Manage port ACLs in VMM

In System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), you can centrally configure and manage Hyper-V port access control lists (ACLs). Port ACLs can be configured for both a Network Controller-managed fabric and for networks that aren't managed by Network Controller.

• A port ACL is a set of rules that filter traffic at the layer 2 port level. A port ACL in VMM filters access to a particular VMM object. A network object can have no more than one port ACL attached.
• An ACL contains rules and can be attached to any number of network objects. You can create an ACL without rules, and then add rules later. Each ACL rule corresponds to only one port ACL.
• If an ACL has multiple rules, they're applied based on priority. After a rule matches criteria and is applied, no other rules are processed.
• A global settings port ACL is applied to all VM virtual network adapters in an infrastructure. There's no separate object type for global settings. Instead, the global settings port ACL is attached to the VMM management server.
• Port ACL settings are exposed only through PowerShell cmdlets in VMM and can't be configured in the VMM console.
• Port ACLs can be applied to:
  • Virtual subnets and adapters in a Network Controller deployment.
  • Virtual subnets, network adapters, VM networks, and the VMM management server in networks that aren't managed by Network Controller.

Before you start

• To apply an ACL to objects managed by Network Controller, you use the ManagedByNC flag, and set it to True. If it isn't set to True, the ACL only applies to network objects that aren't managed by Network Controller.
• ACL types aren't interchangeable. You can’t apply an ACL with ManagedByNC set to false, to objects managed by Network Controller and vice versa.
• The key difference between these two kinds of ACLs is that you need to remediate each network adapter after applying ACL on objects that aren't managed by Network Controller.
• There's also a difference in priority ranges:
  • Hyper-V port ACLs (not managed by Network Controller): 1 - 65535
  • SDN port ACLs (managed by Network Controller): 1 - 64500
• You need full VMM admin permissions to attach a port ACL to global settings. To attach the ACL to VMM objects (VM networks, subnets, virtual network adapters), you need to be a VMM admin or tenant admin or a self-service user.

Unsupported scenarios

Here's a list of unsupported scenarios:

• Manage individual rules for a single instance when the ACL is shared with multiple instances. All rules are managed centrally within their parent ACLs and apply wherever the ACL is attached.
• Attach more than one ACL to an entity.
• Apply port ACLs to virtual network adapters in the Hyper-V parent partition (management operating system).
• Create port ACL rules in VMM that include IP-level protocols (other than TCP or UDP). Other protocols are still supported natively by Hyper-V.
• Apply port ACLs to logical networks, network sites (logical network definitions), subnet VLANs, and other VMM networking objects that aren't mentioned as supported.

Deployment steps

Use the VMM PowerShell interface to do the following:

1. Define port ACLs and rules.

   • The rules are applied to virtual switch ports on Hyper-V servers as extended port ACLs (VMNetworkAdapterExtendedAcl). This means that they can apply only to hosts running Windows Server 2019 or later because VMM doesn't create legacy Hyper-V port ACLs (VMNetworkAdapterAcl) for earlier versions.
   • All port ACL rules defined in VMM are stateful for TCP. You can't create stateless TCP ACL rules.

2. Attach a port ACL to global settings. This applies the ACL to all VM virtual network adapters.

3. Attach the port ACLs to VM networks, VM subnets, or VM virtual network adapters.

4. Manage port ACL rules.

Create port ACLs

1. Open PowerShell in VMM.

2. Create a port ACL with the New-SCPortACL cmdlet.

   New-SCPortACL [-Name] <String> [-Description <String>] [-JobVariable <String>] [-ManagedByNC] [-OnBehalfOfUser <String>] [-OnBehalfOfUserRole <UserRole>] [-Owner <String>] [-PROTipID <Guid>] [-RunAsynchronously] [-UserRole <UserRole>] [-VMMServer <ServerConnection>] [<CommonParameters>]
   

Parameters

Parameter	Details
Name; Description	Port ACL name and description
JobVariable	Stores job progress
ManagedByNC	Specifies whether objects are managed by Network Controller
OnBehalfOfUser/OnBehalfOfRole	Run job with username or role
Owner	Specifies the owner of a VMM object in the form of a valid domain user account. Example: Contoso\PattiFuller or PattiFuller@Contoso
ProTipID	ID of ProTip that triggered action
RunAsychronously	Indicates whether job runs asynchronously
UserRole	Specifies user role
VMMServer	Specifies VMM server
CommonParameters	Learn more

