Configure network build items on blueprints

Add a network build item to a blueprint so that ordering it creates an NSX-T network and attaches the new servers to it

  2 minute read  

With a network build item, the blueprint carries the network alongside the servers, and both are created when someone orders it.

Before you start

  • Connect an NSX-T manager and map it to a vCenter resource handler. See Network virtualization and Manage network virtualization.
  • Give the blueprint a resource type. A blueprint with a resource type of None cannot carry a network build item.
  • Add at least one server build item.

Add a network build item

  1. Open the blueprint and select the Build tab.
  2. Select Network.
  3. Complete the form.
  4. Select Save.
Field Description
Name A name for the build item.
IPv4 Block The IPv4 range for the new network, in CIDR notation. CMP creates the subnet from this.
Provide NAT for servers Give servers in the targeted tiers NAT’d addresses. Off by default.
Server Tiers The server tiers to put on this network when they are provisioned. Select at least one.
Rate An optional network cost, shown on the order form. The label names the currency and period configured for your instance. See Rates.

Place the network build item above the server build items it serves, so the network exists before the servers that join it.

What happens when the blueprint is ordered

  • Cloud Management Platform (CMP) creates a subnet from the IPv4 Block.
  • If exactly one Tier-1 gateway is associated with the environment being deployed to, CMP uses it. If there are none or several, CMP creates a new Tier-1 gateway.
  • CMP creates the network segment in the environment’s transport zone and attaches it to the Tier-1 gateway. When CMP creates a new Tier-1 gateway, it links the gateway to the environment’s Tier-0 gateway, so the environment must have exactly one Tier-0.

Which transport zone and gateways an environment has comes from what you imported and associated in Manage network virtualization.