PowerCLI and Opaque Networks

It seems using Opaque networks has got a bit easier in a recent release of PowerCLI.

NSX-T Logical Switches are seen as opaque networks by a vSphere host. This means that traditionally you had to modify the view of the object like below to “attach” a VM to a logical switch

  

   ###########
    # Collecting Opaque networks
    $adapter1 = $vm | Get-NetworkAdapter -name "Network Adapter 1"


    # This will target the opaque network to connect to.

    $opaqueNetwork1 = Get-View -ViewType OpaqueNetwork | ? {$_.name -eq $k8spodlsname}



    # Create an opaque network backing PSObject
    $opaqueNetworkBacking1 = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualEthernetCardOpaqueNetworkBackingInfo

    # Set the OpaqueNetworkId and OpaqueNetworkType to the ones specified by logical switch to connect to
    $opaqueNetworkBacking1.OpaqueNetworkId = $opaqueNetwork1.Summary.OpaqueNetworkId
    $opaqueNetworkBacking1.OpaqueNetworkType = $opaqueNetwork1.Summary.OpaqueNetworkType



    # Modify the device object stored locally
    $device1 = $adapter1.ExtensionData
    $device1.Backing = $opaqueNetworkBacking1


    # Create a new "edit" device config spec
    $spec1 = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualDeviceConfigSpec
    $spec1.Operation = [VMware.Vim.VirtualDeviceConfigSpecOperation]::edit
    $spec1.Device = $device1


    # Create a new config spec for the VM and add the device edit config spec from above
    $configSpec1 = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualMachineConfigSpec
    $configSpec1.DeviceChange = @($spec1)

    # Reconfigure the VM
    $vm.ExtensionData.ReconfigVM($configSpec1)
    

With the latest release it has become far more easier to attach a Logical Switch (VLAN or Overlay) to a network adapter.

 
$null = $vm2 | Get-NetworkAdapter | Set-NetworkAdapter -NetworkName $ls2.display_name -confirm:$false

This takes the display_name value from the variable $ls2 and uses it for the -NetworkName property. Much easier.

For completeness here is how to create the Logical Switch

$transportZone = $serviceTransportZones.list().results | Where-Object {$_.display_name -eq $transportZoneName}

$specLogicalSwitch = $serviceLogicalSwitch.help.create.logical_switch.Create()
$specLogicalSwitch.display_name = $ls1name
$specLogicalSwitch.transport_zone_id = $transportZone.id
$specLogicalSwitch.admin_state = "UP"
$specLogicalSwitch.replication_mode = "MTEP"
$specLogicalSwitch.tags.Add($DemoTags) | Out-Null
$ls1 = $serviceLogicalSwitch.create($specLogicalSwitch)
  

Here is my version of PowerCLI/PowerShell for your reference

 
PS /Users/aburke/Repositories/nsx-scripts> $psversiontable

Name                           Value
----                           -----
PSVersion                      6.1.0
PSEdition                      Core
GitCommitId                    6.1.0
OS                             Darwin 18.0.0 Darwin Kernel Version 18.0.0: W...
Platform                       Unix
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1
WSManStackVersion              3.0 

Happy days!