Editing a pod

This topic describes how to edit a pod, what fields can be edited, and how to modify those fields.

Pods can be edited in BMC Network Automation after the pod is created. You can remove unused pod nodes and pairs, edit the ports for physical switches, and add or edit parameters, and balanced parameters for pod, pod nodes, and pod pairs. This allows you to scale the pod when resource pools are exhausted or new node and pairs need to be added.

Perform the following steps to edit a pod:

1. Open the Pods page by navigating to Network > Virtual Data Center > Pods.
2. Locate the pod you want to edit in the listing and click the View   icon.
   
   The following figure highlights the editable fields in blue and the fields used to add new resources in red on the Pod Details page for the selected pod:
   
   

3. (Optional): Edit the following pod fields:

   1. Under DNS Information perform the following actions:
      1. Click the Edit icon in the Actions column.
         
         

      2. In the DNS Information dialog box, edit the DNS information as shown in the following table:
          

         Field	Description
         Primary DNS Server	Specify the primary DNS server name.
         Reverse DNS Server	Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS resolves the domain name associated with the IP address. If you specify the value for this field, only PTR records are added, otherwise, the API adds only an A record in the Primary DNS Server. For example, an address (A) record for mail.example.com points to the IP address 192.168.10.4. In pointer records of the reverse DNS server, this IP address is stored as the domain name 192.168.10.4.in-addr.arpa pointing back to its designated host name mail.example.com.
         Secondary DNS Server	Specify the secondary DNS server name.
         Primary Domain Suffix for NIC	Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. This field is required if you want to register the VM to the DNS server by using BMC Network Automation.
         DNS Domains for NIC	Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list.
         Reverse DNS Zone	Specify the reverse DNS zone where the PTR-record type stores reverse DNS entries. The reverse DNS zone value is specific to the network address from which the PTR entries can be added. For example, if the network address is 198.168.10.0/24, the reverse DNS zone is 10.168.198.in-addr.arpa.

      3. Click Save, and then Close.

          

         Note

         DNS information for an existing container is not updated when you update the DNS Information in the pod.

   2. Click the Delete icon in the Actions field to delete DNS information from the pod.

   3. Click a hyper-linked value in the Name column for an address pool.

      

      1. In the Add Chained Address Pool dialog box, enter the pool address, the pool mask, and optionally, the gateway address for the new pool.

      2. Click Save.
         
         

         Note

         Extending a shared pod address pool in one pod does not extend the address pool to all other pods sharing the address pool. If required, you must manually extend the other pods sharing the address pool. For instance, if pod A initially has a pool named X, which encapsulates subnet 1.0.0.0/24, and pod B is sharing that pool, later when you edit pod A to add a subnet 1.0.1.0/24 as a second link in the pool chain named X, Pod B cannot share this second subnet, unless you edit the pod to add the link there too.

   4. In the DNS Info column, click the  icon to add DNS information for a specific address pool.
      
      If the DNS information is specified during pod creation or via Pod Details: DNS Information, it is prepopulated when you add an address pool.

   5. To edit the DNS information for an address pool, click a hyperlinked value in the DNS Info column for that address pool, and then click Save.
      
      

      Warning

      If a pod address pool has IP addresses that are acquired and DNS registered, the following warning message is displayed:

      You are attempting to update the existing DNS information for this address pool in which some IP addresses might already be acquired and DNS registered. In the Pod view, under the Address Pools section, click the View icon in the Actions column and review the information before proceeding.

      Do you wish to overwrite the existing DNS information?
   6. (Optional) Click the View acquired IP address details icon to view the list of acquired IP addresses, the associated server and NIC name, and whether each IP address is DNS registered. 
      
   7. Click a hyper-linked value in the Name column for an address range.
      
      1. In the Add Chained Address Range dialog box, enter the range address and range mask for the new address range.
      2. Click Save.
   8. In the DNS Info column, click the  icon to add DNS information for a specific address range.
      
       If the DNS information is specified during pod creation or via Pod Details: DNS Information, it is prepopulated when you add an address range.
   9. To edit the DNS information for an address range, click a hyperlinked value in the DNS Info column for that address range and then click Save. 
   10. Click the Add NIC Segment link next to the NIC Segments label.
       

