How can I configure a network interface controller name by using extensibility actions

You can configure the interface name of a network interface controller (NIC) by using IaaS API calls applied through extensibility actions.

To configure the interface name of a NIC, you must make GET and PATCH calls to the VMware Aria Automation IaaS API. By making a GET call to https://your_vRA_fqdn/iaas/api/machines/{id}, you can retrieve the NIC link for the compute resource you want to modify. Then you can make a PATCH call to https://your_vRA_fqdn/iaas/api/machines/{id}/network-interfaces/{nicld}, which includes the NIC interface name as a payload, to add the new name for your NIC.

The following scenario uses a sample Python script that can be used for NIC interface name configuration. For your own use cases, you can use a different script and script language, such as Node.js.

Prerequisites

• You can only configure the NIC interface name prior to provisioning a compute resource. Therefore, only the Compute Provision event topic can be selected for relevant extensibility subscriptions.
• You can only configure NIC interface names for NICs that use Microsoft Azure as a provider.

Procedure

1. Create the extensibility action.
   1. Navigate to Extensibility > Actions.
   2. Click New Action.
   3. Enter a name and project for the extensibility action and Next.
   4. Add the NIC configuration script.
      The following is a sample Python script:

      import json
      
      def handler(context, inputs):
          
          # Get the machine info, which contains machine nic link
          response = context.request('/iaas/api/machines/'+inputs["resourceIds"][0], "GET", {})
          
          # Build PATCH machine nic payload here
          name = "customized-nic-02";
          data = {'name':name};
          
          # Convert machine data string to json object
          response_json = json.loads(response["content"])
          
          # Patch machine nic
          response_patch = context.request(response_json["_links"]["network-interfaces"]["hrefs"][0] + "?apiVersion=2021-07-15", 'PATCH', data)
      
          # return value is empty since we are not changing any compute provisioning parameters
          outputs = {}
          return outputs

      The preceding sample script performs two primary operations through the IaaS API. First, the script uses a GET call to retrieve the NIC link and then uses a PATCH call to apply the interface name. In this sample, the NIC interface name is hard-coded into the script as "customized-nic-02".
   5. To finish editing the extensibility action, click Save.
2. Create a extensibility subscription.
   1. Navigate to Extensibility > Subscriptions.
   2. Click New Subscription.
   3. Enter a name for the extensibility subscription.
   4. Under Event Topic, select Compute Provision as the event topic for the extensibility subscription.
   5. Under Action/workflow, select the extensibility action you created for NIC configuration.
   6. Enable event blocking.
      By enabling blocking, you make sure that the provisioning process is blocked until the extensibility action finishes its run.
   7. To finish editing the extensibility subscription, click Save.

Results

The new extensibility subscription runs when a compute provision event is triggered and configures the NIC interface name for the compute resources to be provisioned.