Create a VMware Engine network

This document describes how to create a Standard VMware Engine Network using the VMware Engine portal, gcloud CLI, or API. You can create multiple VMware Engine networks to isolate private clouds and define unique VPC network peerings. VMware Engine networks handle connections to and from private clouds according to a network policy that you define separately.

Note: Projects created before November 2023 have Legacy VMware Engine Networks that are no longer available in newer projects. Google automatically created these networks for you; as such, these steps are only applicable for standard networks. For more information on legacy and standard networks, review the Network overview.

Before you begin

Google Cloud CLI and API requirements

To use the gcloud command line tool or the API to manage your VMware Engine resources, we recommend configuring the tools as described below.

gcloud

1. Set your default project ID:

   gcloud config set project PROJECT_ID
   

2. Set a default region and zone:

   gcloud config set compute/region REGION
   

   gcloud config set compute/zone ZONE
   

For more information on the gcloud vmware tool, see the Cloud SDK reference docs.

API

API examples in this documentation set use the cURL command-line tool to query the API. A valid access token is required as part of the cURL request. There are many ways to get a valid access token; the following steps use the gcloud tool to generate a access token:

1. Login to Google Cloud:

   gcloud auth login
   

2. Generate access token and export to TOKEN:

   export TOKEN=`gcloud auth print-access-token`
   

3. Verify that TOKEN is set properly:

   echo $TOKEN
   

Now, use the authorization token in your requests to the API. For example:

curl -X GET -H "Authorization: Bearer \"$TOKEN\"" -H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" https://vmwareengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations

Python

Python code samples in this documentation use the VMware Engine library to communicate with the API. To be able to use this approach, the library needs to be installed and the Application Default Credentials should be configured.

1. Download and install the Python library:

   pip install google-cloud-vmwareengine
   

2. Configure the ADC information by executing those command in your shell:

   gcloud auth application-default login
   

   Or, use a Service Account key file:

   export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="FILE_PATH"
   

For more information about the library, visit the reference page or view code samples on GitHub.

Create a VMware Engine network

Create a VMware Engine network using the Google Cloud console, gcloud CLI, or VMware Engine API:

Console

To create a VMware Engine network using the VMware Engine:

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the VMware Engine networks page.

   Go to VMware Engine networks

2. Click Create. A VMware Engine network creation form opens.

3. Enter a VMware Engine network name.

4. Enter a description for the network, for example "My standard VEN 1", and then click Create.

5. Optional: Confirm the creation of your network by navigating to the VMware Engine networks menu item. All VMware Engine networks are listed in the table on this page.

The following list describes each field during network creation in more detail:

• Name: Permanent unique identifier of the VMware Engine network.
• Description: Additional information that's visible on the details page of the VMware Engine network.
• Network type: Network type identifier used to support networking use cases and standard private cloud deployments.

• Region: This depends on whether you are using Standard VMware Engine or Legacy VMware Engine networks.

  • For legacy networks, this is the region where the network has connectivity.
  • For standard networks, this field is always set to global.

gcloud

To create a VMware Engine network using the gcloud CLI:

1. Run gcloud vmware networks create command:

   gcloud vmware networks create NETWORK_ID \
     --type=STANDARD \
     --description="DESCRIPTION"

   Replace the following:

   • NETWORK_ID: the network name for this request
   • DESCRIPTION: a description for this network

2. Optional: If you want to list all VMware Engine networks to confirm the creation of the new network, use the gcloud vmware networks list command:

   gcloud vmware networks list \
     --location=global

API

To create a VMware Engine network using the VMware Engine API, do the following:

1. To create a VMware Engine network, make a POST request:

   POST "https://vmwareengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/vmwareEngineNetworks?vmware_engine_network_id=NETWORKD_ID"
   
   '{
     "type": "standard",
     "description": "DESCRIPTION"
   }'

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project ID for this request.
   • NETWORK_ID: the network name for this request.
   • DESCRIPTION: a description for this network.

2. Optional: To list all VMware Engine networks to confirm the creation of the new network, make a GET request. Replace PROJECT_ID with the project ID for this request.

   GET https://vmwareengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects//locations/global/vmwareEngineNetworks

Update a VMware Engine network

Update a VMware Engine network using the Google Cloud console, gcloud CLI, or VMware Engine API:

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the VMware Engine networks page.

   Go to VMware Engine networks

2. Click the name of the network that you want to update.

3. On the network details page, edit the description and then click Save.

4. Optional: To view the updated description, navigate to the VMware Engine networks menu item and click the network to see the details.

gcloud

To update a VMware Engine network using the gcloud CLI, do the following:

1. Update the description of a VMware Engine network by running the gcloud vmware networks update command:

   gcloud vmware networks update NETWORK_ID \
     --description='DESCRIPTION'

   Replace the following:

   • NETWORK_ID: the network name for this request.
   • DESCRIPTION: an updated description for this network.

2. Optional: If you want to view the updated attribute, use the gcloud vmware networks describe command:

   gcloud vmware networks describe NETWORK_ID

   Replace NETWORK_ID with the network name for this request.

API

To update a VMware Engine network using the VMware Engine API, do the following:

1. To update the description of a VMware Engine network, make a PATCH request:

   PATCH "https://vmwareengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION/vmwareEngineNetworks/NETWORK_ID?update_mask=description"
   
   '{
     "description":"DESCRIPTION"
   }'
   

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the project for this request
   • LOCATION: the location of the network, either global for legacy networks or the region for standard networks
   • NETWORK_ID: the network name for this request
   • DESCRIPTION: an updated description for this network

2. Optional: If you want to view the updated attribute, make a GET request:

   GET "https://vmwareengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/vmwareEngineNetworks/NETWORK_ID"

What's next

• Get sign-in credentials for management appliances.
• Manage your private cloud resources and activity.