communicate each other using their floating IP addresses.

Note:  The preceding instructions will be overwritten on update/upgrade, restart of deployment.  Use custom-playbook.yml to manage this change.  See /var/lib/vio/ansible/custom/custom-playbook.yml.sample

Additional Information

VMware Integrated OpenStack Design Guide
VIO&NSX-v - Network Topologies Configuration Guide
OpenStack&NSX-T - Network Topologies Configuration Guide