   1. 1. In the Add NIC Segment dialog box, enter the following information for the new NIC segment:

         Field	Description
         NIC Segment Name	Enter a name for the new network segment where virtual or physical server NICs are to be provisioned.
         Network Name	Enter the name of the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management "network" to which this segment belongs.
         Address Pool Name	Select the address pool which will be used to acquire server NIC addresses.
         VLAN Name	Select the VLAN to which NICs will be connected when they are provisioned to this segment.
         Tag	Specify a tag that can be used to annotate the container in miscellaneous ways, which clients might find useful.
         Customer	Select whether this segment carries customer (non-management) traffic.
         Management	Select whether this segment carries management traffic.

      2. Click Save.
         
   2. Under VLAN Pools perform the following actions:
      1. Click the Edit icon in the Actions column.
      2. In the Edit VLAN Pool dialog box, edit the start and end numbers for the VLAN pool, and comma and/or hyphen-separated excluded VLANs for the VLAN pool.
      3. Click Save, and then Close.
   3. Click a hyper-linked value in the Name column for a VLAN pool.
      
      1. In the Add Chained VLAN Pool dialog box, enter the VLAN pool start and end numbers and optionally, a list of comma and/or hyphen-separated excluded VLANs for the new VLAN pool.
      2. Click Save.
   4. Click the Add VLAN link next to the VLANs label.
      
      

      1. In the Add VLAN dialog box, enter the VLAN name, the name of the VLAN pool to acquire it from, and the desired VLAN number.

      2. Click Save.

   5. Click the Add Node link next to the Pod Nodes label.
      
      

      1. In the Add Node dialog box, enter the information for the new node.
         The following table describes the information that you need to add in the dialog box to add a new node:

         Field	Description
         Name	Enter the name of the new node.
         Role	Specify the role for the new node.
         Shareable	Select this option to allow the new node's device to participate in multiple pods.
         Node Type	Select the type for the new node: Vanilla Hypervisor switch Physical switch Firewall Load Balancer
         Realm	Select the realm to which the node should belong.
         Device	Click the  button, and then select a device from the list. You can click a device name or type a name.
         Max VRFs	(Optional) Enter the maximum number of virtual routing and forwarding (VRFs) allowed for the new pod node.
         Parameters	(Optional) Enter the parameters for the new node. Click the  icon to add a new row to enter information for additional parameters.
         Balanced Parameters	(Optional) Enter a comma-separated list of balanced parameters for the new node.  Click the  icon to add a new row to enter information for additional balanced parameters.
         Max Ports	(Only for Hypervisor switch nodes) Enter the maximum number of virtual ports that can be created in the hypervisor switch.
         Max Port Types	(optional) Enter the maximum number of virtual port types that can be created in the hypervisor switch. VMware refers to a virtual port type as a port group and Cisco calls it a port profile. The switch uses the virtual port type to create a given virtual port for a given Network Interface Card (NIC) being attached to the switch. There is one virtual port type for each network that a NIC can be attached to on the switch, for each container instance on the pod.
         Port Types	(Only for Hypervisor switch nodes) Enter the port type for the new node.
         Ports	(Only for physical switch nodes) Enter the ports for the new node as a comma-separated list.
         Max VFWs	(Only for firewall nodes) Enter the maximum number of virtual firewalls (VFWs) allowed on the new node.
         Guest Device	(Only for firewall and load balancer nodes) Click the  button, and then select the name of the device to create or reuse to represent the guest context.
         Max Rules per VFW	(Only for firewall nodes) Enter the maximum number of rules per VFW.
         Max VLBs	(Only for load balancer nodes) Enter the maximum number of virtual load balancers (VLBs) allowed on the new node.
         Max Pools per VLB	(Only for load balancer nodes) Enter the maximum number of pools per VLB.
         Max Entries per Pool	(Only for load balancer nodes) Enter the maximum number of entries per pool.

