The solution incorporates a number of Cisco and third-party / Open Source capabilities, including:

• Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) and Python XMPP modules to facilitate group communications with NX-OS switches
• Cisco VM Tracker to access virtual machine name information on each switch
• A Python script that manages the communication with all of the target switches
• An XMPP/Jabber room where VM locations are reported

All communications are secured using SSL/TLS, as is typical with XMPP. Rule-Base Access Control (RBAC) is used to map the authenticated user executing the command via Python/XMPP to the switch command-line interface. RBAC is enforced in a delegated manner on the Switch itself.

Cisco NX-OS provides a extensive set of tools and components in order to achieve virtual machine visibility in accordance with VM Tracker for VMM - Virtual Machine Manager (vCenter) integration or VDP (part of lldpad) for the Open Virtual Switch (OVS). With this, we are able to associate the name of a virtual machine (VM) with the Cisco Nexus switch to which it is connected.