Return to your Visual Studio Code Terminal window. Create the host_vars directory for your MSD fabric group.
mkdir -p host_vars/msd-fabric-group
Define the child fabrics that will be part of the Multi-Site (MSD) fabric group in the child_fabrics.nac.yml file.
The child fabrics defined here will be the two VXLAN EVPN fabrics you created in the previous sections: site1-fabric and site2-fabric,
along with the respective site ISN fabrics: site1-isn and site2-isn.
Child fabrics can be added or removed by updating this file and re-running Ansible; however, it is worth noting that removing a child fabric is only possible if no overlays are deployed to that given child fabric, as required by ND.
touch ~/workspace/ndlab/nac/host_vars/msd-fabric-group/child_fabrics.nac.yml
code-server -r ~/workspace/ndlab/nac/host_vars/msd-fabric-group/child_fabrics.nac.yml
---
vxlan:
multisite:
child_fabrics:
- name: site1-fabric
- name: site1-isn
- name: site2-fabric
- name: site2-isn
Define the Multi-Site (MSD) fabric settings in the fabric.nac.yml file.
The main settings to note here are the overlay_dci section, which defines the DCI connectivity method as Centralized_To_Route_Server,
along with the route server peers that were configured in the previous section as Loopback101 on the ISN switches.
ND can use this information to automatically configure the eBGP peering for the L2VPN EVPN address-family between the ISN switches and the route servers.
The underlay_autoconfig parameter is set to true to allow ND to automatically configure the underlay
IP addressing and eBGP IPv4 Unicast address-family for the DCI links between the ISN switches and BGWs. ND can do this because the ISN switches are part of the MSD fabric group.
touch ~/workspace/ndlab/nac/host_vars/msd-fabric-group/fabric.nac.yml
code-server -r ~/workspace/ndlab/nac/host_vars/msd-fabric-group/fabric.nac.yml
---
vxlan:
fabric:
name: msd-fabric-group
type: MSD
multisite:
anycast_gateway_mac: 1234.5678.9000
overlay_dci:
deployment_method: Centralized_To_Route_Server
route_server:
redistribute_direct: true
ip_tag: 54321
peers:
- ip_address: 10.101.101.101
bgp_asn: "65101"
- ip_address: 10.201.201.201
bgp_asn: "65201"
underlay_autoconfig: true
enable_bgp_send_community: true
Like previous fabrics, MSD will leverage the same ND group and ND instance, but specify the MSD fabric group as a logical host.
touch ~/workspace/ndlab/nac/hosts.msd.yml
cat << EOF >> ~/workspace/ndlab/nac/hosts.msd.yml
---
# Inventory Information For MSD Fabric
nd:
hosts:
msd-fabric-group:
ansible_host: 10.15.0.98
EOF
Make sure you are in your root Ansible directory.
cd ~/workspace/ndlab/nac
From the root Ansible project directory execute the following command:
ansible-playbook -i hosts.msd.yml vxlan.yml
Upon a successful run of the playbook your output should look as follows:
<... SNIP ...> PLAY RECAP ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** msd-fabric-group : ok=100 changed=11 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=1478 rescued=0 ignored=0 PLAYBOOK RECAP ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Playbook run took 0 days, 0 hours, 3 minutes, 30 seconds TASKS RECAP ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Tuesday 27 January 2026 15:06:03 +0000 (0:00:00.060) 0:03:30.028 ******* =============================================================================== cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.deploy : Manage Fabric Deployment for MSD Fabric in Nexus Dashboard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 85.22s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.create : Add Child Fabrics To MSD Fabric in Nexus Dashboard ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15.18s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.create : Prepare Multisite Data --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.04s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.remove : Prepare Multisite Data --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.01s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.create : Manage Fabric in Nexus Dashboard ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.74s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.create : Display Flag Values ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.17s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.common : Display Flag Values ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2.14s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.connectivity_check : Get Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller Version ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.71s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.common : Prepare Multisite Add and Remove Child Fabric Data ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1.44s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.validate : Copy Service Model Data to Host ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.94s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.common : Build Fabric Creation Parameters From Template --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.82s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.connectivity_check : Verify Authorization to Nexus Dashboard ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.78s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.create : Build VRFs Attach List From Template ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.75s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.create : Build Networks Attach List From Template --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.73s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.common : Build BGW Anycast VIP IP address allocation From Template ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.70s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.validate : Copy Extended Service Model Data to Host ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.65s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.validate : Stat Factory Defaults -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.54s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.connectivity_check : Get Cisco Nexus Dashboard Version ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.54s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.connectivity_check : Verify Connection to Nexus Dashboard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.53s cisco.nac_dc_vxlan.common : Delete content & directory ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0.51s ROLES RECAP ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* Tuesday 27 January 2026 15:06:03 +0000 (0:00:00.067) 0:03:30.033 ******* =============================================================================== deploy ----------------------------------------------------------------- 86.64s create ----------------------------------------------------------------- 46.83s common ----------------------------------------------------------------- 40.69s remove ----------------------------------------------------------------- 20.67s validate ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5.36s connectivity_check ------------------------------------------------------ 3.91s common_global ----------------------------------------------------------- 0.04s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ total ----------------------------------------------------------------- 204.16s
msd-fabric-group in the list; click it.
If your msd-fabric-group is not showing, please try clicking the Refresh button in the top-right of the Fabrics pane.
In-Sync. If not, please click the Refresh button near the Actions button
Navigate back to your VSCode application.
Please continue to the next section to start managing your overlay from the Multi-Site (MSD) fabric group level now.