Cisco APIC Layer 2 Networking Configuration Guide, Release 6.2(x)

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Cisco APIC Layer 2 Networking Configuration Guide, Release 6.2(x)

Create a tenant, VRF, and bridge domain using the NX-OS style CLI

Updated: July 7, 2026

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Configure tenants, VRFs, and bridge domains using the NX-OS style CLI to establish the foundational network infrastructure elements.

Follow these steps to create a tenant, VRF, and bridge domains using the NXOS style CLI.

Note
Before creating the tenant configuration, you must create a VLAN domain using the vlan-domain command and assign the ports to it.

Procedure

  1. Create a VLAN domain (which contains a set of VLANs that are allowable in a set of ports) and allocate VLAN inputs, as follows:

    Example:

    In the following example ("exampleCorp"), note that VLANs 50 - 500 are allocated.

    apic1# configure
apic1(config)# vlan-domain dom_exampleCorp
apic1(config-vlan)# vlan 50-500
apic1(config-vlan)# exit

  2. Once the VLANs have been allocated, specify the leaf (switch) and interface for which these VLANs can be used. Then, enter "vlan-domain member" and then the name of the domain you just created.

    Example:

    In the following example, these VLANs (50 - 500) have been enabled on leaf 101 on interface ethernet 1/2-4 (three ports including 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4). This means that if you are using this interface, you can use VLANS 50-500 on this port for any application that the VLAN can be used for.

    apic1(config-vlan)# leaf 101
apic1(config-vlan)# interface ethernet 1/2-4
apic1(config-leaf-if)# vlan-domain member dom_exampleCorp
apic1(config-leaf-if)# exit
apic1(config-leaf)# exit

  3. Create a tenant in global configuration mode, as shown in the following example:

    Example:

    apic1(config)# tenant exampleCorp

  4. Create a private network (also called VRF) in tenant configuration mode as shown in the following example:

    Example:

    apic1(config)# tenant exampleCorp
apic1(config-tenant)# vrf context exampleCorp_v1
apic1(config-tenant-vrf)# exit

  5. Create a bridge domain (BD) under the tenant, as shown in the following example:

    Example:

    apic1(config-tenant)# bridge-domain exampleCorp_b1
apic1(config-tenant-bd)# vrf member exampleCorp_v1
apic1(config-tenant-bd)# exit
    Note

    In this case, the VRF is "exampleCorp_v1".

  6. Allocate IP addresses for the BD (ip and ipv6), as shown in the following example.

    Example:

    apic1(config-tenant)# interface bridge-domain exampleCorp_b1
apic1(config-tenant-interface)# ip address 172.1.1.1/24
apic1(config-tenant-interface)# ipv6 address 2001:1:1::1/64
apic1(config-tenant-interface)# exit

What to do next

The next section describes how to add an application profile, create an application endpoint group (EPG), and associate the EPG to the bridge domain.