Creating External (Provider) Networks in VMware vCloud Director

Products

• VMware Cloud Director

Issue/Introduction

This article provides steps to create an External Network in VMware vCloud Director.

Environment

VMware Cloud Director 5.1.x
VMware Cloud Director 1.0.x
VMware Cloud Director 1.5.x

Resolution

Note: This works flash portal, steps to do this in HTML 5 are different.
 

The External Network is the network created by the Service Provider to allow virtual machines in organizations in the Cloud to access the outside world (Internet).

Before you begin, ensure that:

• vCenter Server is attached to VMware vCloud Director
• You setup a vNetwork Distributed Switch (vDS), as this is a prerequisite for the creation of certain Network Pool types in VMware vCloud Director

To create an External Network:

1. Log in to the web interface using the vCloud Director Administrator account.
   
   Note: The steps in this article can only be performed by a vCloud Director Administrator.
   
   The VMware Cloud Director user interface guides you through the configuration steps.
    
2. Create a Provider vDC. For more information, see Creating a Provider Data Center in VMware Cloud Director.
3. In the vCloud Director interface, click option 3 – Create an External Network. This launches the External (Provider) Network creation wizard.
4. On the first window of the wizard, you are prompted to choose a vCenter Server. Remember that vCloud Director can manage multiple vCenter Servers. After selecting a vCenter Server, the vSphere Networks window to the right of the window populates.
   
   Note: If you try to use more ports than are available, virtual machine deployments fail and you may see an error similar to: This port group has a fixed number of ports (default is 128). You can use ephemeral port groups to avoid this situation.
    
5. Populate the network specification for the provider network by adding the network mask, default gateway, primary DNS, and an address pool of static IP addresses.
   
   Notes:
   • This pool of static IP addresses is used by virtual machines that are given direct access to the provider network.
   • The Address Pool for static IP Allocation is used to automatically assign an IP address to a virtual machine if your virtual machine is given a direct network connection to the external network.
   • If your virtual machine guest supports guest customization, the virtual machine is configured with that IP address when started up for the first time, or when the configuration changes.
   • The pool is also used to assign an IP to the vShield Edge when you use a NAT-routed organization network or a vApp network to the external network.

6. Click Next.

7. Enter a name and an optional description for this provider network when prompted, and finish at the Summary screen.

Note: This task does not make any visible changes to the Networking vSphere Resources. The provider network is automatically added to your Provider vDC.