# Creating an OVS Bridge Domain Virtual Switch

## Prerequisites

Before creating Standard or Overlay networks, ensure that an OVS Bridge Domain virtual switch exists in the cluster. You can either create a new OVS bridge or associate the virtual switch with an existing bridge on the hosts, depending on the current network setup.

## About this task

An OVS Bridge Domain virtual switch is represented in HPE Morpheus as a Network Router resource of type `openVSwitch`. It acts as the underlying virtual switching layer that backs both Standard and Overlay networks, providing the bridge infrastructure required to connect workloads and handle traffic forwarding within the cluster.

NOTE

1. Ensure that the Name remains unique within the cluster and does not conflict with any existing libvirt network name on the cluster hosts.
2. Ensure that the Port Name selection is populated from physical, bonded, and VLAN interfaces discovered on the cluster hosts.
3. Ensure that no VMs are attached to networks dependent on the virtual switch before attempting deletion.

## Procedure

1. Navigate to Infrastructure > Network > Routers
2. Select + Add > OVS Bridge Domain
3. Enter the following details in the Add Network Router

   - Group: Select the group name to which the OVS bridge belongs from the drop down menu.
   - Cloud: Select the cloud name to which the OVS bridge belongs from the drop down menu.
   - Name: Provide a unique name for the virtual switch within the cluster. The name must contain only letters, numbers, underscores, or hyphens, and must be between 1 and 255 characters long.
   - Cluster: Select the HVM cluster in which the system will create the virtual switch.
   - Host Bridge: Select an existing OVS bridge from the cluster hosts, or choose Create New to provision a new OVS bridge.

     When you select Create New, the following fields are displayed:

     - Bridge Name: Visible only when creating a new bridge. Provide a name for the new OVS bridge. The name must contain 1–15 characters using only lowercase letters or numbers.
     - Network Interface: Visible only when creating a new bridge. Select the host network interface to use as the uplink port for the new OVS bridge. The selected interface must exist on every host in the cluster.
4. Click Add Network Router to finish.

## Results

The system creates the OVS Bridge Domain virtual switch on all healthy hosts in the cluster. It then triggers a network discovery process to ensure that the new bridge is detected and reflected in the HPE Morpheus cache
