In NSX Federation, you make configuration changes on the active Global Manager. The changes are synced with the relevant Local Managers and the standby Global Manager, if you have one. Local Managers also sync some information with each other.

Making Changes on Global Manager

The Global Manager provides a user interface similar to the NSX Manager interface.

Configurations that are created on the Global Manager are read-only on the Local Managers. Configurations on the Local Managers are not synced with the Global Manager.

The Global Manager syncs a configuration with a Local Manager only if the configuration is relevant to that location. For example, if you create a tier-0 gateway and add it to Location 1, Location 2, and Location 3, the configuration is synced with all three Local Managers.

If you have a standby Global Manager, configurations are also synced between the active Global Manager and the standby Global Manager.

This diagram shows that configurations from the active Global Manager are synced with the standby Global Manager, if you have one, and with all the Local Managers registered with this Global Manager.

If the tier-0 gateway is added only to Location 1 and Location 2, the configuration is not synced with Location 3.

This diagram shows that configurations from the active Global Manager are synced with the standby Global Manager, if you have one, and with only thos Local Managers to which the configurations are spanned.

Making Changes on Local Managers

You can use the Local Manager to create objects on that specific Local Manager. These objects are not synced with the Global Manager or any other Local Manager.

This diagram show that configurations created locally in a Local Manager are not synced with other Local Managers or the Global Manager.

Realizing Global Manager Changes on Local Managers

The Global Manager validates changes against the Global Manager configuration only. When a Local Manager receives a configuration from the Global Manager, the configuration is realized in the fabric nodes of that Local Manager. During this realization, errors or conflicts might be detected.

For example, you can create a tier-0 gateway from Global Manager, and then from a Local Manager you can create and attach a tier-1 gateway to the tier-0 gateway.

This diagram shows that you can create tier-1 gateways and segments on a single Local Manager if the Global Manager provides a tier-0 gateway that is stretched across multiple locations.
Because Local Managers do not sync their configurations to the Global Manager, from the Global Manager context the tier-0 gateway does not appear to be connected to anything. You can delete the tier-0 gateway from the Global Manager, and this change is synced to the Local Managers. When the changes are realized in each location, the following occurs:
  • The tier-0 gateway can be deleted from the Local Manager in Location 2.
  • The tier-0 gateway cannot be deleted from the Local Manager in Location 1.
  • The tier-0 gateway is marked for deletion on the Global Manager.
When the tier-0 is disconnected from the tier-1 in Location 1, the tier-0 is deleted from Global Manager.
Most problems are displayed on the user interface. Additional problems can be displayed using these API calls.
  • On Global Manager: 
    GET /global-manager/api/v1/global-infra/realized-state/alarms
  • On Local Manager:
    GET /policy/api/v1/infra/realized-state/alarms