Examples

Create a port ACL for objects managed by Network Controller "DemoACLManagedByNC":

PS: C:\> New-SCPortACL -Name "DemoACLManagedByNC" -Description "PortACL Example Managed by NC" -ManagedByN

Create a port ACL for objects not managed by Network Controller "DemPortACL":

PS: C:\> New-SCPortACL -Name "DemoPortACL" -Description "Port ACL Example Non Managed by NC"

Define port ACL rules for a port ACL

1. Open PowerShell in VMM.

2. Create one or more rules with the New-SCPortACLRule cmdlet.

   New-SCPortACLrule -PortACL <PortACL> -Name <string> [-Description <string>] -Type <Inbound | Outbound> -Action <Allow | Deny> -Priority <uint16> -Protocol <Tcp | Udp | Any> [-LocalAddressPrefix <string: IPAddress | IPSubnet>] [-LocalPortRange <string:X|X-Y|Any>] [-RemoteAddressPrefix <string: IPAddress | IPSubnet>] [-RemotePortRange <string:X|X-Y|Any>]
   

Parameters

Parameter	Details
Name, Description	Rule name and description
Type	Specifies the traffic direction for which the ACL is applied (Inbound or Outbound)
Action	Specifies whether the ACL allows or blocks traffic (Allow or Deny)
LocalAddressPrefix	Specifies the source IP address or subnet that's used to identify traffic that must be filtered
LocalPortRange	Specifies the source port range that's used to identify traffic
RemoteAddressPrefix	Specifies the destination IP address or subnet that's used to identify traffic for filtering
RemotePortRange	Specifies the destination port range that's used to identify traffic.
Protocol	Specifies the protocol for which the rule is applied
Priority	Specify the priority of the rule in port ACL. Rules are applied according to order. Set a priority between 1 and 65535, where the lowest number has highest priority. Port ACLs rules for objects managed by Network Controller must be set equal to or greater than 100. Network Controller doesn't support priority below 100.

Examples

Create a port ACL and store the object in $portACL:

PS: C:\> $portACL = New-SCPortACL -Name "RDP ACL" -Description "Acl on RDP access"

Create a port ACL rule to allow RDP access from a remote subnet:

PS: C:\> New-SCPortACLRule -Name "AllowRDPAccess" -PortACL $portACL -Description "Allow RDP Rule from a subnet" -Action Allow -Type Inbound -Priority 110 -Protocol Tcp -LocalPortRange 3389 -RemoteAddressPrefix 10.184.20.0/24

Modify the priority of an ACL rule:

PS: C:\> $portACLRule = Get-SCPortACLRule -Name "AllowRDPAccess" `` <br/><br/> `` PS: C:\> Set-SCPortACLRule -PortACLRule $portACLRule -Priority 220

The first command gets the port ACL rule "AllowRDPAccess". The second command changes the priority of the rule to 220.

Modify the port ACL rule for the destination address range and protocol for a rule:

PS: C:\> $portACLRule = Get-SCPortACLRule -Name "AllowRDPAccess" `` <br/><br/> `` PS: C:\> Set-SCPortACLRule -PortACLRule $portACLRule -RemoteAddressPrefix 172.185.21.0/24 -Protocol Udp

The first command retrieves rule AllowRDPAccess. The second changes the protocol to UDP and sets the destination to subnet 172.185.21.0/24.

Attach and detach port ACLs

A port ACL can be attached to global settings, VM networks, VM subnets, and virtual network adapters. A port ACL attached to global settings applies by default to all VM virtual network adapters.

