Working in the graphical view of dynamic components - create mode

This topic describes the graphical view of the dynamic components. It explains the operations that you can perform when you access the graphical view in create mode and contains the following sections:

Accessing the graphical view of dynamic components

When creating a dynamic network container through the wizard, after you complete the General Information, click Next to arrive at the second dialog box of the wizard. The second dialog box shows the dynamic components in List (table) or Graphical View, depending on which choice you selected in the Configuration workspace (see Setting Configuration workspace options).

The types of components and their relationships are defined by the underlying network container blueprint template that you specified in the Container Blueprint field of the initial General Information dialog of the wizard.

Example model

The following example model is a customer-zone depiction of a customer network, an external network, an outside networks, a virtual load balancer, and a virtual firewall.

The rectangle that contains the components and relations represents the network container. Any external networks are depicted outside of this rectangle.

This graphical view corresponds with the following List View of the same components and relationships:

The List View shows the customer, external, and outside networks in a tabular format. It also has tabs that list the related virtual load balancers, firewalls, and distributed firewalls for the client and server networks.

To toggle views

To toggle between views, select the corresponding Graphical View or List View icon:

Any unsaved changes you make in the current view are not carried over to the other view.

Legend for the graphical model

Load balancer

In this example, the virtual load balancer is connected to an internal network assigned to a zone. However, there is no requirement for a network connected to a virtual load balancer to reside in a zone. In the example, this connection is depicted by two lines. The two connecting lines indicating that the network serves a dual role for the virtual load balancer. It acts as both a client network and a server network.

If the network connects to the load balancer in a single role (either a client or a server network), that connection is depicted by a single line. Two lines always indicate that the network is connected to the virtual load balancer as both a client and a server network.

When you disable a virtual load balancer, you disable all connected client networks. If a client network also acts as a server network, then the network is not disabled. However, the network cannot support the attachment of load balancer pools.

When you enable a load balancer, you enable all client networks connected to it.

You cannot enable a load balancer when all its connected server networks are disabled. However, if one server network connected to the load balancer is enabled, then you can enable the load balancer.

Firewall

The firewalls regulate the incoming and outgoing traffic to and from the networks.

You cannot disable a virtual, or perimeter, firewall directly. To disable a virtual firewall, disable all non-external networks connected to it. You cannot disable external networks connected to the firewall. However, as long as you disable the connected non-external networks, you can disable the firewall.

Distributed firewall

Distributed firewalls regulate the traffic between virtual machines (VMs).

You can enable or disable the distributed firewall using the option icons or by right-clicking the distributed firewall icon and selecting the appropriate option.

Network instance

The following table describes the different network classifications:

Zone

NIC, virtual IP (VIP), and VIP/NIC networks can reside within or outside zones, but if residing outside zones, they must reside always within the container. External networks cannot reside within zones.

Available features in Create mode

To navigate the container

You can choose from among the following navigation icons:

These icons provide you with the following options:

• Zoom in or zoom out of the overall graphic
• Focus and zoom in on a specific area of the graphic
• Return the graphic to a default view, in which the graphic is displayed normally. You can choose this option if you have zoomed in or out of a view and want to return to the original context.

To perform operations on container components

You can choose between two approaches. You can select the component icon in the graph and then choose the appropriate option icon:

Or you can right-click the component icon or its label in the graph to display the options in the fly-out menu:

To enable or disable a load balancer

Using the option icons:

1. Select the Virtual load balancer icon in the graph. The corresponding icon indicates if it is enabled or disabled.
2. To disable the load balancer, click the Disable icon. When you disable a load balancer, you disable all associated client networks.
3. To enable a disabled virtual load balancer, select the Virtual load balancer icon in the graph, and click the Enable icon.
   
   To enable a load balancer with connected server networks, one of the server networks must be enabled. When you enable a load balancer, you enable all connected client networks.
   
   If the status of the load balancer is disabled when you access the graphical view, you might need to specify the subnets of the client networks before submitting any status changes. If the status of the load balancer is enabled when you access the graphical view and, during the session, you disable and re-enable the load balancer, then you do not need to specify the subnets of the client networks.

Using the fly-out menu:

1. Select the Virtual load balancer icon in the graph, and then right click to display the Enable or Disable menu option. The menu option displays the action that is opposite the current state of the selected virtual load balancer. For example, if the load balancer is disabled, the menu option says Enable.

2. Choose the available option.

   Note

   You cannot edit or add tags to the virtual load balancer in this context.

To perform operations on networks

You can edit, enable or disable, or add tags to internal and outside networks. You can add tags to external networks.

To edit a network

1. To edit a network, select the enabled network component icon in the graph, and select the Edit icon. Or right click to display the fly-out menu, and choose Edit. The Edit Network Settings dialog is displayed. If the network has a default network address and mask, they are displayed. An example is shown below.
   
   
2. Update the Network Address and/or Network Mask values

1. Then click OK.

To enable or disable networks

Certain network types have a locked status that you cannot change to disable or enable.

Using the option icons:

1. Select the Network icon in the graph. By default it is enabled, and the Currently Enabled icon is highlighted.
2. To disable the network, click the Disable icon.
3. To enable the network, select the Network icon in the graph, and click the Enable icon.
4. In the Enable Network Settings dialog, update the network address or network mask value, or accept the current values.
5. Click OK.

Using the fly-out menu:

1. Select the Network icon in the graph.
2. Right click to display the fly-out menu options. The menu option displays the enable/disable action that is opposite the current state of the selected network.
3. To disable the network, choose Disable.
4. To enable the network, choose Enable.
5. In the Enable Network Settings dialog, update the network address or network mask value, or accept the current values.
6. Click OK.

To add tags to networks

Using the option icons:

1. Select the network icon in the graph.
2. Click the Add Tag icon to open the Select Tag to Add dialog.
3. See Assigning a tag to an object to complete this procedure.

Using the fly-out menu:

1. Select the network icon in the graph.
2. Right click to display the fly-out menu options.
3. Choose Add Tag to open the Select Tag to Add dialog.
4. See Assigning a tag to an object to complete this procedure.

To enable or disable a firewall

Perimeter firewalls

To enable or disable a perimeter firewall:

1. Select the Firewall icon in the graph.
2. Right click to display the fly-out menu options. The menu option displays the enable/disable action that is opposite the current state of the selected firewall.
3. To disable the firewall, choose Disable.
4. To enable the firewall, choose Enable.
5. Click OK.

Distributed firewalls

To enable or disable a distributed firewall:

1. Select the Distributed firewall icon in the graph.
2. Right click to display the fly-out menu options. The menu option displays the enable/disable action that is opposite the current state of the selected distributed firewall.
3. To disable the distributed firewall, choose Disable.
4. To enable the distributed firewall, choose Enable.
5. Click OK.