ACI Custom EPG Name for Simple and Meaningful Port Group Naming

Belete Ageze 2xCCIE | CCDE

1. Custom EPG Name

An EPG with VMM domain association creates a port group on the APIC managed DVS. This name for the port group defaults to ‘Tenant_name|AP_name|EPG_name’. The name, depending on how the tenant, application profile and EPG are named, may not be simple or meaningful for the VMWare admin. The solution is custom EPG name. An EPG can optionally have a custom name with the VMM domain association. Beginning in release 4.2(3), custom EPG name is used to create a port group with a simple and meaningful name when the default ‘Tenant_name|AP_name|EPG_name’ name doesn’t meet the requirements of the VMWare admin’s standard.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/aci/apic/sw/5-x/virtualization-guide/5-0-x/cisco-aci-virtualization-guide-50x/m-custom-epg-names-and-cisco-aci.html

2. Requirements

  • The custom name limit is 80 characters for VMware vCenter port groups
  • The custom name should not overlap with another EPG name, custom or not
  • The credential used to create the VMM integration needs a proper permission to mange and set custom attributes.
    • Global
      • Manage Custom Attributes
      • Set Custom Attribute

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/dcn/aci/apic/5x/virtualization-guide/cisco-aci-virtualization-guide-52x/m-cisco-aci-with-vmware-vds.html

3. Configuring Custom EPG Name

3.1 Default port group name of VMM integrated DVS with:

  • Tenant name – ‘Custom_name’
  • Application Profile – ‘Custom_AP_Profile’
  • EPG Name – ‘EPG_for_Custom_Name’

The port group name with default naming scheme is ‘Custom_name|Custom_AP_profile|EPG_for_Custom_Name’. This name may be too long and not suitable for the VMWare admin.

Default port group naming
Port group with default name

3.2 Custom EPG Configuration

Tenants > Application Profile > Application EPGs > application EPG.

  • Right-click the application EPG that you want to associate with a VMM domain, and then choose Add VMM Domain Association.
  • Enter the custom EPG name – Simple and meaningful name

Custom EPG name for port group naming
Port group with custom EPG name

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