1. Open PowerShell in VMM.

2. Attach a portal ACL using the Set-SCVMMServer cmdlet.

   Set-SCVMMServer –VMMServer <VMMServer> [-PortACL <NetworkAccessControlList> | -RemovePortACL ]
   

Parameters

Parameter	Details
VMM server	Name of the VMM server on which the port ACL is applied
PortACL	Optionally attaches the specified port ACL to global settings

Examples

Attach an ACL to global settings:

Set-SCVMMServer -VMMServer "VMM.Contoso.Local" -PortACL $acl`` <br/><br/> ExampleL: `` Set-SCVMMServer -VMMServer "VMM.Contoso.Local" -PortACL $acl

Detach an ACL from global settings:

Set-SCVMMServer -VMMServer "VMM.Contoso.Local" -RemovePortACL

Attach an ACL to a VM network during creation:

New-SCVMNetwork [–PortACL <NetworkAccessControlList>] [rest of the parameters]

Attach an ACL to an existing VM network:

Set-SCVMNetwork -PortACL $acl`

Attach an ACL to a VM subnet during creation:

New-SCVMSubnet [–PortACL <NetworkAccessControlList>] [rest of the parameters]

Attach an ACL to an existing VM subnet:

Set-SCVMSubnet [–PortACL <NetworkAccessControlList> | -RemovePortACL] [rest of the parameters]

Retrieve and view port ACLs and rules

1. Open PowerShell in VMM.

2. Run the Get-SCPortACL cmdlet to retrieve and view a port ACL:

   Get-SCPortACL [[-Name] <String> ] [-ID <Guid> ] [-OnBehalfOfUser <String> ] [-OnBehalfOfUserRole <UserRole> ] [-VMMServer <ServerConnection> ] [ <CommonParameters>]
   

3. Run the Get-SCPortACLRule to retrieve and view a rule:

   Get-SCPortACLRule [-Name <String> ] [-ID <Guid> ] [-OnBehalfOfUser <String> ] [-OnBehalfOfUserRole <UserRole> ] [-PortACL <PortACL> ] [-VMMServer <ServerConnection> ] [ <CommonParameters>]
   

Parameters

Parameter	Details
No parameters	Retrieves all ACLs
Name/ID	Retrieve by name or GUID
OnBehalfOfUser/OnBehalfOfUserRole	Run with username or role
VMMServer	Retrieve ACLs on specific VMM server
CommonParameters	Learn more

Examples

Retrieve a specific ACL:

    PS: C:> $portACL = Get-SCPortACL -Name "DemoPortACL"

Get rules for a specific ACL:

    PS: C:> Get-SCPortACLRule -Name "AllowRDPAccess"

Get all rules for ACL:

    PS: C:> Get-SCPortACLRule -PortACL $portACL

Modify port ACLs and rules

1. Open PowerShell in VMM.

2. Run the Set-SCPortACL cmdlet to modify a port ACL:

   Set-SCPortACL [-PortACL] <PortACL> [[-Description] <String>] [-JobVariable <String>] [-Name <String>] [-OnBehalfOfUser <String>] [-OnBehalfOfUserRole <UserRole>] [-PROTipID <Guid>] [-RunAsynchronously] [-VMMServer <ServerConnection>] [<CommonParameters>]
   

3. Run the Remove-SCPortACL to remove an ACL:

   Remove-SCPortACL [-PortACL] <PortACL> [-Confirm] [-JobVariable <String>] [-OnBehalfOfUser <String>] [-OnBehalfOfUserRole <UserRole>] [-PROTipID <Guid>] [-RunAsynchronously] [-VMMServer <ServerConnection>] [-WhatIf] [<CommonParameters>]
   

   Parameters

Parameter	Details
Name/Description	Name and description of port ACL
JobVariable	Stores job progress
OnBehalfOfUser/OnBehalfOfUserRole	Run with username or role
ProTipID	ID of ProTip that triggered action
RunAsynchronously	Indicates whether job runs asynchronously
Confirm	Prompts before running job
WhatIf	Shows what happens without running command

Examples

Set an ACL description:

PS: C:> $portACL = Get-SCPortACL -Name "DemoPortACL"

PS: C:> Set-SCPortACL -PortACL $portACL -Description "Port ACL Example Non Managed by Network Controller"

The first cmdlet retrieves the ACL; the second sets the description on the ACL.

Remove an ACL:

PS: C:> $portACL = Get-SCPortACL -Name "DemoPortACL"

PS: C:> Remove-SCPortACL -PortACL $portACL

The first cmdlet retrieves the ACL; the second removes it.