5.1

Table Of Contents
About vCloud Director Networks
There are three categories of vCloud Director networks: external networks, organization vDC networks, and
vApp networks. Additional infrastructure objects such as Edge Gateways and network pools are required by
most categories of networks.
You must be a system administrator to create an external network, a directly connected organization vDC
network, a network pool, or an Edge Gateway. An organization administrator can create and modify routed
and isolated organization vDC networks, and any user who has vApp Author rights can create and modify a
vApp network.
vApp Networks
A vApp network is a logical network that controls how the virtual machines in a vApp connect to each other
and to organization vDC networks. Users specify vApp network details in an instantiateVAppTemplate or
composeVApp request. The network is created when the vApp is deployed, and deleted when the vApp is
undeployed. All nonisolated virtual machines in the vApp connect to a vApp network, as specified in their
NetworkConnectionSection elements.
Every VApp element includes a link that you can use to retrieve details of a vApp network that it contains, as
the following example shows.
<Link
rel="down"
type="application/vnd.vmware.vcloud.vAppNetwork+xml"
name="isoNet1"
href="https://vcloud.example.com/api/network/94 />
A GET request to this link returns a read-only VAppNetwork element. To modify an existing vApp network or
create a new one, you must find the NetworkConfigSection of the VApp element and use its edit link, as shown
in “Update a vApp Network Configuration,” on page 109.
The configuration of a vApp network, contained in the NetworkConfig element of the
InstantiateVAppTemplateParams request body, includes the following information
n
A name for the network, specified in the networkName attribute of the NetworkConfig element. The
instantiation parameters must create a vApp network whose name matches the value of the network
attribute of the NetworkConnection of each Vm element in the template. If this attribute has the value none
or is missing, the Vm can connect to any network. If the template contains Vm elements that specify different
names for their network connections, you must create a vApp network for each.
NOTE When you create a vApp network where the FenceMode is bridged, the networkName of the vApp
network must match the name of the ParentNetwork. This requirement is enforced by the composeVapp
operation. The instantiateVappTemplate operation automatically corrects a name mismatch by changing
the value of the network attribute in the NetworkConnection element of the VApp.
n
A Configuration element that specifies network configuration details.
n
For routed and directly connected networks, the ParentNetwork element contains a reference to the
organization vDC network that the vApp network connects to. The FenceMode element controls how
the two networks connect. Specify a FenceMode of bridged for a direct connection to the parent
network, or natRouted to specify a routed connection controlled by network Features such as a
NatService or FirewallService. If you want the organization network to be isolated, with no external
connection, omit the ParentNetwork element and specify the FenceMode as isolated.
vCloud API Programming Guide
148 VMware, Inc.