When you associate an endpoint group (EPG) to a Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) domain, Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) automatically creates a VMware vCenter port group or a Microsoft VM network. Beginning in Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) Release 4.2(3), it is easier to manage the port groups or VM networks because you now have the option of giving the EPG a custom name.

In earlier Cisco APIC releases, Cisco ACI creates port group or VM network names using a specific format: tenant|application|epg for VMware vCenter-based domains and tenant|application|epg|domain for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM). The format can result in long, similar names that are difficult to distinguish from each other.

However, eginning in Cisco APIC Release 4.2(3), you can optionally give the EPG a custom name when you create the VMM domain association. The name is then carried over to the port group in VMware vCenter or the Microsoft VM network. Using a custom name enables you to associate a simple or meaningful EPG name in Cisco APIC with a VMware vCenter port group or a Microsoft VM network. It also enables consistent naming between port groups and VM networks. Also, for Microsoft SCVMM, using a custom EPG name provides the ability to create a VM network in situations where the VM network creation would fail due to the 64-character limit when concatenating tenant|application|epg|domain.

For VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) domains, you can configure, edit, and delete the custom EPG names through Cisco APIC GUI, REST API, or NX-OS Style CLI. For Microsoft SCVMM, you can configure, edit, and delete the custom EPG names through Cisco APIC GUI or REST API.

The following are guidelines that you should follow when you configure or use custom endpoint group (EPG) names:

• The custom name limit is 80 characters for VMware vCenter port groups, and 61 characters for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) VM networks.

  The Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) SCVMM Agent adds extra characters to the object name depending on the object type. This is why the character limit for SCVMM is 61 characters instead of 80.

  Special character rule - each special character (not alphabets, digits) are considered three times the normal character length (A-Z, a-z, 0-9). This provides a consistent logic for special characters as VMM treats some special characters differently. Example: if an alphabet length is considered as one, special character length is considered as three.

• We require that all custom EPG names be removed before you downgrade Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) from Release 4.2(3) or earlier; custom names for EPGs were not supported in previous versions.

  Downgrading without removing custom EPG names does not directly cause a loss of traffic; however, later configuration of EPG policies does.

• When you use static IP address pools, we recommend that you use short custom names.

  The name of the fvCepNetCfg managed object is added to the SCVMM static IP address pool name, and a long name could prevent the SCVMM VM network from being deployed.

• The custom name should not overlap with another EPG name, custom or not.

You must complete the following tasks before you can confirgure a custom endpoint group (EPG) name:

• Create a Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) domain for VMware vSphere Distributed Switch (VDS) or Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM).

  For instructions, see the chapter "Cisco ACI with VMware VDS Integration" or "Cisco ACI with Microsoft SCVMM" in the Cisco ACI Virtualization Guide.

• Create a tenant, bridge domain, application profile, and at least one EPG.

  For instructions, see the Cisco APIC Basic Configuration Guide, the chapter "Cisco ACI with VMware VDS Integration" or "Cisco ACI with Microsoft SCVMM" in the Cisco ACI Virtualization Guide.

• Upgrade Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and the Cisco ACI fabric to Cisco APIC Release 4.2(3).

  For information and instructions, see the Cisco ACI Upgrade Checklist, the Cisco APIC Upgrade/Downgrade Support Matrix, and the Cisco APIC Installation, Upgrade, and Downgrade Guide.

• (For SCVMM), upgrade the SCVMM and Hyper-V Cisco ACI agents to Cisco APIC Release 4.2(3).

  For instructions, see "Cisco ACI with Microsoft SCVMM" in the Cisco ACI Virtualization Guide.