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Basic walkthrough of how to configure an external network as the default for an Abiquo enterprise. |
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Related pages
Basic concepts of Abiquo networking: Networking
Configuration of network infrastructure: Networks
Manage datacenter networks in the UI: Network
An external network enables you to define IP ranges and a VLAN tag, to allow the virtual datacenters to connect directly to each other, or to other networks outside of the virtual infrastructure. For an external network, the administrator should configure the same VLAN tags on all switches in the Abiquo environment. Check that IP addresses for use outside Abiquo are reserved inside Abiquo. An unmanaged network is an external network with IPs managed outside of the Abiquo platform, for example, by a corporate DHCP server.
Some external network configuration examples:
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External networking scenario Unmanaged networking scenario Further example of external networking with MPLS Tunnel |
External networks can be used:
Adhoc - create and use in existing virtual datacenters, connected to VMs in virtual datacenters.
Default for virtual datacenter - assign as the default network for a virtual datacenter when it is created (instead of the default private VLAN). When you deploy a new VM in the virtual datacenter with no network configuration, it will be automatically assigned a VNIC attached to the external network.
Default for enterprise -assign as the default network for an enterprise for a specific datacenter. When you create a new virtual datacenter for the enterprise in this datacenter, the external network will be the default. But you can override this at virtual datacenter level.
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| title | Define external networks for each enterprise datacenterExternal networks are defined per physical datacenter, so the default external network needs to be configured for each physical datacenter that an enterprise is allowed to use. |
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When you set the default network for this enterprise, it will only apply to VMs that are created after the default network is set. If you are creating the enterprise in the API, remember that you must add an enterprise-datacenter limit for each datacenter your enterprise will access.
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Allow the new enterprise to access the datacenter.
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See Manage enterprises in the section Allow enterprise users to deploy VMs.
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Go to Infrastructure View, open your datacenter and click the Network tab. Click on the External page and click the + Add button to add a new network.
It is important to check the VLAN tag availability in the datacenter where this tag will be used. If you share the VLAN tag across more than one network, the check indicator will be yellow. If it is reserved in Abiquo, the check indicator will be red.
Enter the network details and select the new enterprise that will use the external network, then click Save. Remember that this VLAN tag should not be available to the Rack for creating private networks.
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Create IP addresses and click Accept.
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Next click the Available IPs link and make unavailable any of the IP addresses that you wish to use for administrative purposes, for example, the gateway address. 
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For each physical datacenter enabled for the enterprise configure a default external network
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When to change the default networkYou can change the default network at any time, but the new default network will only be applied to new VMs created after you change it. |
Edit the enterprise, then edit the Allowed datacenter, and go to the Default VLAN tab. Select the external network.
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See Configure an enterprise in a cloud location in the section "Set the default network".
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The new virtual datacenter will get the default settings but these can be modified if required.
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Set the default network for new virtual appliancesThe new default network will only be assigned to VMs that you create after you change the default network. |
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For each physical datacenter enabled for the enterprise configure a default external network
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When to change the default networkYou can change the default network at any time, but the new default network will only be applied to new VMs created after you change it. |
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The new virtual datacenter will get the default settings but these can be modified if required.
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Set the default network for new virtual appliancesThe new default network will only be assigned to VMs that you create after you change the default network. |
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You can create a single IP address or multiple IP addresses.