Provider Networks

Overview

Provider networks connect tenant virtual networks directly to the physical underlay. Administrators define the physical interface mapping and segmentation type during deployment or reconfiguration. Tenants cannot modify provider network attributes — they select from the options an administrator has made available.

Administrator Access Required — This operation requires the admin role. Contact your Polystack administrator if you do not have sufficient permissions.

Prerequisites

Admin credentials sourced from openrc.sh
the deployment console access for cluster-level interface configuration
Physical network interfaces identified and mapped in the deployment console

Network Type Comparison

Type	Segmentation	Scale	Use Case
Flat	None	1 per physical interface	Untagged management or public networks
VLAN	802.1Q VLAN ID (1–4094)	~4000 per physical interface	Traditional data center integration
VXLAN	VNI (1–16 million)	Virtually unlimited	Large-scale multi-tenant clouds

Configure Physical Interface Mappings

Provider network parameters are set during initial cluster deployment or reconfiguration via the deployment console. These settings apply to all cluster nodes.

Web Console

Open Networking configuration

In the deployment console, navigate to Configuration → Networking.

Configure physical interface mapping

Set the interface-to-bridge mapping for each network type:

Parameter	Example Value	Description
`neutron_bridge_mappings`	`physnet1:br-ex`	Maps a physical network name to a bridge
`neutron_flat_networks`	`physnet1`	Networks carrying untagged (flat) traffic
`neutron_network_vlan_ranges`	`physnet1:100:200`	VLAN ID range allocated to tenants
`neutron_tunnel_types`	`vxlan`	Overlay type for tenant networks

Apply the configuration

Click Save and Deploy. The deployment console applies the settings to all cluster nodes via ironcore-ansible.

Modifying bridge mappings on a running cluster briefly interrupts networking on affected nodes. Schedule this change during a maintenance window and notify tenants in advance.

Create Provider Networks

Authenticate as admin

Source your credentials file to authenticate with the Polystack platform:

Load credentials

source openrc.sh

Your administrator provides the RC (credentials) file for your project. See CLI Setup for configuration details.

Create a VLAN provider network

Create VLAN provider network

openstack network create provider-vlan100 \
  --provider-network-type vlan \
  --provider-physical-network physnet1 \
  --provider-segment 100 \
  --share

Option	Description
`--provider-network-type`	`vlan`, `flat`, or `vxlan`
`--provider-physical-network`	Name matching `neutron_bridge_mappings` key
`--provider-segment`	VLAN ID (VLAN type) or VNI (VXLAN type)
`--share`	Makes the network accessible to all projects

Create a flat provider network

Create flat provider network

openstack network create external-flat \
  --provider-network-type flat \
  --provider-physical-network physnet1 \
  --external \
  --share

Use --external to mark the network as a valid target for router external gateways.

Create a VXLAN network

Create VXLAN tenant network

openstack network create overlay-vxlan \
  --provider-network-type vxlan \
  --provider-segment 10001

VXLAN networks use a VNI as the segment identifier. Omit --share to scope the network to a specific project.

Provider Network Administration

List Provider Networks

List all networks with provider attributes

openstack network list --long

Update a Provider Network

Update provider network description

openstack network set provider-vlan100 --description "VLAN 100 for production tier"

Delete a Provider Network

Delete provider network

openstack network delete provider-vlan100

Deleting a provider network disconnects all instances attached to it. Confirm that no instances, routers, or floating IPs are using the network before deleting.

Segmentation Reference

Network Type	Segment Identifier	Range	Notes
VLAN	VLAN ID	1–4094	Requires upstream switch trunk configuration
VXLAN	VNI	1–16,777,215	Software overlay — no switch config required
Flat	None	N/A — 1 per physical interface	Untagged — use only for management networks

VXLAN tenant networks are the default type in Polystack deployments. They require no switch configuration and scale to tens of thousands of isolated tenant networks. VLAN is recommended when direct integration with physical data center switching is required.

Next Steps

Network Agent Management

Verify L2 agents are healthy on all compute nodes after changing bridge mappings

L3 Router Configuration

Configure routers to use the provider networks you just created as external gateways

Service Architecture

Understand how L2 agents program provider network attachments

Admin Troubleshooting

Resolve VXLAN tunnel and provider network connectivity issues

Core Services

Other Services

Overview

Network Type Comparison

Configure Physical Interface Mappings

Open Networking configuration

Configure physical interface mapping

Apply the configuration

Create Provider Networks

Authenticate as admin

Create a VLAN provider network

Create a flat provider network

Create a VXLAN network

Provider Network Administration

List Provider Networks

Update a Provider Network

Delete a Provider Network

Segmentation Reference

Next Steps

Network Agent Management

L3 Router Configuration

Service Architecture

Admin Troubleshooting

​Overview

​Network Type Comparison

​Configure Physical Interface Mappings

Open Networking configuration

Configure physical interface mapping

Apply the configuration

​Create Provider Networks

Authenticate as admin

Create a VLAN provider network

Create a flat provider network

Create a VXLAN network

​Provider Network Administration

​List Provider Networks

​Update a Provider Network

​Delete a Provider Network

​Segmentation Reference

​Next Steps

Network Agent Management

L3 Router Configuration

Service Architecture

Admin Troubleshooting

Overview

Network Type Comparison

Configure Physical Interface Mappings

Create Provider Networks

Provider Network Administration

List Provider Networks

Update a Provider Network

Delete a Provider Network

Segmentation Reference

Next Steps