      2. Click Save.
   6. Under Pod Nodes for Hypervisor Switch type, click the Add Port Type link.
      
      
      
      1. Specify a name for the port type, the name of the port type to be used in the hypervisor switch device, and select the NIC segment to which this port should belong.
      2. Click Save.
   7. Click the Add Pair link next to the Pod Pairs label.
      
      

      1. In the Add Pair dialog box, enter the following information for the new pair.
         
         The following table describes the information that you need to add to the pop-up to add a new pair.

         Field	Description
         Name	Enter the name of the new pair.
         Pair Type	Select the type for the new pair: Vanilla Firewall Load Balancer
         Nodes	Select the nodes for the new pair.
         Parameters	(Optional) Enter the parameters for the new pair. Click the  icon to add a new row to enter information for additional parameters.
         Balanced Parameters	(Optional) Enter a comma-separated list of balanced parameters for the new pair. Click the  icon to add a new row to enter information for additional balanced parameters.
         Community 1/2 VLAN	(Only for firewall pairs) Enter the Community 1 and 2 VLAN names for the new pair.
         Fault ID Pool Information	(Only for load balancer pairs) Enter the fault ID pool information for the new pair.
         Active/Standby Priority	(Only for load balancer pairs) Enter the active and standby priority values that will be assigned to the active and standby VLBs in the fault tolerant pair.  The active priority value should be greater than the standby priority value.

      2. Click Save.
   8. Click the Edit link next to the Parameters label.
      
      
      

      1. In the Add Parameter/Balanced Parameter dialog box, add new parameters or edit existing parameters.
         
         The following table describes the information that you need to add to the Add Parameter/Balanced Parameter dialog box:
         
         

         Field	Description
         Parameters	To modify a parameter, enter the name in the first box, and enter the new value or optional description in the second and third boxes. To enter a new parameter, you must specify the name, value, and optional description. Click the  icon to add a new row to enter information for additional parameters.
         Balanced Parameters	The value for balanced parameters is a comma-separated list. To modify a balanced parameter, enter the name in the first box, and enter the new value or optional description in the second and third boxes. To enter a new balanced parameter, you must specify the name, value, and optional description. Click the  icon to add a new row to enter information for additional balanced parameters.

         Note

         You can edit the parameters and balanced parameters of pod nodes and pairs in the same fashion by clicking the Edit link next to the Parameters label under the specific node or pair.

      2. Click Save.
   9. Double-click the field where ports are displayed to change the port names for a physical switch.
      
      When you double-click the port name, the port name becomes a text field with Save and Cancel buttons.
      
      
      
      1. Change the port name. For a workaround about how to update the port names for a physical or hypervisor switch in the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management console, see Workaround for updating the port names for a physical or hypervisor switch in the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management console.
      2. Click Save.

   10. Double-click the field where several maximum value fields are displayed.

       You can change the values in the following maximum values fields:

       • Max Ports
       • Max Port Types (for hypervisor switches)
       • Max VRFs
       • Max VLBs (for load balancers)
       • Max VFWs (for firewalls)

       When you double-click the value in the maximum value field, the value becomes a text field with Save and Cancel buttons.

   11. 
       
       1.  Change the value in the text field.
       2. Click Save to update the value in the maximum value field.

Workaround for updating the port names for a physical or hypervisor switch in the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management console

Even if you update the port names for a physical or hypervisor switch in the BMC Network Automation GUI, synchronizing the pod does not update these changes in the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management console unless the switch is re-added.

If BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management does not use a switch to provision any resource, in other words, if it has no physical server or virtual machine and network containers provisioned for it, you can change the port names for a physical or hypervisor switch in a pod from the BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management Administration console by performing the following steps:

1. Remove the physical or hypervisor switch from the BMC Network Automation pod.

2. Click Synchronize Pod to synchronize the network pod with any changes to the pod.
   
   

   Note

   Pod resynchronization fails if the switch is referenced by an onboarded physical server or a resource, and either has a server provisioned or is the only switch for the onboarded resource. You must offboard the resource from BMC Cloud Lifecycle Management before you resynchronize the pod. 

3. Add the physical or hypervisor switch with updated ports.
4. Click Synchronize Pod.
   
   Switch ports are now updated.
5. Onboard the resources again for provisioning.