Add Dynamic Network Interfaces to an instance

Console

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the VM instances page.

   Go to VM instances

2. Click the name of the instance for which you want to add a Dynamic NIC.

3. On the instance details page, click Edit.

4. In the Dynamic Network Interfaces section, click Add a Dynamic Network Interface and do the following:

   1. In the Parent network interface field, select the parent vNIC for which to create the Dynamic NIC.

   2. In the VLAN ID field, enter the VLAN ID of the Dynamic NIC.

   3. For Network and Subnetwork, select the network and subnetwork that you want to use.

   4. Select one of the following options for the IP stack type for the Dynamic NIC:

      • IPv4 (single-stack)
      • IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack)
      • IPv6 (single-stack)

   5. For Dynamic NICs with IPv4 addresses, do the following:

      1. For Primary internal IPv4 address, select one of the following:

         • Ephemeral (Automatic) to automatically assign a new ephemeral IPv4 address
         • Ephemeral (Custom) to manually specify a new ephemeral IPv4 address
         • A reserved static internal IPv4 address from the list
         • Reserve static internal IPv4 address to reserve and assign a new static internal IPv4 address

      2. For External IPv4 address, select one of the following:

         • Ephemeral to assign a new ephemeral IPv4 address
         • None to not assign an external IPv4 address
         • A reserved static IPv4 address from the list
         • Reserve static external IP address to reserve and assign a new static external IPv4 address

      3. You can optionally assign one or more alias IP ranges to the network interface. To assign an alias IP range, do the following:

         1. In Alias IP ranges, click addAdd IP range.
         2. In Subnet range, select a subnet primary IPv4 address range or a subnet secondary IPv4 address range to use.
         3. For Alias IP range, enter an IP range in CIDR notation. This range must be an unused range of the subnet IP range that you selected.

         For more information about assigning alias IP ranges to VM network interfaces, see Configure alias IP ranges.

   6. For Dynamic NICs with IPv6 addresses, configure an internal or external IPv6 address range, depending on the access type of the connected subnet. For the Primary internal IPv6 address or External IPv6 address, select from the following:

      • Ephemeral (Automatic) to automatically assign a new ephemeral IPv6 address range
      • Ephemeral (Custom) to manually specify a new ephemeral IPv6 address range
      • A reserved static IPv6 address range from the list
      • Reserve static internal IPv6 address or Reserve static external IPv6 address to reserve and assign a new static IPv6 address range

   7. To finish editing the properties of the Dynamic NIC, click Done.

5. To save your configuration, click Save.

gcloud

To add a Dynamic NIC to an existing instance, use the gcloud compute instances network-interfaces add command.

gcloud compute instances network-interfaces add INSTANCE_NAME \
   --zone=ZONE \
   --vlan=VLAN_ID \
   --parent-nic-name=PARENT_VNIC_NAME \
   --network=NETWORK \
   --subnetwork=SUBNET

Replace the following:

• INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the instance to add the Dynamic NIC to
• ZONE: the zone of the instance
• VLAN_ID: the VLAN ID of the Dynamic NIC
• PARENT_VNIC_NAME: the name of the parent vNIC, such as nic0
• NETWORK: the network where the Dynamic NIC attaches
• SUBNET: the subnet where the Dynamic NIC attaches

Alternatively, you can add a Dynamic NIC to an instance when updating instance properties. For more information, see Update instance properties.

API

To add a Dynamic NIC to an existing instance, use the instances.addNetworkInterface method.

POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/zones/ZONE/instances/INSTANCE_NAME/addNetworkInterface
{
  "subnetwork": "regions/REGION/subnetworks/SUBNET",
  "parentNicName": "PARENT_VNIC_NAME",
  "vlan": "VLAN_ID"
}

Replace the following:

• PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project that contains the instance
• ZONE: the zone that contains the instance
• INSTANCE_NAME: the name of the instance to add a Dynamic NIC to
• REGION: the region that contains the instance
• SUBNET: the subnet where the Dynamic NIC attaches
• PARENT_VNIC_NAME: the name of the parent vNIC, such as nic0
• VLAN_ID: the VLAN ID of the Dynamic NIC

Alternatively, you can add a Dynamic NIC to an instance when updating instance properties. For more information, see Update instance properties.

