diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fa38aec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,203 @@
+# Byte-compiled / optimized / DLL files
+__pycache__/
+*.py[cod]
+*$py.class
+
+# C extensions
+*.so
+
+# Distribution / packaging
+.Python
+build/
+develop-eggs/
+dist/
+downloads/
+eggs/
+.eggs/
+lib/
+lib64/
+parts/
+sdist/
+var/
+wheels/
+share/python-wheels/
+*.egg-info/
+.installed.cfg
+*.egg
+MANIFEST
+
+# PyInstaller
+#  Usually these files are written by a python script from a template
+#  before PyInstaller builds the exe, so as to inject date/other infos into it.
+*.manifest
+*.spec
+
+# Installer logs
+pip-log.txt
+pip-delete-this-directory.txt
+
+# Unit test / coverage reports
+htmlcov/
+.tox/
+.nox/
+.coverage
+.coverage.*
+.cache
+nosetests.xml
+coverage.xml
+*.cover
+*.py,cover
+.hypothesis/
+.pytest_cache/
+cover/
+
+# Translations
+*.mo
+*.pot
+
+# Django stuff:
+*.log
+local_settings.py
+db.sqlite3
+db.sqlite3-journal
+
+# Flask stuff:
+instance/
+.webassets-cache
+
+# Scrapy stuff:
+.scrapy
+
+# Sphinx documentation
+docs/_build/
+
+# PyBuilder
+.pybuilder/
+target/
+
+# Jupyter Notebook
+.ipynb_checkpoints
+
+# IPython
+profile_default/
+ipython_config.py
+
+# pyenv
+#   For a library or package, you might want to ignore these files since the code is
+#   intended to run in multiple environments; otherwise, check them in:
+# .python-version
+
+# pipenv
+#   According to pypa/pipenv#598, it is recommended to include Pipfile.lock in version control.
+#   However, in case of collaboration, if having platform-specific dependencies or dependencies
+#   having no cross-platform support, pipenv may install dependencies that don't work, or not
+#   install all needed dependencies.
+#Pipfile.lock
+
+# poetry
+#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include poetry.lock in version control.
+#   This is especially recommended for binary packages to ensure reproducibility, and is more
+#   commonly ignored for libraries.
+#   https://python-poetry.org/docs/basic-usage/#commit-your-poetrylock-file-to-version-control
+#poetry.lock
+
+# pdm
+#   Similar to Pipfile.lock, it is generally recommended to include pdm.lock in version control.
+#pdm.lock
+#   pdm stores project-wide configurations in .pdm.toml, but it is recommended to not include it
+#   in version control.
+#   https://pdm.fming.dev/#use-with-ide
+.pdm.toml
+
+# PEP 582; used by e.g. github.com/David-OConnor/pyflow and github.com/pdm-project/pdm
+__pypackages__/
+
+# Celery stuff
+celerybeat-schedule
+celerybeat.pid
+
+# SageMath parsed files
+*.sage.py
+
+# Environments
+.env
+.venv
+env/
+venv/
+ENV/
+env.bak/
+venv.bak/
+
+# Spyder project settings
+.spyderproject
+.spyproject
+
+# Rope project settings
+.ropeproject
+
+# mkdocs documentation
+/site
+
+# mypy
+.mypy_cache/
+.dmypy.json
+dmypy.json
+
+# Pyre type checker
+.pyre/
+
+# pytype static type analyzer
+.pytype/
+
+# Cython debug symbols
+cython_debug/
+
+# PyCharm
+#  JetBrains specific template is maintained in a separate JetBrains.gitignore that can
+#  be added to the global gitignore or merged into this project gitignore.  For a PyCharm
+#  project, it is recommended to include the following files:
+#  .idea/
+#  *.iml
+#  *.ipr
+#  *.iws
+
+# VS Code
+.vscode/
+*.code-workspace
+
+# macOS
+.DS_Store
+.AppleDouble
+.LSOverride
+
+# Windows
+Thumbs.db
+ehthumbs.db
+Desktop.ini
+
+# Linux
+*~
+
+# Temporary files
+*.tmp
+*.temp
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+
+# IDE files
+.idea/
+*.iml
+*.ipr
+*.iws
+
+# Logs
+*.log
+logs/
+
+# Local configuration files
+config.py
+.env.local
+.env.development
+.env.test
+.env.production 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/zvml/vpgs.py b/zvml/vpgs.py
index 0ed1163..081a6ab 100644
--- a/zvml/vpgs.py
+++ b/zvml/vpgs.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import time
 import json
 from .tasks import Tasks
 from .common import ZertoVPGStatus, ZertoVPGSubstatus, ZertoProtectedSiteType, ZertoRecoverySiteType, ZertoVPGPriority
+from .localsite import LocalSite
 from typing import Optional, Union, Dict, List
 
 class VPGs:
@@ -152,7 +153,8 @@ class VPGs:
             if sync:
                 # Wait for task completion
                 self.tasks.wait_for_task_completion(task_id, timeout=timeout, interval=interval)
-                logging.debug('sleeping 5 seconds ...')
+                logging.debug('sleeping 5 seconds ...') # looks like there is a bug in the Zerto API, so there is a need to sleep for 5 seconds
+                time.sleep(5)
                 self.wait_for_vpg_ready(vpg_name=vpg_name, timeout=30, interval=5, expected_status=expected_status)
                 return task_id
             return task_id
@@ -201,6 +203,25 @@ class VPGs:
             if elapsed_time > timeout:
                 raise TimeoutError(f"VPG {vpg_name} did not reach the {ZertoVPGStatus.get_name_by_value(expected_status.value)} state within the allotted time. Current status: {ZertoVPGStatus.get_name_by_value(vpg_status.value)}")
 
+
+    def add_vm_to_vpg_by_name(self, vpg_name, vm_name):
+        logging.info(f'VPGs.add_vm_to_vpg_by_name(zvm_address={self.client.zvm_address}, vpg_name={vpg_name}, vm_name={vm_name})')
+
+        local_site = LocalSite(self.client.zvm_address, self.client.token)
+        local_site_identifier = local_site.get_local_site()['SiteIdentifier']
+        vms = self.client.virtualization_sites.get_virtualization_site_vms(site_identifier=local_site_identifier)
+        vm_dict = {vm.get('VmName'): vm for vm in vms}
+        
+        if vm_name not in vm_dict:
+            logging.error(f"VM with name '{vm_name}' not found.")
+            return
+        
+        vm_id = vm_dict[vm_name]['VmIdentifier']
+        vm_payload = {
+            "VmIdentifier": vm_id
+        }
+        return self.add_vm_to_vpg(vpg_name, vm_payload)
+
     def add_vm_to_vpg(self, vpg_name, vm_list_payload):
         logging.info(f'VPGs.add_vm_to_vpg(zvm_address={self.client.zvm_address}, vpg_name={vpg_name})')
         vpg = self.list_vpgs(vpg_name=vpg_name)