Create multiple VDCs with NSX ECMP

Administrators can use context properties to control configuration depending on the context. For the NSX ECMP plugin, for example, each VDC requires its own range of uplink IPs. Uplink IPs were previously set using enterprise properties, but this only allowed the administrator to create one VDC per enterprise without changing the properties. 

If a property is not set at the enterprise or system level, the user will be able to enter the property when creating the entity.

In your NSX-ECMP environment, first remove the properties that you wish to customize for the VDC, for example, "nsx.edge.uplink.ips" and "nsx.edge.bgp.peers" properties, from the enterprise properties, and also remove any defaults from the abiquo.properties file.

Now try to create a VDC in the user interface.

The creation will fail but a dialog will open where you can enter the required properties.

After you enter these properties, the UI will try to create the VDC again, sending an additional header with this format:

X-Abiquo-ContextProperty: {"nsx.edge.uplink.ips":"ip1,ip2"}

The API currently only reports the name of the missing properties. The description and type of the properties are defined in a JSON schema that is managed by the UI. Work in progress: the API will return properties in JSON format.

Note that this feature has the limitation that a user with privileges to perform an action, such as to create a VDC, may be able to override a system or enterprise property.