This topic presents an example of creating a pod by using the reference large pod blueprint from Cisco. The pages and details shown are different depending upon which Pod Blueprint is being used.
Before you begin
- BMC Network Automation must be installed and configured.
- If you are using BMC Atrium CMDB, integration between BMC Network Automation and BMC Atrium CMDB must be configured. For information about configuring system parameters to support CMDB integration, see Managing-system-wide-parameters.
- Devices that you intend to assign to the pod must be defined in BMC Network Automation. Devices that are intended as pod hosts should use file transfer mode for faster firewall updates.
To create a new pod from a Pod Blueprint
- In the Pod Blueprints page click Create Pod
to the right of the Pod Blueprint. - In the Pod Details page, specify the pod details:
- Enter a unique name for the pod.
The name can include only alphanumeric characters. It cannot include symbols or special characters such as a single quote (') or dollar sign ($). - Select a site from the drop-down list of sites.
This list is populated from the BMC Atrium CMDB. Click Next.
The Pod Node page appears.
Note
In the Pod Node page, you cannot change the values in the Name, Category, and Role fields in the UI, but they determine which other selections you can make for this pod.
Make selections and enter information as shown in the following table. This table contains options that are available for various types of devices. In general, the uppercase field names such as ACCESS_LINKID are derived from a pod blueprint. Some of the options in this example are specific to Cisco devices. Other vendors' devices have different options. Fields that require multiple entries are called balanced fields. BMC Network Automation uses the entries alternately for successive container instances that are created. Separate entries in these fields by pressing Enter or Return. The entries appear on separate lines.
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- Click Next.
- Repeat step 3 and step 4 for each subsequent pod node.
- In the Pod Pair page that appears for each pod pair, click Next.
The DNS and NIC Information page appears.
Enter the following information:
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| Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| (Version 8.5.01 and later) 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. |
| Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC | Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| (Version 8.5.01 and later) 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. |
- Click Next.
The Address Pool page appears.
Make selections and enter the following information:
Address Pool options
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- Click Next.
The Address Range page appears.
Make selections and enter the following information:
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- Click Next.
The Integer Pool page appears.
- Specify the integer pool details:
- Enter a start and end range for the pool.
- (Optional) Enter any numbers that are to be excluded from the range of values. No container acquires these values.
- Click Next.
- In the Vlan Pool: Customer Vlans page, specify the customer VLAN pool details:
- (Optional) Specify whether you want the pool to be shared by multiple pods. When a pool is shared, it can be used to acquire VLANs for containers in each pod that shares the pool. Otherwise, it can only be used to acquire VLANs for containers in one pod exclusively.
- (Optional) Specify whether you want the pool to be an extended pool, which supports Virtual Extensible VLAN (VXLAN). For an extended pool, the VLAN pool range is from 0 to 224.
- Enter a start and end range for the pool.
- (Optional) Enter any VLANs that must be excluded from the pool range.
- Click Next.
The VLAN Pool: Infrastructure Vlans page appears.
- Specify the Infrastructure VLAN pool details:
- (Optional) Specify whether you want the pool to be shared by multiple pods. When a pool is shared, it can be used to acquire VLANs for containers in each pod that shares the pool. Otherwise, it can only be used to acquire VLANs for containers in one pod exclusively.
- (Optional) Specify whether you want the pool to be an extended pool, which supports VXLAN. For an extended pool, the VLAN pool range is from 0 to 224.
- Enter a start and end range for the pool.
- (Optional) Enter any VLANs that must be excluded from the pool range.
- Click Next.
The VLAN Pool: Management Vlans page appears.
- Specify the management VLAN pool details:
- (Optional) Specify whether you want the pool to be shared by multiple pods. When a pool is shared, it can be used to acquire VLANs for containers in each pod that shares the pool. Otherwise, it can only be used to acquire VLANs for containers in one pod exclusively.
- (Optional) Specify whether you want the pool to be an extended pool, which supports VXLAN. For an extended pool, the VLAN pool range is from 0 to 224.
- Enter a start and end range for the pool.
- (Optional) Enter any VLANs that must be excluded from the pool range.
- Click Next.
The VLAN page appears.
- Specify the management VLAN number from the management VLAN pool, and click Next.
In the Pod Parameter page, click Submit.
