The MidoNet Plugin

Introduction to the MidoNet Plugin

The MidoNet plugin allows CloudStack to use the MidoNet virtualized networking solution as a provider for CloudStack networks and services. For more information on MidoNet and how it works, see http://www.midokura.com/midonet/.

Features of the MidoNet Plugin

Note

In CloudStack 4.2.0 only the KVM hypervisor is supported for use in combination with MidoNet.

In CloudStack release 4.2.0 this plugin supports several services in the Advanced Isolated network mode.

When tenants create new isolated layer 3 networks, instead of spinning up extra Virtual Router VMs, the relevant L3 elements (routers etc) are created in the MidoNet virtual topology by making the appropriate calls to the MidoNet API. Instead of using VLANs, isolation is provided by MidoNet.

Aside from the above service (Connectivity), several extra features are supported in the 4.2.0 release:

  • DHCP
  • Firewall (ingress)
  • Source NAT
  • Static NAT
  • Port Forwarding

The plugin has been tested with MidoNet version 12.12. (Caddo).

Using the MidoNet Plugin

Prerequisites

In order to use the MidoNet plugin, the compute hosts must be running the MidoNet Agent, and the MidoNet API server must be available. Please consult the MidoNet User Guide for more information. The following section describes the CloudStack side setup.

  1. CloudStack needs to have at least one physical network with the isolation method set to “MIDO”. This network should be enabled for the Guest and Public traffic types.

  2. Next, we need to set the following CloudStack settings under “Global Settings” in the UI:

    Setting Name Description Example
    midonet.apiserver.address Specify the address at which the Midonet API server can be contacted http://192.168.1.144:8081/midolmanj-mgmt
    midonet.providerrouter.id Specifies the UUID of the Midonet provider router d7c5e6a3-e2f4-426b-b728-b7ce6a0448e5

    Table: CloudStack settings

  3. We also want MidoNet to take care of public traffic, so in componentContext.xml we need to replace this line:

    <bean id="PublicNetworkGuru" class="com.cloud.network.guru.PublicNetworkGuru">

    With this:

    <bean id="PublicNetworkGuru" class="com.cloud.network.guru.MidoNetPublicNetworkGuru">

Note

On the compute host, MidoNet takes advantage of per-traffic type VIF driver support in CloudStack KVM.

In agent.properties, we set the following to make MidoNet take care of Guest and Public traffic:

libvirt.vif.driver.Guest=com.cloud.network.resource.MidoNetVifDriver
libvirt.vif.driver.Public=com.cloud.network.resource.MidoNetVifDriver

This is explained further in MidoNet User Guide.

Enabling the MidoNet service provider via the UI

To allow CloudStack to use the MidoNet Plugin the network service provider needs to be enabled on the physical network.

The steps to enable via the UI are as follows:

  1. In the left navbar, click Infrastructure
  2. In Zones, click View All
  3. Click the name of the Zone on which you are setting up MidoNet
  4. Click the Physical Network tab
  5. Click the Name of the Network on which you are setting up MidoNet
  6. Click Configure on the Network Service Providers box
  7. Click on the name MidoNet
  8. Click the Enable Provider button in the Network tab

Enabling the MidoNet service provider via the API

To enable via the API, use the following API calls:

addNetworkServiceProvider

  • name = “MidoNet”
  • physicalnetworkid = <the uuid of the physical network>

updateNetworkServiceProvider

  • id = <the provider uuid returned by the previous call>
  • state = “Enabled”

Revision History

0-0 Wed Mar 13 2013 Dave Cahill dcahill@midokura.com Documentation created for 4.2.0 version of the MidoNet Plugin