A retail bank created an ACI VMM domain for vCenter, yet no new port groups appear on the distributed switch. Leaf servers are up. The VMM domain is not associated with the AAEP on those leaf ports. What is the missing relationship?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
The VMM domain is a work order for vCenter, and the AAEP is the loading dock on the leaf. You associate the two or the port groups never get a path onto the servers. Typing the same port groups by hand in vCenter does not make ACI own them.
Full Explanation
When a VMM domain is associated with the AAEP that the leaf access ports use, the APIC can push port groups to vCenter and bind those EPGs to real interfaces. Without that association the bank's domain has vCenter credentials and still has nowhere to attach the virtual switch, so no port groups appear. Creating the port groups manually in vCenter leaves them outside ACI. The APIC does not adopt hand-built groups as a substitute for the VMM association. APICs connect to leaves, not to spines, and moving them would break the fabric rather than publish port groups. Hardware proxy only changes how unknown unicast is forwarded inside a bridge domain. It does not create vCenter port groups. Caveat: the VLAN pool for the VMM domain must also be a dynamic pool with free encapsulations, or the association exists and the APIC still cannot allocate a VLAN for a new EPG. Operational check: attach the VMM domain to the AAEP, then confirm vCenter shows the port group and a test VM lands in the expected EPG.