Network Interface

Azure Network Interface (NIC) is a networking component that enables virtual machines (VMs) to communicate with other resources and services in a virtual network (VNet) or the internet. A NIC is assigned to each VM and provides connectivity to the network. A NIC is responsible for handling network traffic to and from a VM. It provides a virtual MAC address and virtualized set of network interface controllers to the VM, which allows it to send and receive network traffic. NICs can be associated with a specific subnet within a VNet, and can be assigned one or more IP addresses. Azure Network Interface also provides additional features such as network security groups, IP forwarding, and network virtual appliances. It allows users to control and manage network traffic for a specific VM or subnet.‍

Terraform Name

azurerm_network_interface

Network Interface

attributes:

The following arguments are supported:

ip_configuration - (Required) One or more ip_configuration blocks as defined below.
location - (Required) The location where the Network Interface should exist. Changing this forces a new resource to be created.
name - (Required) The name of the Network Interface. Changing this forces a new resource to be created.
resource_group_name - (Required) The name of the Resource Group in which to create the Network Interface. Changing this forces a new resource to be created.

dns_servers - (Optional) A list of IP Addresses defining the DNS Servers which should be used for this Network Interface.

Note:

Configuring DNS Servers on the Network Interface will override the DNS Servers defined on the Virtual Network.

edge_zone - (Optional) Specifies the Edge Zone within the Azure Region where this Network Interface should exist. Changing this forces a new Network Interface to be created.
enable_ip_forwarding - (Optional) Should IP Forwarding be enabled? Defaults to false.
enable_accelerated_networking - (Optional) Should Accelerated Networking be enabled? Defaults to false.

Note:

Only certain Virtual Machine sizes are supported for Accelerated Networking - more information can be found in this document.

Note:

To use Accelerated Networking in an Availability Set, the Availability Set must be deployed onto an Accelerated Networking enabled cluster.

internal_dns_name_label - (Optional) The (relative) DNS Name used for internal communications between Virtual Machines in the same Virtual Network.
tags - (Optional) A mapping of tags to assign to the resource.

The ip_configuration block supports the following:

name - (Required) A name used for this IP Configuration.
gateway_load_balancer_frontend_ip_configuration_id - (Optional) The Frontend IP Configuration ID of a Gateway SKU Load Balancer.
subnet_id - (Optional) The ID of the Subnet where this Network Interface should be located in.

Note:

This is required when private_ip_address_version is set to IPv4.

private_ip_address_version - (Optional) The IP Version to use. Possible values are IPv4 or IPv6. Defaults to IPv4.
private_ip_address_allocation - (Required) The allocation method used for the Private IP Address. Possible values are Dynamic and Static.

Note:

Dynamic means "An IP is automatically assigned during creation of this Network Interface"; Static means "User supplied IP address will be used"

public_ip_address_id - (Optional) Reference to a Public IP Address to associate with this NIC
primary - (Optional) Is this the Primary IP Configuration? Must be true for the first ip_configuration when multiple are specified. Defaults to false.

When private_ip_address_allocation is set to Static the following fields can be configured:

private_ip_address - (Optional) The Static IP Address which should be used.

When private_ip_address_version is set to IPv4 the following fields can be configured:

subnet_id - (Optional) The ID of the Subnet where this Network Interface should be located in.

‍

Associating resources with a

Network Interface

Resources do not "belong" to a

Network Interface

Rather, one or more Security Groups are associated to a resource.

Create

Network Interface

via Terraform:

The following HCL manages a network interface

Syntax:

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "example" {
name = "example-resources"
location = "West Europe"
}

resource "azurerm_virtual_network" "example" {
name = "example-network"
address_space = ["10.0.0.0/16"]
location = azurerm_resource_group.example.location
resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.example.name
}

resource "azurerm_subnet" "example" {
name = "internal"
resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.example.name
virtual_network_name = azurerm_virtual_network.example.name
address_prefixes = ["10.0.2.0/24"]
}

resource "azurerm_network_interface" "example" {
name = "example-nic"
location = azurerm_resource_group.example.location
resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.example.name

ip_configuration {
name = "internal"
subnet_id = azurerm_subnet.example.id
private_ip_address_allocation = "Dynamic"
}
}

Create

Network Interface

via CLI:

Parameters:

az network nic create --name
--resource-group
--subnet
[--accelerated-networking {0, 1, f, false, n, no, t, true, y, yes}]
[--ag-address-pools]
[--application-security-groups]
[--dns-servers]
[--edge-zone]
[--gateway-name]
[--internal-dns-name]
[--ip-forwarding {0, 1, f, false, n, no, t, true, y, yes}]
[--lb-address-pools]
[--lb-inbound-nat-rules]
[--lb-name]
[--location]
[--network-security-group]
[--no-wait {0, 1, f, false, n, no, t, true, y, yes}]
[--private-ip-address]
[--private-ip-address-version {IPv4, IPv6}]
[--public-ip-address]
[--tags]
[--vnet-name]

Example:

az network nic create -g MyResourceGroup --vnet-name MyVnet --subnet MySubnet -n MyNic

Costs

Direct Cost

Indirect Cost

No items found.

Best Practices for

Network Interface

Categorized by Availability, Security & Compliance and Cost

Medium

AMI (Amazon Machine Images) not in use

AWS Cost Optimization

Network Interface

Terraform Name

Costs

Indirect Cost

Troubleshoot AWS Reachability Issues with VPC Flow Logs