The pod is created and added to the Pods tab or an error message is displayed.
Note
When creating a pod if Error creating Pod:Read time out error is displayed, increase the timeout value for the Web Service interaction between BMC Network Automation and the external system by increasing the aoServerTimeout setting in the global.properties file.
To create a large pod from the reference content
The following steps describe how to create a large pod from the Large Pod Blueprint using the Create Pod wizard:
Click here to view the steps
- Navigate to the Pod Blueprints list page:
Network > Virtual Data Center > Pod Blueprints - Click the Create Pod icon for the Large Pod Blueprint.
Enter the following information in the Pod Details page and click Next:
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| Select a site to apply the pod. |
Note
If Configuration Management Database (CMDB) integration is enabled, a drop-down menu is displayed for the Site field. If a CMDB is not reachable, a message requesting that you verify the CMDB logon credentials is displayed on this page. See BMC-Continuous-Compliance-for-Network-Automation-solution for more information about enabling CMDB integration.
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Agg 1 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) instances for this node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Core 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Agg 2 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Core 2 pod node. |
| Enter the Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) priority levels for the primary and secondary routers that would assume the default gateway role. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Agg 2 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Core 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Core 2 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Agg 1 pod node. |
| Enter the HSRP priority levels for the primary and secondary routers that would assume the default gateway role. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Core 1 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Agg 2 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Core 2 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Agg 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Edge 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Edge 2 pod node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Core 2 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Core 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Agg 2 pod node. |
| Enter the link ID for the link to the Agg 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Edge 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Edge 2 pod node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Edge 1 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this node. |
| Enter the group level ID for Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Group 1. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Core 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Core 2 pod node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Edge 2 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this node. |
| Enter the group level ID for BGP Group 2. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Core 1 pod node. |
| Enter the link IDs for the links to the Core 2 pod node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Services page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this node. |
| Enter the community number for the BGP Community for this pod. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Firewall Host A1 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of Virtual Firewall (VFW) instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of rules per VFW for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Firewall Host A2 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VFW instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of rules per VFW for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Firewall Host B1 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of Virtual Firewall (VFW) instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of rules per VFW for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Firewall Host B2 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of Virtual Firewall (VFW) instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of rules per VFW for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Firewall Host C1 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of Virtual Firewall (VFW) instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of rules per VFW for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Firewall Host C2 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of Virtual Firewall (VFW) instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of rules per VFW for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Load Balancer Host 1 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of Virtual Load Balancers (VLB) instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of pools per VLB for this node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number entries per pool for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Load Balancer Host 2 page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select Yes to skip this node if it is not required to create the pod. Default value is No. |
| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VLB instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of pools per VLB for this node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number entries per pool for this node. |
Enter the following information in the Pod Node: Access page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make this pod node shareable. |
| Select the device name for this pod node. |
| Name of either a hypervisor server or hypervisor cluster. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of VRF instances for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of ports for this pod node. |
| (Optional) Specify the maximum number of port types for this node. |
If the Pod Pair: Firewall Fault Host Pair A page appears, enter the following information and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 2. |
| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 1. |
Note
Any pod nodes that were skipped in the pod node configuration steps do not appear in the pair creation steps.
If the Pod Pair: Firewall Fault Host Pair B page appears, enter the following information and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 2. |
| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 1. |
Note
Any pod nodes that were skipped in the pod node configuration steps do not appear in the pair creation steps.
If the Pod Pair: Firewall Fault Host Pair C page appears, enter the following information and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 2. |
| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 1. |
Any pod nodes that were skipped in the pod node configuration steps do not appear in the pair creation steps.
If the Pod Pair: Load Balancer Fault Host Pair page appears, enter the following information and click Next:
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| (Optional) Specify the Active Guest Priority setting. |
| (Optional) Specify the Standby Guest Priority setting. |
Fault Id Pool Start Number | (Optional) Specify the starting number for the fault ID pool. |
| (Optional) Specify the ending number for the fault ID pool. |
| (Optional) Comma and/or hypen seperated list of fault IDs which should be excluded from fault ID pool. |
| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 2. |
| Specify the IP address of SNMP Manager Station 1. |
Note
Any pod nodes that were skipped in the pod node configuration steps do not appear in the pair creation steps.