Console

1. Go to the Instance templates page.

   Go to Instance templates

2. Click the instance template that you want to copy and update.

3. Click Create similar.

4. Expand the Advanced options section, and then expand the Networking section.

5. In the Dynamic Network Interfaces section, click Add a Dynamic Network Interface and do the following:

   1. In the Parent network interface field, select the parent vNIC for which to create the Dynamic NIC.

   2. In the VLAN ID field, enter the VLAN ID of the Dynamic NIC.

   3. For Network and Subnetwork, select the network and subnetwork that you want to use.

   4. Select one of the following options for the IP stack type for the Dynamic NIC:

      • IPv4 (single-stack)
      • IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack)
      • IPv6 (single-stack)

   5. For Dynamic NICs with IPv4 addresses, do the following:

      1. For Primary internal IPv4 address, select one of the following:

         • Ephemeral (Automatic) to automatically assign a new ephemeral IPv4 address
         • Ephemeral (Custom) to manually specify a new ephemeral IPv4 address
         • A reserved static internal IPv4 address from the list
         • Reserve static internal IPv4 address to reserve and assign a new static internal IPv4 address

      2. For External IPv4 address, select one of the following:

         • Ephemeral to assign a new ephemeral IPv4 address
         • None to not assign an external IPv4 address
         • A reserved static IPv4 address from the list
         • Reserve static external IP address to reserve and assign a new static external IPv4 address

      3. You can optionally assign one or more alias IP ranges to the network interface. To assign an alias IP range, do the following:

         1. In Alias IP ranges, click addAdd IP range.
         2. In Subnet range, select a subnet primary IPv4 address range or a subnet secondary IPv4 address range to use.
         3. For Alias IP range, enter an IP range in CIDR notation. This range must be an unused range of the subnet IP range that you selected.

         For more information about assigning alias IP ranges to VM network interfaces, see Configure alias IP ranges.

   6. For Dynamic NICs with IPv6 addresses, configure an internal or external IPv6 address range, depending on the access type of the connected subnet. For the Primary internal IPv6 address or External IPv6 address, select from the following:

      • Ephemeral (Automatic) to automatically assign a new ephemeral IPv6 address range
      • Ephemeral (Custom) to manually specify a new ephemeral IPv6 address range
      • A reserved static IPv6 address range from the list
      • Reserve static internal IPv6 address or Reserve static external IPv6 address to reserve and assign a new static IPv6 address range

   7. To finish editing the properties of the Dynamic NIC, click Done.

6. To create the instance template, click Create.

7. Follow the steps to apply new VM configurations in a MIG.

   If you want to update the instances without restarting or recreating them, set the minimal action to REFRESH. For more information, see the following:

   • Control the disruption level during a rolling update

   • Control the disruption level during selective updates

gcloud

1. To create a new instance template that adds a Dynamic NIC, use the gcloud compute instance-templates create command.

   Include the --network-interface flag for each network interface from your existing instance template and add a new network interface that specifies the vlan key to create a Dynamic NIC.

   The following example adds a Dynamic NIC under nic0. You can specify additional network interfaces and properties as needed. For more examples of how to create instances with multiple network interfaces, see Create VMs with multiple network interfaces.

   gcloud compute instance-templates create INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME \
      --network-interface=network=NETWORK_A,subnet=SUBNET_A \
      --network-interface=network=NETWORK_B,subnet=SUBNET_B,vlan=VLAN_ID
   

   Replace the following:

   • INSTANCE_TEMPLATE_NAME: a name for the new instance template.
   • NETWORK_A, NETWORK_B: the network where the interface attaches.
   • SUBNET_A, SUBNET_B: the subnet where the interface attaches.
   • VLAN_ID: a VLAN ID. Specifying a VLAN ID configures the network interface as a Dynamic NIC. You must place a Dynamic NIC after its parent vNIC in the command.

2. Follow the steps to apply new VM configurations in a MIG.

   If you want to update the instances without restarting or recreating them, set the minimal action to REFRESH. For more information, see the following:

   • Control the disruption level during a rolling update

   • Control the disruption level during selective updates

API

1. To create a new instance template that adds a Dynamic NIC, use the instanceTemplates.insert method to create a global instance template or the regionInstanceTemplates.insert method to create a regional instance template.

   In the networkInterfaces field, specify each network interface from your existing instance template and add a new network interface that includes the vlan field to create a Dynamic NIC.

   The following example adds a Dynamic NIC under nic0. You can specify additional network interfaces and properties as needed. For more examples of how to create instances with multiple network interfaces, see Create VMs with multiple network interfaces.

   POST https://compute.googleapis.com/compute/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/global/instanceTemplates
   {
      ....
   
      "networkInterfaces": [
        {
          "subnetwork": "regions/REGION/subnetworks/SUBNET_A"
        },
        {
          "subnetwork": "regions/REGION/subnetworks/SUBNET_B",
          "vlan": "VLAN_ID"
        },
          additional network interfaces...
      ],
      other instance settings...
    }
   

   Replace the following:

   • PROJECT_ID: the ID of the project that contains the instance template.
   • REGION: the region that contains the instances.
   • SUBNET_A, SUBNET_B: the subnets where each network interface is located.
   • VLAN_ID: a VLAN ID. Specifying a VLAN ID configures the network interface as a Dynamic NIC. You must place a Dynamic NIC after its parent vNIC the request.

2. Follow the steps to apply new VM configurations in a MIG.

   If you want to update the instances without restarting or recreating them, set the minimal action to REFRESH. For more information, see the following:

   • Control the disruption level during a rolling update

   • Control the disruption level during selective updates