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Create an IPAM Pool

IPAM pools track who owns which IP within a CIDR range. They can stand alone (just for bookkeeping) or be bound to an OVN logical switch (and become the IP source for VMs / containers attached to that switch).

Quick steps

  1. Networks → IPAM → + New Pool.
  2. Fill in:
  3. Name — short, lowercase.
  4. CIDR — the network the pool covers (e.g. 10.50.20.0/24).
  5. Range Start / End — first and last usable IPs (e.g. 10.50.20.10 to 10.50.20.200). Leaves room for gateways / static reservations outside the pool.
  6. Gateway — first IP of the subnet (or wherever your router sits). Skipped during auto-allocation.
  7. Bound Switch (optional) — pick an OVN switch to wire the pool to. Endpoints attached to that switch will pull from this pool.
  8. Create.

Most operators don't create pools manually

If you create an OVN switch with a Subnet field filled in, an IPAM pool of the same name is auto-created and bound. This standalone form is for the case where you want to track IPs without an OVN switch, or have several pools on one switch.

Allocate manually

For external testing or one-off reservations:

  1. Open the pool, click + Lease.
  2. Supply hostname, MAC (optional), and either let MFCloud pick the next free IP or specify one.
  3. Allocate.

The lease shows up in the pool table; the next available IP in the range is reduced by one. Allocations from VM / container creation flows also appear here.

Release a lease

From the pool table → row → Release. The IP is returned to the free set; if the endpoint had an OVN LSP it's also removed.

See also