- When the Pod Pair: Agg Pair page appears, no input parameters are required. Click Next to continue.
In the DNS and NIC Information page, enter optional information as shown in the following table:
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| Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS can resolve 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. |
| Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC | Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| 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. |
Enter the following information in the Address Pool: Management Addresses 1 page and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address and subnet mask for the address pool in CIDR notation. |
| (Optional) Select to make the address pool public. |
| (Optional) Select to make the address pool shareable. |
| (Optional) Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| (Optional) Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS can resolve 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. |
| (Optional) Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
| (Optional) Specify the IP address for the gateway to the address pool. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC | (Optional) Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| (Optional) Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| (Optional) 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. |
Enter the following information in the Address Pool: Management Addresses 2 page and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address and subnet mask for the address pool in CIDR notation. |
| (Optional) Select to make the address pool public. |
| (Optional) Select to make the address pool shareable. |
| (Optional) Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| (Optional) Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS can resolve 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. |
| (Optional) Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
| (Optional) Specify the IP address for the gateway to the address pool. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC | (Optional) Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| (Optional) Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| (Optional) 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. |
Enter the following information in the Address Pool: VM Management Addresses page and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address and subnet mask for the address pool in CIDR notation. |
| (Optional) Select to make the address pool public. |
| (Optional) Select to make the address pool shareable. |
| (Optional) Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| (Optional) Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS can resolve 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. |
| (Optional) Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
| (Optional) Specify the IP address for the gateway to the address pool. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC | (Optional) Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| (Optional) Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| (Optional) 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. |
Enter the following information in the Address Range: Customer Pools page and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address and subnet mask for the customer address range pool in CIDR notation. |
| Specify the subnet mask for the customer address pool. |
| (Optional) Select to make the customer address range pool public. |
| (Optional) Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| (Optional) Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS can resolve 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. |
| (Optional) Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC
| (Optional) Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| (Optional) Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| (Optional) 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. |
Enter the following information in the Address Range: Link Pools page and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address and subnet mask for the link address range pool in CIDR notation. |
| Specify the subnet mask for the link address pool. |
| (Optional) Select to make the link address range pool public. |
| (Optional) Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| (Optional) Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS can resolve 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. |
| (Optional) Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC
| (Optional) Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| (Optional) Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| (Optional) 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. |
Enter the following information in the Address Range: Services Pools page and click Next:
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| Specify the IP address and subnet mask for the services address range pool in CIDR notation. |
| Specify the subnet mask for the services address pool. |
| (Optional) Select to make the services address range pool public. |
| (Optional) Specify the primary DNS server name. This field is required when you specify tags related to DNS. |
| (Optional) Specify the reverse DNS server that allows reverse lookup of the IP address. In other words, given the IP address, the reverse DNS can resolve 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. |
| (Optional) Specify the secondary DNS server name. |
Primary Domain Suffix for NIC
| (Optional) Specify the primary domain suffix for NIC segments. |
| Specify the domain search order as a comma-separated list. |
| (Optional) 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. |
Enter the following information in the Vlan Pool: Customer Vlans page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make the vlan pool shareable. |
| Enter the starting Customer VLAN number for this range. |
| Enter the ending Customer VLAN number for this range. |
| (Optional) Specify any Customer VLANs that should be excluded from this range. Enter the VLAN numbers as a comma-separated list. |
Enter the following information in the Vlan Pool: Infrastructure Vlans page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make the vlan pool shareable. |
| Enter the starting Infrastructure VLAN number for this range. |
| Enter the ending Infrastructure VLAN number for this range. |
| (Optional) Specify any Infrastructure VLANs that should be excluded from this range. Enter the VLAN numbers as a comma-separated list. |
Enter the following information in the Vlan Pool: Management Vlans page and click Next:
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| (Optional) Select to make the vlan pool shareable. |
| Enter the starting Management VLAN number for this range. |
| Enter the ending Management VLAN number for this range. |
| (Optional) Specify any Management VLANs that should be excluded from this range. Enter the VLAN numbers as a comma-separated list. |
Enter the following information in the Vlan: Management VLAN1 page and click Next:
Enter the following information in the Vlan: Management VLAN2 page and click Next:
Enter the following information in the Vlan: VM Management VLAN page and click Next:
- In the Pod Parameters page click Submit. On successful pod creation, this pod is displayed in the Pods list page (Network > Virtual Data Center > Pods).